I've gotten the girl back to school. She is very excited to be a 5th grader. And I am very glad to get back to a routine and have hours of studio time. The early mornings are tough tho.
Yesterday I met V.... for hot chocolate and painting. I started a chef scene. Will finish it today. Also, I'm shipping out some work for the Farm to Table show at DK Gallery this week.
I continue to think a lot about my work and am considering workshops or maybe asking someone - some "master" - to mentor me and help me push through to the next level. Less representational, more expressive. But I am not sure that can be taught. I think I just have to be willing to risk messing up a good painting to create something that is great. I have to stop analyzing and correcting until the soul is gone.
The painting below has been on my easel a month now. I like it. But there are certainly things that are incorrect or odd looking. But if I go over it and make changes, won't I tighten it up and just create another average picture?
untitled, 18x18 oil on cradled panel
If I look at Dan McCaw or Tom Balderas - two amazing expressive impressionists - their perspective is off, their figures not perfectly rendered, etc. They are still much looser than I, but I am working my way there. Slowly! And I think that is part of the secret too. Their paintings might look random and messy but they have worked very hard to create that illusion. I imagine every stroke is planned and put down and left alone.
