New Recipe::Old Recipe

Old Recipe

New Recipe   watercolor/mixed on paper   27.5 x 18

Beginning a new painting is often like trying out a new recipe.  Which pan?  (oops...too small) Which order would best accomplish the goal?  Which spices...more of?  less of?  And, oh, the mountain of pots and pans at the finish!  For me, it takes more than one "go" at a new recipe to feel comfortable in the making.  With a painting, those options are limited...especially with watercolor.  I had a vision, in this case, of how I thought the painting would look.  My sketch proved to be erroneous, in that I saw the cookware as a lighter value...the background a darker.  As I painted, and continued to paint, the reflections and all of the colors therein, the cookware took a turn to the dark.  My dark background continued to confuse.  It seemed fine up close.  But distance turned it all into a muddle.  I prefer a stronger value differentiation in order for the work to be read at a distance, as well as to simplify the shapes.  Woe is me.  This painting hung in my dining room for over a month.  During that time, my patient husband hung and removed the work for further study and further work several times.  I was not happy.  My final answer involved printing relief ink over top.  I had reversed the values from my initial sketch.  Topsy turvy!  And so, I guess that lesson for me is to remain flexible, to veer from the initial notion in order to achieve the look that first sparked my brain.

A painting is never finished.  It simply stops in interesting places.

Phil Gardner

Boston Couple

Boston Couple   watercolor/mixed on paper   13 x 18

Boston Couple was painted, in all seriousness, as a not-serious bit of play.  I needed a topic for class and pulled up some reference photos taken in Boston on the Common.  A brilliant May morning.  I was not inspired by the work and that is probably why I was able to experiment with the forms...nothing there was sacred to me.  No connection.  In fact, I was annoyed that this fellow was spending this glorious day on the phone.  (personal gripe)  My original plan was a not-so-solid description with the figures blending into the ground.  When that process became less than desirable, I changed the game plan.  The figure was then worked back and forth in a figure 8 pattern as a singular shape.  Details were muffled and then muffled again.  The background was subsequently painted in opaque gouache. I have to say that this work pleases me somewhat, despite the lack of personal connection.  Perhaps that is why I felt free enough to experiment.  The preciousness is gone.  That pleases me.

This....wait a minute...no that

Simple Stool   oil/canvas   48 x 24 x 1.5

The idea for this simple stool work was threefold:  to paint the well worn and well used stool that has graced my studio for years; to complete a series of three such chair works (two just seemed wrong); and to pair this unremarkable piece of furniture with some lovely vintage wallpaper scraps, the painting of which I had intended to distress to the point of revealing underlying coats of paint.  I was inspired by a book called Sweat Shop Paris given to me by my son.  Juxtaposing the highly finished with the simple and humble....yes.  As the work progressed, I soon realized that the pattern of the sunlight into the space was upstaging the wallpaper....and rightfully so.  It was this simple stream of light that coaxed this painting into being.  Ah, yes.  Nature's beauty creating more powerful beauty than the manufactured wallpaper.  I was both surprised and delighted.

Am I sorry that I missed this design pattern earlier on?  Not really.  For me, the process is everything.  And I do retain the right to change my mind.