Finding Joy in Painting Again
In recent years painting was put on hold as I focused on monotype and drawing. During this period I missed the smell of oil and the way it feels when it glides off my brush. I’ve also missed the ritual of getting the palette ready for each session, either putting down fresh colors or removing the skin from the piles of paint as they dry. In the last few months I have found my way back to painting, and what was supposed to be one small canvas is now developing into a quadriptych. Sometimes you need a little nudge to get things started, for me it came in the way of an exhibition entry in London. Somehow the possibility of being accepted and showing abroad excited me, and so I began to work on a small canvas. The new painting was supposed to be an addition to older work I was submitting for consideration. Things move in their own way, and soon I found myself working on multiple paintings. In the end I was not accepted into the exhibition, and that’s ok because this allowed me to find the joy of painting again.
The new work explores a limited color palette that includes a few pigments I haven’t used before, and it also explores working from imagination, a reactive process I have applied in my monotypes and drawings. As things developed I began to see the four canvases as the four times of day, done my way. I didn’t push this idea at first, it’s always best to let paintings tell you what they need and not force things on them. The first canvas took on a golden hour feel, my favorite time of day, especially in summer when at 5pm-6pm everything gets bathed in vibrant warm light. This painting slowly brought me to my plein air days when I used to paint in Central Park and Prospect Park. From then the second painting began to take shape.
Current color palette exploring a combination of pigments I either have not used before, or together.
The second small canvas began as in impulse. While working I thought it would be good to start a second painting with a challenge in mind. I decided to use the same color palette for both, the challenge being on making them look and feel different, and that’s when the idea of different times of days began to develop. As I worked on the second canvas I began to see that it was taking on a midday feel, when the sun is at is highest point and everything is bathed in bright light. I wanted to play with light and shadow creating glimmering effects, almost like a sun filled dream. For some strange reason I began singing to myself an old Ace of Base song from their second album The Bridge. The song Whispers in Blindness makes reference to “trees can talk,” and “trees are whispering.” And although they mentioned that “Swedish summer nights are hot,” I began to think of a Swedish summer day, and how I picture the colors to be cool and crisp.
As the work developed I noticed that my plaint handling has changed, I’m allowing the colors to develop a rough texture. I used to use sables brushes, and all my paintings were very smooth and “glossy,” but 2016 I switched to hog bristle to keep things new and interesting. Over time this hair type has allowed me to build my textures, something I have been admiring in work of the Impressionists, especially Monet. Because my work is small the brush strokes are not as expressive as Monet, but my smaller dashes and dabs are building a beautiful crust which lends it self to creating the illusion of clusters of foliage. I’m currently working on the third canvas, this one representing evening, that time of day when the sky has beautiful dark ultramarine glow as the last hints of daylight shine on the horizon. These paintings are challenging, more than the monotypes. Dealing with color adds one more layer of difficulty, adding to my challenges compositionally. I will continue to work on this series of four until I get it just right. More to come.
