Palette Fight

I'm fighting with my palette this morning or I should say this has been going on for more than a week. Yes it is possible to do battle. My main problem is that I have fallen in love with half of the painting. How could this be when clearly my mentor stressed continually "don't fall in love with any part of your painting". My students have heard that over and over. I did fall in love with half of the painting and thus I'm struggling to make it work. Good advice I received last night..."scrape it all off". Why am I hesitating to do this? The answer is I don't know so I am writing to find out why. For the last several days, I've journaled and still not found my path to the next step. Put the painting away for a while. Though also good advice, I discovered a long time ago just how stubborn I am. So I sit here and ponder and think the best idea is to pull out paper and draw. The battle will be over soon. My second option might be to look at the painting as it stands now on the computer screen and try for objectivity. I have a solo exhibit looming out there.. maybe a reason for turmoil to arise as I delve into questions I must face to continue.

More Blogs

I spent the morning accomplishing computer/blogging tasks...oh my, a new blog. Do I need one? Not sure since I haven't spent what I consider the requisite time required to be current but so what I'm back at it. The rest of the morning I spent time drawing. I've been drawing almost every day now since the WCAGA drawing marathon began in the spring. We'll be continuing the process through out the fall. Have I mentioned that I love to draw? Of course I'm drawing all the time when painting but what I've been doing is just purely for the fun of it. Drawing for myself and being pulled into that creative space that is like no other. It's wondrous.

A Fragile Life

Interesting work going on now. I'm catching up on details, finishing a painting for the Hambidge auction and finishing a three dimensional piece to continue the series "A Fragile Life". When my aunt died at Thanksgiving last year, she left me a number of books. Some were very old, she was 91 years old when she died. I didn't know what to do with them at first. Most titles were not ones that I would read or re-read but I couldn't part with some that friends had given her as a teenager. They were inscribed with the givers names and were important for that reason. Many were books of poetry; she like to write poetry. I realized that her love of poetry spanned a lifetime. So what to do? Not that hard to figure out really, I decided to preserve them with encaustic and the title for the series was born from her last years. I'm learning as I go. Although she had been full of wonderful energy for most of her life, her last years were difficult. Still to the end she stayed engaged in any way possible and I celebrate her.

Spring and Renewal

"River Birches" 40 x 30 inches

"Shifting Light"

It's spring here in southland and the blooming trees have bloomed and moved on. After my January exhibit it has taken some time to move on. That is not new for me though I didn't stop working. To paraphrase Chuck Close you don't wait for inspiration you just work everyday and I do. I'm interested in drawing right now and finding the time is beginning to be easier. A blank piece of paper is always a challenge but with a little encouragement from my inner child (she's fierce) I have embarked on a rest of the year programs to go back to what I loved from the first time I held a drawing tool...drawing. Not to say that I don't drawing all the time but I want to put more intensity into the process, really pay attention...experiment more, spent a long afternoon with nothing else on the agenda.

"After Midnight" 40 x 30 inches

"Light Walk"

"Grey" 48 x 36 inches

My painting has taken a most fascinating turn as I have begun to see a more blatant geometry emerge and a somewhat more vibrant palette. The hue of red is creeping in to more paintings. I need red right now, small doses but there is a definite hunger for it's richness. Strange to say I find it almost grounding. It's heaviness reassuring. For many years, I studied and received crits from Joseph Perrin, a master of geometry and color. So here I am once again going back to another first love with a renewed intensity, purpose, and seeing afresh just what magic color can bring. The vibrations are leading me on.

January 2012

"Deep Memory"     24 x 30 inches    Encaustic/silk photo/paper

"Strolling Deeper"      24 x 30 inches     Encasutic/silk/paper

"To Float A Little"      24 x 30 inches      Encaustic/silk/paper

The new year has brought such promise. With my solo exhibit behind me, I'm back in the studio ready to work again. I started with three paintings that satisfy me on a deeper level than expected. The work is less abstract than when I last worked but the work seems to be for me transition images. Inspiration comes from many sources but I often find mine from reading Mary Oliver poetry. Along with poetry from many sources is the music of Zoe Keating. "Into the Trees" plays constantly as I dream and draw. I hope she records more music as I now own everything available.