Bit by bit, the snow is almost gone, as each day grows warmer and warmer. I had most of the colors mixed for a large study of sunflowers from last week, only to find the stems turning black before I could put paint to canvas. I wasn’t able to replace the bouquet right away, but I did find some nice marguerite daisies. I took a break from sunflowers, and on Saturday I finished a small study of daisies in a milky white glass vase. Many years ago I finished several studies of marguerite daisies, and a stylized shorthand for individual petals always served well enough to resolve those details. For the first time I decided to attempt to capture all of the randomness of odd spacing and odd shapes. Someone once told me the more you focus on something, the bigger it becomes, so I decided to focus and fixate on edges and negative spaces, with mixed results. I should have an image of this piece to post in the next day or two.
Over the weekend I was able to replace the sunflowers with a fresh bouquet, and picked up where I left off before the diversion of the daisies. After three days of slinging paint, I have a massive and rich surface, and colors rolling from brightest yellow to dark red in an attempt to get the flowers to cup and turn and tilt. Tomorrow should see this piece all but finished.
I finished the study of a single vine ripened tomato. I surprised myself with how well this turned out, but then again I did hammer away at it for many hours yesterday and today. A different skin surface was a challenge, and the translucent quality of the flesh of the tomato seemed to light up from within. I learned some good lessons about red, spanning every aspect of lightness, brightness, hue and saturation. Within minutes of completing this piece I was shooting images of it for some last minute show application deadlines.
Today I started mixing colors for a small study of a single vine ripened tomato. The lack of a high gloss surface means I’ll have to take a good hard look at the transitions and reflections to really describe this subject. I’ll be throwing some paint around tomorrow.
In other news, today marks the sixth year anniversary of the day I bought this house. As I stood outside tonight with Frank, I was enchanted by the bright moon casting shadows of the frozen trees in the snow. Everything seemed to be moving as the wind continued to push across the forest, and all of the swaying lights and shadows seemed to come alive. This whole place breathes with life, from the deer that cautiously pick their way through the forest to the massive hawk that perched on the railing earlier this evening. All of them are like ghosts, fading into and out of the shadows like an intricate and mysterious dance.
Frank also celebrates his sixth birthday today, rolling on his back and grunting like an animal as I write this. While I shovelled the driveway this afternoon, he sat in the snow and watched me, and smiled.
I’m finally back to the great white north, after a week cruising through the endless highways and backroads of the deep south. For the most part it was a series of family visits, but the trek ultimately culminated with us exhibiting at the Naples National Art Festival. Aside from what seemed like an endless comedy of errors, it was good to be back in public after a long winter of isolation. It was also nice to be able to sit back and see my paintings hanging as a somewhat cohesive body of work.
When I’m miles away from my tools, I tend to be fairly critical of my own work, and everything winds up looking like little more than tricks done with pieces of paint. I have a hard time getting lost in the illusions I tried so hard to complete, and everything looks pale and shallow, both in execution and concept. I have a few more things to consider on the giant study of twelve apple that’s still on the easel (and still surprisingly wet), and then I’ll dive into another adventure.
It’s nice to be home, and Frank seemed especially thrilled to run through the snow again.
Yesterday the sky went from dark and overcast to even darker as the day progressed, and I spent the morning pulling the old battery out of my big truck and swapping it out with a new one. Just when I was ready to finish my giant study of twelve apples the sky grew even darker and snow started to fall. I did manage to rework all the shadows to anchor the subjects down to the table top. In the last dim light of the late afternoon I started to see some exciting transition colors along the edges, and I found some critical cues to help the surfaces turn. As much as I like to avoid rendering details, I did wind up nailing down a bunch of small loose ends as well.
We were supposed to be on the long road to Florida this morning, but another blanket of snow inspired us to postpone our departure. In the bright light of day I was able to really look at this supposedly finished piece to find some areas of mud. I carefully carved out some spots and remixed, and laid it all back down again, so the conclusion to this painting has gone on for two whole days. Aside from going somewhere warm, I’m excited just to be on the road again.
I made some more headway on this giant study of green apples. Blocking in the secondary light sources helped to make some of the apples gain some depth and mass. It’s starting to be a little easier to stand back and look at it, and tomorrow will be spent redefining some of the shadows, and continuing to study the secondary light sources. It’s odd, digging around to find what color lights up and turns away at the same time. Things still look a bit flat, and I may apply quite a bit more paint in my effort to create some cohesion and atmosphere. So much of this eludes me, and it barely seems like I’m getting any closer.
Just when I thought I’d have a day of production and progress, I wound up spending more time looking than anything. I built up the surfaces of all the negative spaces between the subjects, to the point that it’s obvious how and where the subjects no longer have mass and presence. I can easily see where surfaces don’t properly turn in space, so my work is cut out for me tomorrow. I’m reminded of all those classes where the phrase “look more, paint less” seemed to resonate like a mantra. Spend more time studying and understanding, so each mark will be introduced with eduction and insight. Articulating a negative space will demand that the positive spaces be equally addressed. Tomorrow will be an exciting day, as I’m finally starting to learn something about how to paint.
The giant study of twelve granny smith apples continues to come into focus. With the dark and crushing blizzard of yesterday finally past, today’s sky is so blindingly bright that I’ve been wearing sunglasses in the painting studio. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to affect anything. After two days of blocking in transition colors, I hit a few hard edges and details, and it’s suddenly starting to snap together. Overall it feels like I’m mixing in as much red as all the colors that make green, but it seems to be holding together. Tomorrow will see this start to really coalesce into a solid piece of painting.
On a side note, for the past month my wife has been busily putting together a blog of her adventures in cooking. She doesn’t need to be promoted by me, as she’s quickly becoming fairly popular on her own. Aside from how colorful and complete her blog is, the food is absolutely spectacular. She lists the ingredients with easy to follow recipes for many authentic Thai dishes. You can sign up for Amporn’s Thai Kitchen Fan Page to keep up with each day’s creation from Facebook.
Today I continued to block in color on this newest giant study of twelve green apples. It seemed to take quite a bit of stamina to keep moving on this painting. In between bouts of mixing and laying down paint I took a few breaks to relax with some aggressive shovelling, just to get one step ahead of this next snowstorm that is upon us at this very moment. The hushed silence outside is deep and profound. And strangely, no matter how much snow keeps falling, I still can’t get over how beautiful it all is. Endless waves of blue-white, the morning sunlight reflecting like fire off the glasslike surfaces, and of course seeing Frank practically swimming through some of the deeper areas is fairly entertaining as well.
I have almost the entire canvas covered and brushed out, so tomorrow will be the beginning of building up the surface with some more layers of observation. The snowstorm is supposed to get worse as the day progresses, and I’m excited to see what color I can find in the darkness of the blizzard.
I started to arrange another study of eleven apples, and then things snowballed as I emptied out a fresh new bag to bring the total up to seventeen apples, with a few oddly shaped pieces being set aside as dog treats. I edited things down to a nice arrangement of thirteen, but after a brief consultation with my wife I decided that too much meaning is coupled with that number, so I had to remove one, for a nice tight arrangement of twelve. I mixed most of my colors and blocked in some areas just to get things moving. So far it’s a big mess, but it does feel good to be starting on something huge and substantial. All of the tricks and imprecision of working small feels like magic and sleight of hand, while a grand scale demands accountability. I’ll be interested in studying all the different ways that edges can be lost through all the different light sources, as the fresh apples are fairly glossy and reflective.
Speaking of things snowballing, I never did manage to completely shovel out my hundred yards of driveway from last weekend’s blizzard before yet another blizzard will be upon us by tomorrow evening. Normally I’d have no problem waiting until the spring thaw to get vehicles from my house to the street. Of course I will be trying to leave for Naples, Florida early next week, so at some point the big truck will have to navigate the luge run that is now my driveway.
Yesterday I finished an odd study of a pair of brown shoes. I’ve been putting some thought into this subject for the past few weeks, and decided to go ahead and give it a try. The suede finish defied my abilities to sculpt form and depth, as it seemed to just flatten out with any reflected light. It was a good exercise in understanding some different qualities of transition, but I’m not sure if it ended as a strong piece. Today I attempted to carve out a small study of a single banana. I did a tiny study of a banana about a year ago, which some people felt was successful. I remember at a gallery opening overhearing one angry patron saying “I really wanted that damn banana”, so I’ll take that as a compliment of some sort. On a larger scale I couldn’t find enough cues to help suggest the depth and mass of this subject. A tiny scrubbed out study can be adequate, but I wound up scraping out my day’s effort with this larger version. Usually I’ll find some value in even the more futile of struggles, but I decided to cut my losses and play in the snow with Frank while the sky cleared for a beautiful sunset after almost 24 hours of snowfall. Aside from having a fairly difficult painting session, it was a lovely day in the snowstorm.
Just when I thought I’d be diving into an energetic series of new paintings, I got mired in paperwork for my year-end corporate taxes. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything quick about Quickbooks, but bit by bit it’s making more sense. Just when I imagined I didn’t need anything on paper, I wind up with more paper statements than I’ve ever seen in my life.
I did manage to get a few images posted of some recent paintings, including the massive 60 by 84 study of eleven royal gala apples. It was exciting to see this piece again two weeks after finishing it. I barely have enough room to move this painting, much less to be able to take it out and study it. It will be nice to see it in a frame and on display at some point.
