Simplicity

Bread, Wine and Turnips   oil/canvas   15 x 12 x .5

is a quality that I strive for in my work.  Actually, I think that it took me quite a long time to realize it.  Backgrounds were painted in....then painted over.  Chair legs were carefully painted in and then painted over and substituted with horizontal strokes that simply suggested a place for the model to sit.  And, now, so we have it.  So I have it...another requisite that makes my art my own. 

I have a belief that the power of the work is somehow divided between all of the objects in the plane....so, it follows, for me, that the fewer the things, the more power that each one holds.  Big and little things arranged pleasingly on the page.

The reference for this simple still life came from a series of photos taken on my patio many years back....it was a veritable feast, a banquet.  The long horizontal painting was sold, but I have so many reference photos that I can now produce several smaller works from the original, and quite painstakingly arranged, feast.  This work pleases me as it has the feel that I was going for...a few simple ingredients can make a painting that I enjoy.......and, also, I think that a few simple ingredients can produce an exquisite meal.  We live in complex times.  I crave simplicity for balance.

the minor fall...the major lift...mood is very important to me...Daisy Play

Daisy Play   Watercolor 9 x 9

ah...some of my favorite lyrics from one of my all-time favorite songs...."Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley.

This past weekend some of our extended family was in town and so we met for dinner at a local restaurant.  There was an entertainer...kind of a lounge singer....who sang popular songs and played guitar.  The first few were quite nice.  His voice was pleasant, as was the strumming.  The amps were turned up way too high and we were seated oh-so-close.  (I know....if it's too loud, then I'm too old....perhaps)  When he started singing this favorite song-o-mine, I cringed.  "Hallelujah" gets its power, in my opinion, from its hymn-like mood....a softness and a slowness that transcends popularity.  The delivery was the same as all of the other songs he sang.  And what did I realize from this experience? 

...that mood is a major purveyor for all kinds of art.  Even though all of the design elements and principles are carried out to perfection, ignoring the mood of a work is a huge flaw.  By using all of the tools we have to create, a painting or a song, we have the ability to manipulate the mood.  We can create a slow soft mood by using similar values, subtle hues and softer brushwork.  We, as artists, can benefit from consideration and contemplation before laying down the first stroke.

Values...

Twelve Eagles   watercolor   27.5 x 17

provide a given artwork with a meaning all their own, I believe.  Works that are light-light-light on the value scale seem romantic and carefree.  Personally, I have a difficult time taking them seriously.  Sometimes they seem just too hap-hap-happy.  Works that utilize values in the mid-range, without strong lights or darks, seem quite moody.  Those on the dark end of the scale are just that...dark.  I prefer the high drama of works that utilize values from both ends, as well as those in-between.  We recently had a Native American model from the Cherokee Nation.  This whole problem was a bit difficult, as the resultant work darkened with each pass.  I wanted to give the work a serious treatment.  All too often, the Native American paintings seem a bit trite, a bit too dark in the eyes and rosy in the cheek.  And, conversely, those on display at The Butler Institute of American Art which were painted during the Westward Expansion seem almost scientific, as if these people were objectified and painted as if they were pinned butterflies.  I knew what I wanted but did not know how to achieve it.  The painting was critiqued by a couple of artist friends whose suggestions were valid.....originally, the feathers were much lighter.  They created a distraction and a problem that worked against the head area.  More washes.  More adjustments.  I have released the painting.  I do not yet know if I achieved my goal.  Ask me in a year.....maybe 10.  How does one paint honor, pride and wisdom that often seems outside of my grasp?  I do not know.