Happy Independence Day! Yet once more I experienced the new and delightful comfort of painting throughout the day. I'd prayed to be peaceful and content this day, spending it alone while all around me swirled the happy noise of families celebrating the holiday together. And my prayers were answered.
Part of the expression of that contentment was in today's painting. First a few swipes of color. An hour or so later, a few more swipes of another color. No conscious intent. Just looked at the empty page first and painted what felt like it needed to be there.
Each successive time, with hours in between each painting session, I looked at what was already there on the page, then added something. Not random. Just not intellectually chosen. I stayed in the realm of feeling and wordless thought.
Once again, I am much more drawn to the closeups. And I think I know why: I LOVE having the color FILL the image, and of course, in close-up photos, it does just that. One of these times I will try to take the picture of the whole image and frame it tightly enough to not show the tabletop, etc. Then again, with some of the paintings, I might actually like a portion of the image more than the whole image. Who knows? Feels so good to NOT be judging each painting as "good" or "bad." I am just painting, and loving the process of discovery.
I'm so grateful for this 100 in 100 project, and to Rowena for starting it and for Amanda for encouraging me to start. I'm finding a freedom in my painting that was most definitely not there previously. Who knows what all might unfold in the last 2/3 of the project?
Quite a lovely way to celebrate a day dedicated to freedom.
4 comments:
I don't know what you did differently except for the outlining. I do have to tell you that your logical sister looked at the views and saw 1.) a hotdog with mustard and 2.) a hamburger with tomato slices!!
You make me hungry!!! I'm still smelling the bacon you said you saw in another post!!!
I like it!
But what you said about liking the closeups better leads me to give you a challenge...
maybe you should try painting closer up. Instead of using the page as the frame, try to break out of the frame. Let your brush go beyond the edges of the frame, tighten the composition up as if you were cropping the painting, like you do with the photos.
This one reminds me of Matisse's papercuts, Mondrian's graphic abstracts, and a city street seen from above.
Ooh, great suggestions from Rowena here. They remind me of a comment from one of my favorite art teachers, Ann Porter--she would say that my compositions often looked as if they were part of a larger whole. I think I've lost that feeling somewhat, but would like to get back to it. That kind of composition leaves a little mystery, I think.
Regardless, your use of color is becoming more and more inspiring! I love seeing your progression through the 100.
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