Friday, August 31, 2007

Work in Progress: Fire & Ice #5 and #6





Above, see two decent finished pics of Fire and Ice #5 (top) and Fire and Ice #6 (bottom). #5 is 7 1/2” x 9” and #6 is 11 3/4 “ x 15 3/4”, both are works on paper with water-based acrylic paint.

Also did some work on a few other pieces today— another in the Fire and Ice series that is giving me a lot of trouble, and a few sketches of flowers (working on a bigger piece and these will be a part), and another sketch of a woman. The last is preliminary work for a small collage that I am going to use as experimentation for some larger pieces I have in the works.

Painting is becoming more and more of a physical effort for me, and I can see more and more how Matisse was prone to fits of anxiety and de Kooning had to take long walks in the streets of New York at all hours of the night just to relax. At the end of each session— and I largely have 3 a day— I find myself feeling as if I had hiked a long way, or lifted weights— the adrenaline and exhaustion; the feeling in my lungs of a long workout.

Some of this tonight is even furthered by Fire and Ice #6. I think it is one of my better pieces in a long time— a nice combination of painterly and linear styles, not too dependent on the idea of the piece, but rather the emotion behind it, and the colors are dynamic and complex while drawing the eye.

I began to have the feeling that these works were getting too precious. And needed to be let loose a bit, and this happened to great success in #6. The problem is finishing #7, and the rest. This #6 I think marks a shift in approach for me. It is hard to force into works in progress, and is more challenging.

I found myself thinking I wanted to paint an explosion.

Further, the collages I have in the works are a lot more intricate, at least in terms of process— not necessarily in terms of minute detail, and I have spent a lot of time just trying to understand how to begin this new direction.

If anyone knows of a gallery assistant or two that wants to volunteer service for 617 Midway, please put them in touch with me. It is difficult at this point to keep up with my own work, which I take as a blessing to have so many interesting projects. But I am accepting applications.

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