All done

I am going to put this aside for the moment. I'm happy with the developments that occurred since the June critique, and I believe it may be ready for August's show.

Getting some rust out

This painting came to a screeching halt and was in dire need of feedback which it received today at the Joy St Studio critique. I think I had become too timid; and some of the simple ideas put forward really got me making choices again. I've introduced some larger compositional elements and am working on bringing up the contrast in my palette.

I have been able to work often this week, and I am making headway with this painting. Yesterday I introduced some strong horizontal lines and I think I've hit upon a cohesion that was lacking in my last few oblong compositions. This piece particularly is really exploring mark. I've found a wide variety of ways to work with the paint here without becoming overwhelming.

Quiet morning in the studio

I'm pretty tired after the long weekend at Brookline Open Studios, but it was a wonderful success. It's such a change for me to discuss my art with other people. I found the experience very refreshing.

This morning I spent a quiet hour or two in the studio. I began articulating a second bird in the upper right hand corner of this panel. Then as I grew tired of that I ventured into the abstract work on the rest of the panel. I've added beads, thin washes, goopy piles of pigment and stand oil and some interesting marks with oil stick and straight out of the tube.

I've started articulating a bird! It's always an exciting point in a painting for me - creating the living subject.

Lacrimosa 24 x 48"

Perhaps you can't see this very well, but I have begun another large panel. This one has three crying finches on it. For the moment the birds are vehicles for autobiography - stories about my family and about illness. The subject seems more down to earth to me than earlier ideas about evolution; and I think there is a certain spiritual meditation going on here that will allow me to access and incorporate religious references. We'll see. I did my thinking and this is the path I am walking down right now. While I do it, I have to put the thinking aside and use my intuition instead. Stay tuned...