Monday, June 2, 2008

In Progress- New painting in studio/barn


Here is a new work-in-progress from the barn. The title is The Guest Seat (oil on canvas, 50" x 50"). I am trying to work out some things with space and shape, and color that have been getting to me for that last couple of years. One of the "things" is trying to paint specific ( even hard) shapes that stay distinct while at the same time do not seal themselves off from the rest of the painting. It has more to do with space than anything...I guess that I am after a kind of natural fluid space with specific and recognizable individuals,forms and objects.

This "fluidity" for lack of a better term is always present when I begin my paintings, but as the painting becomes more developed, the shapes become tight and stagnant. So the process becomes a sort of wrestling match between finished and unfinished, developed and under-developed. The goal is to retain the freshness of a good start and satisfy what the painting needs simultaneously.