Sunday, January 27, 2013

Back at the easel






Large chunks of this weekend have been spent painting, adding and subtracting layers, with cups of tea going cold, a sign that I really forget everything else when I am immersed in the process.

I was reworking an old painting that I no longer liked, and the face that emerged this time around is happier. While it isn't a self-portrait per se, I have put myself into this figure and feel an attachment to her - painting this was more cathartic (or rather celebratory) than anything else I have done so far this year.

Boats keep appearing everywhere, and crowns and cats. After working in response to words for the last few months - which is also enjoyable - it is nice to have completely free reign. I had missed painting. A new talisman is this miniature lighthouse I was given recently. I focus on it when I need to think and when I need to stop thinking.

Sometimes I wonder whether I should have more of a plan, but then I remember this John Cage quote that is pinned to the board in my studio: "I really think that it's important to be in a situation, both in art and in life, where you don't understand what's going on", and I am reassured. Because it is very much the case for me right now in both areas, and maybe I need to yield to that and not try to actively figure anything out.

4 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh I love the miniature lighthouse. I want one!!

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