Updates

I am working on all the pieces in succession right now. It helps keep me going - a) because the oil paintings cannot be worked for long periods of time, they get very wet; and in the case of pouring paint mixed with stand oil, I lay them flat to control the dripping b) because I am of a restless disposition and ready to be done with these! Let's move on already.

I broke through my hesitation with this piece and risked it getting ugly or making a mistake. There are still more boundaries to push. This panel is very new and the idea is still in its first stages. I can say that working directly on the panel with charcoal is very satisfying. Look how rich and satiny that black is.

We are still pushing along on the botanical. It's sort of only a fleeting thought, but I have sought to build these compositions by keeping one side light and working the other to a darker value. That inkling has solidified more with this piece. I seem to be working the left side with little or no water while darkening the right with layers of washes and heavy lines.
I really felt that this piece was dead in the water compositionally. I introduced the medium tone grey to begin building structure and visual hierarchy. It reads really well now online. Perhaps it is really truly finished.

Okay, okay, okay...

Here they are...

I don't want to say too much about them, but I couldn't resist offering small comments.

This is third in the Botanical series. It is smaller than the other two drawings at 18" x 22". I think these pieces are about first impressions, and a kind of dumbed down or simplistic drawing. They are also very much about exploring ink and mark making.

This was the easiest of the three panels to execute. And it seems to have maintained a light, airy, openess. The jury is still out as to whether or not it is finished.

I feel I finally had a breakthrough with this piece and am expanding it beyond a simple stencil and fill of the maple leaves. I am beginning to find ways to introduce visual language into this panel. Exciting!

This piece I have simply gone crazy on. Perhaps because it was the most desperate out of the three. It wasn't working out and that gave me permission to take big risks here. I have carved into the panel, applied gold leaf, scratched and sanded the paint surface. We're talking serious abuse.

Haus finch...24" x 24"

I don't know what I will name this painting. Right now you can search for it and observe its progress under the subject heading "house finch". I love it. But I think I am becoming too purposeful and hesitant with my current birch panels. I have swung the pendulum too far in the direction of caution. It is good that I am slowing down and working more deliberately, but I need to let go a little bit and allow myself mistakes and risks.

Spic and Span

I spent the better part of the morning cleaning and organizing my studio, and thank goodness! I managed to open up a vast savannah of space in what was a chaotic and cramped area. I was literally tripping over myself to extract tools and images from my various storage areas around the room. Also included in this post is the teeny tiny beginnings of the third poplar panel. I'm very excited by the prospects here. And I find that I am increasingly influenced by what I am seeing pop up in the field of design. Yay for pattern and color!