Nothing Very Much To See

I have come close to the finish of this painting on canvas and perhaps this is the completed version.

Nothing Very Much To See
acrylic on canvas
45 in. x 52 in.
2014

It has gone through so many stages beginning in 1984. In the last month I've renewed my interest and included some recent ideas and energy. The visual layering is still an important aspect. In this particular painting the earlier spiral design was very dominant. It took special attention to cover yet also retain this spiral or at least some aspects of it. It retains a reference to some artistic themes I was focused on decades ago.

A couple of phrases are included at the bottom. I had some fun with the letters, their meanings and visual movement. Its the movement of the eye across the picture which fascinates me. I am feeding the vision while provoking the mind to consider some implications of an overused expression.

This is currently still on unstretched canvas. I may keep it this way. Its feeling as an object is akin to a rug, tapestry or banner. It makes it a bit different to display, having no structure to hold it up. I will let it be for a while to wait and see. Absolutely!

Winterhawk Studio

Here is the look in my studio yesterday. I needed to pull out a large canvas from the back of the stacks so I spread them out in the available space and on the floor.

There is a span here of paintings from the 1980's to last month. My cell phone was set on panorama mode and stitched these individual stills into a wide view automatically in the camera phone.

Plasma is stretched after 30 years

I have nearly completed the relining and stretching of my painting, Plasma. This is the first look at how it appears, properly mounted after it was begun 30 years ago.

Reworking a Spiral

I chose another painting from the 1980's to revise, continuing the process after a long pause. This time it was quite a strong image. Over time an original image can be perceived differently. Difficult to describe, I became dissatisfied with it. There was no reason to accept it just because I once considered it finished. Not anymore!

I've got new colors and used another approach to mixing and overpainting. That previous painting, "It Is What It Is", was satisfying, especially in how the lettering gave me a new element to play with in the color field. The shapes could appear in layers moving forward and back as the eye roamed the picture. I could cover up a form yet it has a strength of its own resisting my masking. The new layer may be transparent enough to reveal what once was.

This time I am working from top to bottom.  I don't know why. I usually don't. Its interesting to alter my habitual approach. There is still more to do here. I need a way to push back on the past image and morph to something fresh.

It Is What It Is

This painting began its life long ago at my Neely Farm Studio in Norcross, Georgia around 1984. Its been rolled up, never stretched or mounted, moved about and stored for decades.  I only worked on it for a short time, waving my airbrush around freely with only two or three colors.

Well, I picked up where I left off. This time I thought to add text. I've been wanting to try this for a while. And what words and letters would I include? 

There are some things Americans say that annoy me. I won't explain it. See for  yourself.

"Whatever"
2014
48" x 54"
acrylic on canvas

Detail 16" x 20"

The same detail as above
How it looked in 1984

This is a Winterhawk Studio view in progress as I photograph the canvas tacked to the wall.

Looking At Plasma

After months of pause-and-go work on this painting I am coming near the end. I've had plenty of time to think up a title. It marks an end and beginning of seeing, my "post-cataract" period.

There has been an engaging kind of conflict finding forms that had an association to a real object and could be labeled. Should I continue to morph them and see what else they could become? Should I paint them more like what my mind labels them as? Should I paint them away as too obvious?

What I would like most is to design an original form and paint it in such a way that it is perceived as interesting, subtle and as complex as reality yet clearly artificial, but not stylized.

"Plasma" 2014
72 in. x 72 in.
acrylic on canvas