Time seems to have just flown this year of transition, 2013.
Here we are in the last month before the page turns and we usher in new hopes
as symbolized by the turning of the calendar. Another year escapes our grasp. As I look around I see how time has
taken us prisoner, turning us away from quiet thoughts as we are now in
constant contact, always in demand. A product of advances technologically,
which we eagerly embrace, but at what cost if in the process we get swept away
and lose our selves in the process?
The difference between my studio in Montana and Chicago is
the relationship I have with this chaos of constant contact and the press of
time. Now that I am back in
Chicago, going on two months, I find this constant need to isolate and find
long, uninterrupted hours to be another battle to contend with. It is not
enough to push and find purchase within the studio, within a given painting; I
now have to fight against those outside demands in a way that is absent in
Montana.
I know that this is a struggle we all face within our daily
lives of work and family.
For an artist, especially as we get older and the body does
not take as kindly to the abuse of stress and lack of sleep, I find that quiet
and deep isolation become more and more important. To be able to tap into
consciousness at a deeper level it is so important to look within, to not get
caught up in chaos, to observe and witness.
I came back to a studio in Chicago devoid of prepared
canvases and spent the first two weeks building, stretching and priming 12 new
pieces ranging in size from 2’x3’ to 8’x6’ before I had to shift gears and
prepare for the studio opening and unveiling of the book on October 19th. After the opening I began two new large
canvases:
68"x80"
84"x60"
Beginning new work is intense in itself as once I begin
applying the turpentine washes I don’t stop or take a break until they are
full, rich and dripping in paint. It is a dance of movement and abandon. The
layering of colors on top of colors without intellectual thought, a process
that can last over 10 hours or more.
If I have prepared properly with an idea and drawing I can
just be totally in the moment without regard to whether the painting that
begins to emerge is like the drawing.
In a deeply satisfying way it is a transcendent movement, a waking
meditation, an almost out of body experience.
It is within this mezmerizing process that the pure essence
of creativity unfolds.
I now have been working on the oil on the right for a month
and will begin to share a series of post as this painting progresses.
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