Snow, Shovels and Leonardo DaVinci

February oil/canvas 16x12x.5 Snow Shovels are common winter accessories here in northeast Ohio. This small painting was a class challenge, the challenge being a painting inspired by 1) cold 2) containing two elements 3) the study of relationships...one element to the other. So.......the relationship between the blade of the shovel and the small mound of snow in front is the result of the challenge. Relationships are everything. It was indeed Leonardo DaVinci who said, "Realize that everything connects to everything else".

Relationships...

That October Feeling   watercolor   12.75 x 9

can be tricky.  The more relationships one has, it seems to me, the more complex life becomes.  The same with paintings.  The more objects in the painting, the more complex the painting of it becomes.  We started out this week in class by piling a large number of organic autumn objects onto a well-lit table.  Gourds.  Pumpkins.  Grasses.  Branches.  Mums.  Squashes.  Even a Caramel Apple.  We are using our handmade cropping windows to find interesting compositions.  Everyone's is different.  In the beginning, we paint each object separately to the best of our abilities.  Then later, we need to contemplate the prioritizing of the elements, and, in turn, to consider the hard and soft edges that support this prioritization.  For me, the relationships of the forms become more important than the objects themselves.  I look for hidden rhythms to carry out my intentions.  Forms become alive, almost like persons who make up a crowd....persons at a party, persons at a meeting.  Persons having a conversation.

Animated objects.  Struggling in relationships.  Mirroring reality.