gaze 34, 38x38" as it looked at the end of my painting day
3:32 PM: as i said a few hours ago, :a map could appear at any moment." indeed it has. a vintage map of monongahela, west virginia; one of many maps generously gifted to me by my friend dan. i think these map cutouts have enriched the composition, which was a bit too predictable, and weighted to the left. i also did quite a bit of work to her face. this is the end of my painting day and ,once i wash my brushes mikela and i will walk up the trail. still a bit too chilly and windy to paint plein air, after last nights snow storm. although my european 19th c. predecessors wouldn't have thought so. bold fellows, they were.
1:26 PM: i contiinue work on gaze 34 today. for the moment, i am still drawing from the model in vermeer's the art of painting. her almost beatific, one might say, expression combined with his masterly use of oil paint makes this painting stand out. thus far, none of the underlying collage elements are visible, having been painted over. but a map could appear at any moment! and now, back to work while i still have my morning energy.
8:54 AM: this is a painting in oil on linen, ca. 1975, of my favorite model at the time; kyriakos. he was a street cleaner in plaka, where my studio was located, facing the roman tower of the winds monument. he was considered retarded, but i didn't think of him that way. he came and posed for drawings and paintings, all the while looking out my studio window to make sure his supervisor wasn't nearby.
as i write this, the wind is roaring, gusting to 40mph, after a snowy night with 3-4 inches of new snow. when i head over to the studio, i'll do my usual first glance and continue work on the ever evolving gaze 34. pics will be posted as work progresses.