4:25 PM: upon further reflection, i think what i may do tomorrow is to create a couple of figures painted on paper, probably the dancing figures from the final celebration at the tokyo olympics, and try them out in this painting, moving them about until they work compositionally. then i’ll collage the one or two i choose, bringing 6/10/2021 creek oil/collage more in alignment with the rest of the series.
6/10/2021 creek oil/collage 26 x 78” as it looked moments ago, as a horizontal rather than a vertical compositiona
6/10/2021 creek oil/collage on 9/14/21, as a vertical
2:04 PM: with a little bit of extra effort, it did work to collage onto the painting without the plywood underneath to press into. there were a few expected wavy bits, where the paper hadn’t adhered to the surface, but I was able to smooth those out pretty easily.
I had never been completely satisfied with that walking figure viewed from above, with his black top and scruffy hair. so I collaged over most of him. admittedly, I took a kind of childish delight in disappearing such a pivotal, central figure in the composition. but, truth be told, I much prefer this painting in it’s current state, as a horizontal. it now, I believe, finally works as a coherent composition. can it be called an abstracted figurative painting any longer? well, no. but I do believe it belongs in this current series of paintings, which is more about the flexibility of time itself than any of the figures most of the paintings do exhibit. so it’s kind of perfect that what were once legs now call to mind fish more than they do legs. and that my old buddy vermeer has once again wormed his way into the composition. this may be my most successful transformation of a painting.
matisse, always my role model & measuring stick, would likely have appreciated this composition far more readily than the previous state. he would have appreciated both the relationship of forms in space. and, although not part of his immediate reality, the juggling of space/time in a painterly, playful way.
12:08 PM: after having lived with this painting for over a month, hanging at the top of our stairs in the house, it became obvious to us both that the upper 2/3 needed simplification big time. so here you see me working on cutting up some drawings and newspaper articles to collage onto that portion of the painting.
the only problem is, I removed the underlying piece of plywood, which makes collaging so much easier, and to put it back would take too long. so let’s see if I can collage without it. i’ll know right away. stay tuned!
cutting paper moments ago to be collaged onto the upper portion of the painting