Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Painting's Progress

My next few posts will be devoted to chronicling the progress of the painting seen above.  It's about 4 hours old now, just a baby.  It's about 2 1/2 feet high, and 5 feet long.  I have this idea that I want to work on a series of paintings that place the viewer within a tangle of leaves, vines, limbs, etc., that need to be penetrated in order to see (or move) beyond.  For those of you who are familiar with my work, you know that my surfaces tend to be fairly refined, and my forms realistic.  What you probably DON'T know is that all my paintings start out looking like this one.  This time, though, I want to develop the surface, and the PAINT...not the forms.  What I mean is that I want the experience of the painting to be more about getting lost in a tangle of color, line, and texture (think Jackson Pollock goes outdoors) that resolves itself into subject matter from a slight distance.  In short, I want to find a new balance for myself between abstraction and representation that tips slightly more toward the abstraction end of things.  But as much as I want to develop the abstract (or maybe a better word is formal) qualities in my paintings, I'm too attracted to the subject to let it go.  So finding some specificity is important, too. 
  
What this amounts to is that I'm giving myself the advice I give my students.  I'm forever badgering them to make PAINTINGS, rather than PICTURES OF x,y, and z; I tell them that each square inch of canvas is equally important and that a painting is only as strong as its weakest moment.  Can I practice what I preach?  I'll keep y'all posted. 

8 comments:

  1. i'd love to be lost in a tangle of line, color and texture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't wait to see what emerges. As soon as you mentioned Pollock outdoors I pictured him in hip waders, wandering about in the muck and mud, slinging paint everywhere. Don't ask me why. I'm excited to watch this painting as it progresses. Also, we went to an exhibition of Maxfield Parrish over the weekend. I need, need, need to talk to you at some point about him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I envy you seeing an entire show of Maxfield Parrish...I remember a LONG time ago seeing a collection of his work in Portland. I like your vision of Pollock...he probably would have lived longer had he spent more time in hip waders.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like painting how it is at this stage - but that's me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This painting immediately made me think of the riverbottom in Bonita. I used to ride my horse through a tangeled labyrinth such as this.This is really beautiful Nancy!

    Beth Lane

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Beth...it's not a "landscape" that everyone understands, but there's nothing like getting yourself scraped and scratched and sweaty in the undergrowth!

    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  7. sounds promising. it's currently at a state where i really want to push aside brush and the fact that i can't is frustrating which also makes it interesting.

    ReplyDelete