2 PM: after walking up north crestone creek trail this morning and then having an unusually long meditation, i arrived rather late at the studio and began work once more on gaze 30.
not unlike all it's brothers & sisters in this series, it has gone through a long, layered journey. unlike most of it's siblings however, the image has remained the same as the original drawing, based on vermeer's mistress and maid.
like the others, this is a painting that carries; i'm now looking at it from about 30 feet, and it really works. but it's also very exciting up close. the brush strokes; the patterned colored dots; the collaged maps, as well as the areas where the still wet acrylic has been scraped into with various tools designed, i think, to smooth out fresh grout or cement....these are all very wonderful to enjoy from just a few feet.
now, as you know, when i say "i think this painting is resolved," that's not something you would take to the bank. tomorrow it might well transform completely. the acid teat is always when i bring them to the house, where we can look at them at various times of day & in the company of the others in the series. the trouble is, the painting as is is too heavy for me to transport, since lifting heavy objects makes my hernia act up. (i self diagnosed this based on my symptoms & what i read online). i did go to the ER in salida last week, but their digital exam was inconclusive, and i didn't want to subject myself to yet another ct scan, which exposes you to the same amount of radiation as 500 xrays!!!
so i need to unstretch it from the masonite mounted on stretcher bars, which gave me the hard surface i need for collaging, to plain stretcher bars, which are so much lighter.