Showing at Kat Schneider Studio/Gallery

Showing at Kat Schneider Studio/Gallery
First Thing in the Morning, mixed media on board, 9"x12",$350

Thursday, August 18, 2011

What do you think about.

Someone asked me what I do I think about when I paint a painting. I said that I think about creating a world that I would like to inhabit. No, this is not a landscape of some frightening planet swirling with inimical life. I am interested in a world that appeals both to my senses and to my intellect. I enjoy the way people can reveal unconsciously in their actions, things that they would prefer to remain hidden from view. Simultaneously, you can never really know someone because we are all isolated in our heads.

I can remember years ago asking a male friend, 'what are you thinking about?' 'Nuthin' ' was the response. I felt frustrated but at the same time I had to acknowledge the silliness of the question. I mean, really, what did I expect him to say?

I have not been as present in the blog or studio as I might be, but hey, it's a beautiful summer. I spent last weekend in Victoria with my family. The whole world was there. I swear that I saw a minor tv star in the  crowds. We went to tea, had a ride on a double decker bus and went for a lovely bike ride. Hope your summer is a pleasant.

Friday, August 5, 2011

An Improvement, I hope.

This post has been doomed from the start. I wanted to show how the painting looks now after I adjusted it this morning but the light didn't cooperate. Now I've freaked out blogspot. Anyway, here it is. Now it looks like a ship at sea and no, that's not what I'm going to call it. I must stop futzing around and print up my labels. See you at Art Walk.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

What's in a name?

It takes as long to name a painting, for me,  as it does to paint the thing and I don't have nearly as much fun doing it. What I want to express is pre-verbal. All my senses are involved in understanding the world around me and it's harder to put words to a gut level comprehension.

What if, as we move through spacetime, we cause ripples the way a heavy body bends spacetime. As I paint, I move around and time passes, and what I've done and thought before this moment affects this moment now. That's a lot of freight and maybe we can feel the displacement. Now, how do I get a title out of that muck?

I'm using a physics term in another discipline because time is thought of as universal and constant but when I'm painting my life experiences are part of the process creating a little wrap around my easel.

I'm not going to title this new painting right away, until I think of something pertinent. So for Art Walk this Friday I'll leave it untitled. Wouldn't it be neat if someone read this blog and came into the show to make some suggestions or start a discussion about these issues? Yes it would.