2:32 PM: i got quite a bit done, considering i'm going back & forth with editing video & painting! the painting in it's current state reminds me of one of the "unfinished" plein air paintings in the gere collection, shown in the national gallery of london in 1999. their guiding principle was to take the painting as far as they could in one sitting, and then call it a day. the thought was, if you try to come back & pick up where you left off, the conditions will be very different. so, since these were meant to be studies and not "finished" paintings, that became the accepted practice. the seductive beauty of paintings such as this one by closson, painted in about 1824-9, is for me irresistible. so whenever i get to a stage such as the one you see here, i am strongly tempted to leave it as is.
11:51AM: although i did manage to make the drawing for gaze 30 yesterday, the day was predominantly devoted to editing video for a wednesday presentation of actionlab360.
by the end of the day, i was going nuts, feeling the need to get physical, the way i've been engaging with the paintings in the gaze series. this morning, although i do have a bit more editing to do, i just dove straight in to collaging over the drawing for the gaze 30 canvas, and the beginning to paint. i'm so excited i can barely contain myself. and why should i? thank god, i'm not in a profession where containing oneself is necessary.
the image, for now based upon vermeer's woman with a pearl necklace, is, right now quite mysterious and engaging. ones focus shifts from the overall drawing, indicating that the entire canvas is filled with a detail of her head; to the only area where paint has been applied: her ear, with it's hanging earring.