roiling, 38x36" as it looked at 2pm
today i felt back in the groove following our last trip. it usually takes a few days. this was the last of the whited-over paintings i had, so i'm going to have to consider my next moves. oil pastel plays an important role in this one, with a variety of blues, some purple & orange. inspiration was drawn from a number of photos i shot at the creek; the main one having been shot on our walk a few days ago.
12:57: yesterday i had to end my day in the studio at noon, because of the annual lunch event the the Crestone Zen Center. so the only painting i did was to sand & decorate my new found walking stick, which i'll use when we hike up north crestone creek, whch is where i found it. i peeled off the already peeling bark & sanded the top, so it would be smooth to grip. i hadn't intended to decorate it, but as i looked at it freshly oiled (with extra virgin olive oil no less) i remembered being with the aborigines in the australian outback. their totems, sheilds and so on are always beautifully decorated with designs relating, in one way or another, to their songlines.
i used the oil colors that were already on my palette from a few days ago, and just followed my gut, as i do when working on a post-motion series painting.
so now, as soon as the weather clears and the oil paint dries, this walking stick will join us when we walk up the trail. we're hoping to make it up to the lake before the season ends sometime in november. it's about a 4 hour hike each way, we're told. now you may recall we've been promising to hike up to the lake for a couple of years and never made it up. so stay tuned....
1:13 PM: today i worked on a recently whited over painting from 2014. as with all the paintings i've whited over, it has a surface enriched by the many layers of compositions beneath, and is now titled quantum rocks.
funky rocks, 38x38" at 2 pm
12:56 PM: we got back from durango last night & are both back at work on this overcast, early fall-like day. as often happens after being away for 3 days, a change is taking place in how i'm working. while still on the cusp between evocation & abstraction, there is a decided tilt towards abstraction. they evoke more guston & gorky than bonnard & vuillard, i'd say.
inspired as they are by natural forms, they continue to contain figurative allusions throughout: human & animal bodies, limbs, etc. this allows the continued experience of unexpected discoveries i strive for.
durango, 36x38" at 2pm
Grey Rocks Talking 38x38" at 4pm
4:14 PM: today i worked on another of the earlier motion series that had been whited over, leaving a few areas showing through. it's forming an identity but is still in process. it's a lot about getting out of the way & allowing the process to unfold, which i haven't yet been able to do with this one.
i'll be out of the studio for 2-3 days. it's always beneficial to return with a fresh eye & fresh energy.
purple rock II 38x36" at 2pm today
2:10 PM: after working on wiggle room for 2-3 days, i got that it was unsalvageable and whited over it. it happens. what counts is to recognize when you've hit a brick wall & let it go.
at work on purple rock II around 1:45 PM
i've been in the process of whiting over varios motion series paintings i consider unsuccessful and using the layering to my advantage. it tends to create a surface rich with suggestive marks & forms, which, i believe add to the mystery and up the discovery factor. i want the viewer to never tire of looking at the painting over and over and always discovering something new. part of that is folded into this new direction of the meta-motion suite of paintings. they all hint and suggest rather than hitting you in the face with indisputable forms & marks. they are more dream-like, less specific. some passages want to transmute into other forms, and are deliberately left, leaving you wondering.
a new title image for the MOTION page, which you see below
wiggle room 36x36" at 4pm
4:17 PM: i did more work on this painting, scaling down the size of the central rock, but i feel it's still too dominant, so lets see what tomorrow brings.
BELOW: 3 stages of wiggle room over the day
wiggle room 36x36" at 3pm
BELOW: wiggle room earlier today, on the left, and just now, on the right
3:05 PM: a dramatic transformation, and now the central image is the large brownish rock, which, as i gaze at it, seems too dominant. i'll see whether i have the energy to do a bit more, or i'll wait till tomorrow morning.
wiggle room , 36x36" as it looked at 1:30 PM
1:45 PM: i worked back into wiggle room today. a bit late due to our morning trail walk. it's still deciding what it wants to be when it grows up.i'm going to continue painting till about 3 or so, when we'll drive to elephant cloud to get ingredients for a stir fry tonight.
wiggle room, 36x36" as it looked at the end of my painting day.
blue rocks, 38x38" at the end of my painting day
4:28 PM: i think purple rock may be resolved, so i'm bringing it to the house, where it will be hung in the living room for the acid test.
so i continued work on 2 whited over & renamed, reborn you could say, motion paintings, now known as the meta-motion suite. they now have names instead of numbers, and have in common a lighter touch, a whitish ground and suggestive forms which are less descriptive than the earlier motion series paintings.
BELOW: details of blue rocks, left and wiggle room, right.
here's purple rock at noon today
BELOW: comparison of yesterdays version (right) and todays
studio view at the end of my painting day, with purple rock on the right & 3 painted over motion paintings
8pm: at the very end of the day, somewhat frustrated by todays slow paced work on purple rock, i began painting over 4 earlier motion paintings i wasn't entirely happy with. BELOW are 2 of them: right-logs in motion and left- zigzag. i may strat work on one or both tomorrow morning.
3:25 PM: delicate painting it is. delicate work it requires. but don't be skittish; sometimes bold strokes are what's needed. how do you know ? gut.
BELOW: left-yesterdays version; right-todays
8pm: at the very end of the day, somewhat frustrated by todays slow paced work on purple rock, i began painting over 4 earlier motion paintings i wasn't entirely happy with. BELOW are 2 of them: right-logs in motion and left- zigzag. i may strat work on one or both tomorrow morning.
purple rock at the ned of my painting day today
4:36: today was k. day (my 12 year old brilliant mentee) so i stopped at 2:20. i returned with fresh vigor to purple rock (don't you find it nicer that the paintings to have names rather than numbers?) iwhat i did was very little, very subtle. it's a delicate surface but it does read from where i'm sitting, about 25 feet distance. the whole thing has a pastel ring to it, yet it still has it's bones. i'm starting to thing this frequent travel schedule, due to political events we need to attend in different parts of the state, is beneficial to my work. it allows for a fresh eye.
