I wonder.....

A couple of things came to mind today - one followed from a seemingly callous comment of a stranger on my FB page, calling my recent work "garbage." Further conversation with this individual revealed that they felt my work was "too literal." Ok, "too literal" is far more interesting to ponder than "garbage." As I worked my way through the concept of literal, I began to visualize all the ways - other than symbolically - I could depict things like fragility, feeling inconsequential, immortality, and learning to speak up. Today I embraced one of those approaches - allowing my form to dissolve into the ground. Sort of like she's melting - yet she's still fully present for the moment. Two of the studies I approached in this way are pictured above.

I have no end result in mind for these - yet - but I am spending time alone with them, asking myself lots of questions, and listening for answers. How does intensity of color impact my message? What about contrasts - can I use them intelligently to play off the temporal message? How do I marry the gesture of the subject with the gesture of the paint? or is this even a serious concern? Is what I'm doing even of any consequence?   Looking forward to pursuing these ideas more tomorrow.