Surprises...

Tomato Basket   oil/canvas   16 x 20 x 1.5

I love surprises....just a bit of something that breaks through the ordinary. I never read programs at the theater, for example. I don't want to about the actors' real lives, at least not before the show. I want to believe the illusion that they present on stage. I rarely make the same meal twice....and when I do, it is usually a disappointment. That is why I paint like I do. Although the subject matter is concrete, I try to maneuver throughout the painting making snap judgments and relying, hopefully, on a more-or-less practiced knowledge of the design elements and principles. (The opposite, of course, being photo-realism, which allows for no surprises at all.....the goal being for the resultant work to look exactly like the photo).

"Tomato Basket" is a painting that never quite made it out of choppy water. I never ever felt all that comfortable at any stage of the painting. Uneasiness. Insecurity. I reached what I considered to be a stopping point, confident that I had attempted all possible solutions within my reach. OK. It was hung in the dining room during holiday season because of its color but each time I walked by, I questioned whether or not I should have another go at it. Our ASA critique was last evening....so I toted it along wearing my thick skin in hopes that other solutions might present themselves. Problem areas to me were not problem areas to the leader whose aesthetic sense is one I trust. Problem areas that were questioned by others were not problematic to me. I was surprised. And I will let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak. Unless, that is, you have another solution that has not yet been considered...

When Things Go Awry.............

Dappled   oil/canvas   30 x 40 x 1.5

When I was 12 or so, all I thought about was horses. I drew them continually. I thought that I could draw them blindfolded. I even dressed like Lori Martin, the young star of the television show "National Velvet". I now live in a semi-rural community where horses are often seen grazing in the late afternoon sun. So, I thought that my painting of a grazing horse would be a shoe-in (no pun intended). WRONG. The painting was begun in November with all of the preparatory sketches drawn beforehand. This painting has since evolved at least a half of a dozen times. Each time I think I have a handle on making this horse my very own, the visuals go awry, the forms are either hugely boring or refusing to be broken up in a pleasing way. And so it goes. I will not give up, but have mixed in a few other paintings to dissolve my frustration. Today I will go at it again. I will show up for work. However, this horse is so shy that he may never make an appearance.