dancing creek II, 24x20” oil on portrait linen, at 2pm
1:47 PM: once i resolved dancing creek, i began work on dancing creek II, which has the same dimensions. my inspiration is coming from the same screen shot from our tv with a room full of dancers moving wildly to the music.
12:52 PM: the white space remaining after i took out the dark browns needed something, so i just went back into it.
dancing creek, 24x20” as it looked moments ago
11:52 AM: yesterday before leaving the studio and while the paint was still fresh, i took out the brown portion at the top. i think it’s way improved, so i’m starting a new one and will keep glancing at dancing creek to see if it’s really resolved as is or perhaps needs something more at the top of the composition.
moralis was one of the artists i knew during the 15 years i lived and painted in greece. i wouldn’t say i had a close relationship with him, but he was a dear friend of my then mother-in-law, the painter niki karagatsi.
i recall vividly the night he came to our appartment in athens for dinner. the conversation was riviting, and his simple humility very moving. a beautiful soul.
this is one of a series of colored drawings on paper he did in 1965, for the poems of the great greek poet, seferis.
i photographed these crestone conglomerates on our trail walk yesterday. these rocks, scattered along the trail, were formed about 1.8 BILLION years ago!! their unique forms, patterns and coloring deeply influence my painting.
