Flying Colors...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not long ago I was exploring possible painting locations, and saw some cool planes at a quiet airport. There were a few good ones, but this was my favorite. But even in the slow season these planes were still in and out making runs to the islands all day. Had to paint fast, just like with the lobster boats and trucks. This is a 12×16″ plein air piece. I hope to get back sometime this summer and try another painting or two. Could make for some fun subjects.

Also, I wanted to talk about the poll question. I have been surprised by the results. I thought it would be more of an even split in the results, because I thought  some of the artists who voted would want viewers to make the effort to look for the artist’s intent. I can’t say that my initial reaction was to say that I put the effort into looking for the artist’s intent. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t. But after talking to a friend I realized that my question is a little too limited. She used the phrase, letting the painting read you. That rather than thinking about what the initial intent was, or finding our own meaning, we should look for ways that a piece of art can put us into an uncomfortable position in order to make us grow, whether that insight was intended or found through our own openness to the experience.  Opening up to new experiences is the surest way to grow, and maybe this is the way that experiencing art will make us become more.  Below are some thoughts from my friend, Jessica Stammen, who is a great painter herself and has an excellent show up right now at 10 High St in Camden, ME.

What if the meaning a painting has for me is meaning that I have never conceived of before? And isn’t this the whole point of art-making? That imagination (and therefore our capacity for empathy, beauty and truth) is exploded and expanded? If I simply read my own meaning into a painting I have not gone anywhere except for the familiar terrain of what my understanding of meaning is.

We cannot simply read paintings. We must let them read us.

There is a collective need for truth and beauty to be expressed and explored (and sometimes through the inverse of truth and beauty) and we are responsible to this.

 

As for the official results from this poll, the final tally was 90 votes; 94% say to enjoy whatever message you want to read. 6% say you should look for the artist’s intended message. New poll question idea from my wife. Vampires vs dragons? This poll will just be up until I think of a better one, so get your votes in fast.

Posted on Thursday June 14, 2012 | 3 Comments

3 Responses to “Flying Colors”

  1. Ron Wilson says:
    June 14, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    I like the way you break your lines, Colin. Brush stroke bravura!
    Ron in Canada

  2. Colin Page says:
    June 18, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    Thanks Ron! Brushwork is something I think about a lot.

  3. brian says:
    June 22, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    KA-BANG!!! Man! I almost swallowed my tongue scrolling past this one! What great colors and again ..great, great light! Can’t quite
    figure out what you’ve got, but I want it.

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