Hawaiian Rocks...

One of the benefits of painting in a plein air event is the chance to devote yourself completely to painting for a few days. Most of these events give you about 5 days to do nothing but paint for the exhibition at the end of the week. There are no errands to run and no responsibilities to anything but that upcoming reception. There are other painters working nearby and you can pick up ideas from seeing how they approach a painting and by discussing ideas over dinner.  I always seem to have some small discovery about my work during one of these weeks.

The painting above is from my trip to Maui. I had been out painting all day for the previous several days when I drove to this cliff and decided to paint these rocks. The sun disappeared and the wind was blowing like crazy, but I just wanted to try to paint this one last place before turning in my paintings the next afternoon. This painting felt like a struggle the whole time I worked on it, but I had a feeling that I could bring it around in the end. There was a point in the middle of working on it that I got this understanding of exactly how the paint should be applied and the colors mixed, and everything came together. Something about the experience of making this painting felt like I was getting an example of how painting should be done. The painting was a real struggle for a while, but I had a nagging feeling that it could all work out. This ended up being one of my favorite paintings from the week in Hawaii, and I feel like it taught me a lesson.

Discovery...

I have been learning about quite a few new painters lately; some worth further study, and some not as interesting to me. I have found that I find a lot of great info and references online, but also from walking through galleries, sometimes in magazines, and often through word of mouth. Talking to my friend, Doug, at lunch today he gave me a good idea for a new poll question along these lines, so I decided that this weeks question will be about your sources for new art discoveries. There are so many amazing painters out there,  some of whom are not well known. Whenever we can study a new painter’s work there is an opportunity to grow in our own work. So where do you find these painters?

Last weeks question was, “What percentage of your landscapes are done from life?” The answers were as follows:

75%, 18 votes
50%, 14 votes
25%, 13 votes
100%, 6 votes
None, 4 votes

With 55 total votes, I am really happy with how many people are contributing to the polls. I wanted a way for readers to be able to interact with my blog in a quick and easy way. It’s interesting to see that so many of you spend a lot of time working outside. I voted that I spend 75% of my time painting landscapes, working on site. I really love the experience of being a part of the landscape and taking in all of the complexities of visual information, but I am also finding a lot of value working in the studio these days.

Reflections...

I talked about this a little bit at the lecture I gave at the Camden Library this past weekend, but I wanted to try to say it more clearly here. This past year I moved to a new house, and also a new studio space. This has been a chance to rebuild my studio practice and rethink how I approach my work. Since I was starting from scratch with my studio space, I decided to look back at what was important to me when I started painting and my early lessons, early teachers, the excitement and the newness of of feeling like anything is possible in my painting. I’ve been able to tap into those same feelings again this winter, feeling like anything is possible. I want my paintings to aim for something more than just accurate representation. I want my work to always be intensely personal to me. How can every painting be a self portrait in some way? I put paint on canvas to try to understand the world around me. If I want my paintings to be more than just accurate recordings of nature, I need to strive for something deeper in the scene and in myself. I have spent a lot of time this winter trying to figure out what this will mean to me and my paintings and I haven’t come to any absolute answers, but I keep coming up with more questions, and ways to tap into a more personal connection with what I do. There is always more work to do in learning the craft of painting, but I want to make sure I don’t lose touch with why we create; the creative urge, the desire to share our experience of the world with others. When I see something I want to paint, I stop and ask myself what makes this scene interesting to me and how can I make that the focus of this painting. I want to keep in mind the power that other pieces of art have had over me, and aim to create that same powerful presence in my own painting. When I go to a museum it feels like I am going to a church and walking in the presence of beautiful images and works of deep personal expression, and I am moving through a documentation of the historical connection all of us have to the human desire to create.

Listening to a Bo Bartlett talk on Vimeo I was struck by something he said when talking about how we see and experience more when we slow down, and that making a painting is a gateway to that. He said that as artists we need to tap into the great mystery, and then transcribe it. I think it’s fitting to end this post with a quote of Andrew Wyeth’s that was also mentioned in Bo Bartlett’s talk:

“Your art goes as deep as your love goes.”

Do You Paint Outside?...

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With warmer weather on its way I’ll probably end up going out to paint on site a lot more often in the coming months. Thinking about the transition from working in the studio to working outside in the elements, I decided to make the poll question about the percentage of time spent working from life. I believe I learned a huge amount about painting from working outside, but I am also finding that I can use those lessons to inform my studio work. A few years ago I would paint almost exclusively outside, but some of the projects I want to work on demand more time and can benefit from the comforts of the studio. A few years ago I would have said that almost 100% of my paintings were done outside, but now maybe it would be 60%. I get the feeling that over time studio painting will be a growing part of my practice as a painter.

With 38 votes weighing in on the first poll question, Ultramarine Blue was the most popular blue, beating out Prussian, Pthalo and Winsor. I am thrilled to have had so many people weigh in on this new feature to the journal. Thanks for your input and I look forward to finding ways to make the poll questions more interesting. I will also try to have a balance of questions that are not all geared towards painters, but might also be interesting to viewers of art.

The painting above is the Hancock Grocery, 12×16″. I loved the light and the old Pepsi sign.

Website updates...

My friend Doug-the-amazing-webdesigner was helping me with my website this weekend. He spent a lot of time working on some really cool changes. We cleaned up a lot of areas on the site and made a few places more user friendly, and easier for me to update. One of the features I will have the most fun with is the poll question in the sidebar of the journal. Right now I just have a silly question about your favorite blue, but I think the poll will make it easier and more fun to interact on the site. If you don’t feel like leaving a comment, you can just contribute by making a choice in the poll. Once you register a vote you will be able to see the poll results. I am planning some more interesting questions for this venue that will also be explored in the journal.

Also, I did a brief gallery talk for my show at the Camden Library. I was pretty happy with how it went. I used to get terribly nervous speaking in public, but I have been working on improving that, and putting together better presentations of my ideas. I was pretty pleased with this past weekend’s talk, and seeing the show again. I am really happy with how the work looks now that it is all hung. If you are in Camden, ME come see the show before it is taken down at the end of the month. The show is put together by the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, ME.

The painting above is a banana bread stand in Kahakuloa, Hawaii. 11×14″