In the Air

In the Air; 36 x 45"; acrylic on paper mounted on panel; 2015

The work in Fisherman's Woman has been growing and changing as of late. The series of 18 x 18 inch paintings petered out at the end of last year with a run of unresolved compositions. It was then that I decided to allow the format of the paintings to expand. The imagery and marks were rough and tactile, somewhat naive, and I felt that a larger size would better accommodate them.

  Six paintings later and the space in the work has radically changed. As often happens to me, I had allowed the work to become too literal - too illustrative. Large expanses were filled with paintings of boats that were ever so clearly articulated with every detail nailed down. The paintings were so specific that they were being denied a larger meaning or more open-ended reading.

  Enter the last three large scale paintings where I have allowed my mind to wander without much of a plan trying desperately to "find" the painting rather than "make" it. It sounds zen, but I'm not sure it is, if I'm trying so hard. It is working. And I am creating a space in the work that feels expansive. I am finding color relationships that surprise me. And I am returning to imagery only when it finds its way in. It's all very exciting.