jazz IV 37x35”/94x89 cm. oil & collage on linen as it looked at the end of my painting day today.
2:22 PM: i’ve been working on jazz IV since 11 am. i took out two extraneous figures, simplifying the composition. i flipped it 45° to the right and introduced the walking figure of the good doctor, who appears as well in the other three painitngs in this jazz series. to his right, a half dressed female figure with a red top. beneath these two figures are two more, who were in the original skoufa version, which you can see if you scroll further down.
so what started out as a play on the image of people seen from above walking down skoufa street in athens has become an enigmatic grouping of figures, all viewed from above, moving about the white, 37x35”/94x89cm. space of the canvas. it’s not a dead white; beneath it can be discerned another layer of paint with a barely visible composition, adding warmth and mystery to the painting.
the white drip on the hair of the woman in the red top is a reminder that this is, above all, a painting; evocative, painterly marks on a surface that play with the reality we all know and recognize.
i feel that it passes one of my teests of a resolved painting, in that the space breathes. i think i could gaze at this one every day and find something i hadn’t noticed before.
11:04 AM: usually, at this time of day i’m just getting to work. but today mikela had to leave for school at 8am, so i got ready early & she dropped me at the studio about 8:15. after having my breakfast, i got to work on the 4th painting in this current series, formerly titled skoufa. that title derives from the original photos it was inspired by, shot from a second floor balcony in 2010, when i had a solo show at skoufa gallery. i whited out most everything but the figures, and went over the figure in the upper middle, which i felt was extraneous to the composition.
you can see the orginal skoufa painting BELOW on the left. and on the right is how the painting, now titled jazz 4, looked moments ago.
someone posted this on FB today. so sweet!!