Hanging Around...

Boston Beat   oil/canvas  40 x 30 x 1.5

is a term that implies a bit of laziness, without particular goals.  Hanging around was something we did as teenagers.....waiting for some excitement to stir us.  There are paintings that hang around in my studio.  "Boston Beat" was one such work.  I trusted my intuition as it resided there against the wall.  I was not ready to hang it, to wire it, to consider it finished.  It was just fine....all the pieces were in their places.  The forms interrelated to my satisfaction.  The color pleasing.  Still....I found it a bit boring.  Too much reality.  Values that, to my irritation, whispered.  Not to mention that dreaded green triangle in the upper left.  Painting is a process that requires continued learning and questioning.  I love work that has an immediate impact with its shapes and values.  There was only one thing left to do............surgery.  What it needed took its time to infiltrate my brain.  I am happier.

Resolution is always sweet.  Sometimes attainable.  Sometimes not.

Home...

Boston Beat   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

is where the heart is.  Certainly true.  I am a notorious homebody.  Home is where I work, where I relax, where I cook and garden and where I worry.  Thomas Moore expounds upon the great soulfulness of home in The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life.  Still, travel opens up great windows of awareness.  To travel is to experience new sounds, smells and flavors, as well as sights.  A spring trip to Boston was like a jolt of adrenaline.  Two new paintings are the result.  A pair of street musicians in Boston Commons in the early spring light was a momentous experience.  I envied their musicality, their spontaneity and their seeming unawareness of onlookers.  "Boston Beat" is the result.