2:47 PM: i continued painting athens 1 today. it’s coming more into focus now, as the reflection on the right activates the quality that moved me to shoot the original photograph, where the reflection becomes as critical, perhaps more interesting visually, to the composition as that which is being reflected. the reflected sky, predictable a shaqde darker blue than the original, enriches and accents kapnikarea, which is the name of the 11th century byzantine church, constructed originally over the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to the worship of a goddess; possibly athena or demeter. i like to think it was athena who intervened when a bavarian architect brought in by king otto I wanted to demolish the church.
located as it is in the heart of athens, right in the middle of the highly trafficed ermou street, it’s always surrounded by pedestrians strolling down the street. they will begin to appear as this painting progresses.
following my talk this morning with the director of genesis gallery in athens, where this and other new work will be shown next march, we concluded that this will be one of only two paintings this large: 34x44”, and the rest will be about half the size, in addition to smaller works on paper.
5:55 PM: as part of the process of removing the old and installing the new windows in our house, mikela took a painting off our east wall & was so engaged in what she was doing that she failed to notice a gouache on paper taped to the wall beneath the painting she removed.
it was painted on 1/31/2017 and is one of a series of semi-abstarct creek inspired paintings i was making at the time. when i first saw it from a distance of about 20-25 feet, i was struck. struck by it’s freshness, it’s playfulness and it’s ability to include landscape elements in a very skinny composition in such an effective way.
