April 24, 2010

Déja Vu

Déja Vu

I was trolling through jpegs and came across the middle image as a work in progress. I had a sudden twinge of regret that I continued working on it, even though I like where it wound up. It didn't last long at this stage. I snapped this iphone pic, went inside and within an hour had such a strong urge to "fix" the painting that I couldn't even leave it that way overnight. I'm kind of wishing I had left alone, or I rather I should say, I'm intrigued with the seemingly empty gray-blue space. I'm now questioning why I don't let large expanses of empty space simply be, and wondering if it this is similar to having a hoarding mentality, except that I hoard color and brushstrokes that form things.




And THIS would be why having a separate studio is not for me...

Sleight of Hand, (in progress, again)

I knew I'd perseverate about this painting unless I got back in the studio, so after watching  a movie last night I went in the studio way past my normal bedtime and worked until I got here. I would say, again, but of course, there is no again in painting, not really.

I think it's safe to say that the act of getting back something, recovering something has become not only the meaning of this painting, but it IS this painting.* My only regret now is that I didn't work on linen or on canvas with heavy weight stretcher bars. It's odd, because I was so enamored with the 3rd image for the longest time. I mean, I really believed it was done. No question.

I still have work to do. The fist looks a little too much like a lightbulb, and I've decided the monogram on the cuff should be in cursive with the "H" in the middle.
*hairball  footnote: Why, yes, I did notice that I could have revisited the 90's by spelling re-cover with a hyphen.

I'm off to jury the final round of the NWS this morning.

1 comment:

Carla said...

I almost wrote something about the third image; it's very striking and unconventional, but....the recover is incredible, and so meaningful. It's so cool to follow your process, thanks.

It's over.

Nov 7, 2020. Tears of joy and relief. It's been unreal and I'm ready to get back to a sense of normalcy. The desert has been tough.