watercolor/collage 127 at the very end of my painting day
5 PM: as has been happening regularly in the recent past, i made some dramatic changes to one of the two watercolor/collages i worked on today. as i gazed at watercolor/collage 127 before heading back to the house, it seemed too crowded & busy; another common observation about something i’ve been working on all day.
when i make these modifications, i’m in a very focused state, bypassing the calculating part of my brain and, usually, taking out rather than adding elements. i’m going for a more elegantly simple place. so about an hour ago, i engaged in that process and what emerged or rather who emerged, was archille gorky. always somewhere in my consciousness, gorky’s mark making, spatial discoveries and solutions often come to the surface when i’m in the process of simplifying. i think nothing of collaging over a passage i’m in love with, attached to.
you don’t get to this point by planning, plotting. rather, you get there by listening, letting go of attachment. i do use my many printouts of the best of the creek photos i’ve shot at different times of the year, with morning or late afternoon light. i constantly refer to them, gaining tidbits of visual information: flowing water; wet rocks; fallen branches; grasses & leaves.
DETAIL: watercolor/collage 127
2:01 PM: today my focus is on these two watercolor/collages: 127 and 128. i seem to be moving further from any signs that relate directly to the creek, other than some references to flowing, bubbly water. i’m more excited about creting compositions, which always have biomorphic shapes, that allow the viewer to make up his/her own story. is what a whale? those remind me of leaves; etc. i still have plenty of maps, which were gifted to me by my dear friend dan, and they are playing a significant role in this series of watercolor/collages.
BELOW: left: watercolor/collage 128 13x20” right: watercolor/collage 127 10x13”
