the completed, signed watercolor 107 13x20”
FINAL VERSION of my Artist Statement for the Carbondale Exhibition
11:46 AM: i’ve got to get this artists statement in to the director at carbondale arts by the end of today. this my my second re-write. the first version was too heady and not well suited to visitors to this exhibition, who i think will appreciate something more specifically related to the paintings, giving them a kind of guide. here it is, subject to change:
MOTION
I’ve made hundreds of landscape paintings over the course of my career. This is the first time I’ve made paintings of a landscape in MOTION.
The water in the creek is in constant motion, rushing and spilling over the rocks. so they are never the same from one minute to the next. Every spring, the snowmelt descending from the 14,000 ft. peaks creates a wild, out of control, loud torrent of rushing water. It splashes onto and over the rocks and fallen branches, shoots droplets into the air, following the path of least resistance.
SO, how to make this ever changing creek-scape-in-motion into paintings? That’s what I’v`e been experimenting with. The splashes create patterns. I love patterns. My brush began to mimic the movement of the torrents of water. Beneath the pools of water, in quieter spots, are grey/siena/orange rocks, large and small in the creek bed. The creek water above these multi-colored, multi-shaped rocks creates ever changing patterns. I use it as a springboard for inventing forms and using colors that emerge in my studio based on my mood and my kinaesthetic memory of the many plein air paintings I’ve made sitting next to the creek.
GAZE
I’ve loved the Fayum portraits painted in Egypt during the first century AD ever since I first discovered them in the ’70’s. I’m also very drawn to the faces in Vermeer’s 17th Century Dutch paintings. A few years ago I was into making collages, using old newspapers, maps and various scraps of paper. I began experimenting, making paintings, some inspired by Vermeer’s faces, others by Fayum portraits, collaging and painting over them. The resulting series of paintings are titled Gaze.
WATERCOLORS
Watercolor is by it’s nature a fluid medium. Perfect for making painitngs of a creek in constant motion. As soon as my wet brush touches the paper, shapes occur. They can be guided, but, as with the creek itself, they have a life of their own. Allowing this fluid meduim it’s freedom and then working over it once it dries, I use the characteritic marks and patterns of the creek-scape to begin creating an image. The medium doesn’t allow corrections and revisions. When the strokes are not spot on, that watercolor is discarded and I start a new one.
I may make a few tweaks, like changing the order so that watercolors come first, motion next and gaze third. there are a few typos as well, which i’ll correct & re-post. Also, I’ll include a few images.
so i did a bit more work on watercolor 107, which is a pretty strong one i think. here’s where it was at moments ago.