3:12 PM: i did quite a bit of work on gaze 27 today, despite the fact that i got a late start. the original i'm busing for inspiration, lady writing a letter, was painted in 1665 and was given to the national galley of art in washington, d.c. by harry waldron hevemeyer. dorothy havemeyer, who was related to harry, was a client of my dad, who was a c.p.a. in nyc. in the tradition of dutch art of that period, a woman writing a letter almost always relates to love. the woman pauses in her letter writing to look, or gaze at the viewer with an enigmatic expression.
in my 21st c.version, the painterly qualities of vermeer have been emphasized, but of course on a far larger scale. as always, my primary concern is the integrity and juicyness of the picture surface. layers of abandoned portraits beneath this one whisper their invisible existence, making what we see on the surface reverberate with presences that, although buried, are not forgotten, such as the portrait of the kickapoo chief's daughter, one layer down.
i'm tuckered out, so i'll stop for the day & continue in the morning. it's been a hot day, and i have my large, noisy but effective swamp cooler going full blast.
10:55AM: getting a late start after our trail walk this morning. i still haven't done my hour of editing, so i'll get to the studio noon-ish & make up for lost time by ramping up my energy, already ramped up by our 2+ hours on the trail. Lots of mosquitoes today; couldn't have done it without or bug jackets & hoods.