Winter Cleaning...

It feels really good to have a cleaner work and living space. I’m really psyched to have my studio more organized. I still have some work to do getting rid of things, but it’s getting better. With all of the space I have, it’s been unbelievable how much junk I can accumulate. I want to try to keep things tidier where I paint. A clean studio actually makes it easier for me to focus.

The painting above is a rare experience for me. I can almost always remember tons of information about the experience of making a painting. This painting isn’t even that old (it was done this past fall), and I can’t remember where I painted it. I remember much more about my thoughts as I worked. This is an 8×10″ panel and I remember putting together a very simple composition and playing around with the subtle shifts in color of the scene. I remember getting everything pretty well organized, and then deciding to go in with pretty thick paint in a few places and getting a kick out of the texture, the way the texture was able to give information about shifts in the grass. I remember liking the way the foreground greens are a bit cleaner and more sour than the greens near the horizon. I have very specific memories about the interaction I was having with the surface of the painting. I remember all of this, but have no idea where I painted it.

House work...

I’m spending the day doing some house/studio cleaning. Right now bread is baking in the oven and as soon as that’s ready I’m headed back to the studio to start painting. I’ve been struggling a bit in the studio these days. I did some plein air painting recently, which felt great, but I’m having a tough time keeping that momentum when I get inside.

The painting above is an 8×10 painting of some trees in my backyard just before sunset. I’m really enjoying these snow paintings.

Here’s a fun quote from Delacroix about how excited he was by the helpfulness of photography in studying nature: “How I regret that such a wonderful invention arrived so late, I mean as far as I am concerned! The possibility of studying such results would have had an influence on me which I can only imagine by the usefulness which they still have for me, even with the little time that I can give to serious study. They are palpable demonstrations of the free design of nature, of which we have hitherto had only very imperfect ideas.” Quoted from the book “The Painter and the Photograph.”