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.

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Teaching and Learning

My brave crewe of painters from the Louisiana Art and Artists Guild.

I've been in Baton Rouge the past week, painting alongside these lovelies, working on color, brushwork, and what it means to honor one's path as a creative. They were fearless and inspiring, each one tackling their own wish list of lessons and finding ah-ha moments. Including me! Now I'm in New Orleans with Dianna Reilly (A.K.A. Stella Gray) for a few days. New Orleans is the perfect setting for further discussion about the way creativity weaves itself into our lives, and how we can best feed it. There are also grits. Lots of grits.

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