Rainy Daydream

Sunday September 28, 2008

No title yet. size is around 36X36”

Today is a rainy day, so I’ve been doing some work in the studio. I started this painting a few weeks ago, when I had my friend Ali pose for me in the front yard. I wanted to try to do a figure painting outside, that would feel like a fresh air scene, something that would help me hold on to the warm summer days as the fall moves in. I spent part of yesterday and today continuing work on this painting and I think its coming around. I’ve been making the grass a deeper, darker green, so the quilt would show up more, and I’ve been trying to choose where I want harder edges and more contrast, to direct the eye. I really enjoy how, as she lays on the quilt, the color of her shirt starts to merge into the color of the quilt. Plus I’ve always thought of this quilt as a dream image. Maybe it reminds me of clouds… I don’t know, but it seems fitting to have her laying down and daydreaming in this scene. When I get better photos I’ll post some detail shots, so you can see these things, but I was also intentional in painting her with open eyes. I didn’t want the person in the painting to be too detached from the viewer, as I thought she would be if her eyes were closed, and she were completely off in her dreams. It seems like sleeping figures interact with us (the viewer) less. Maybe it’s because they don’t know we’re there… Sometimes it makes the viewer feel voyeurisitic… or the dreamer is involved in her own story which doesn’t relate to the world around her at all… I don’t know, but I felt like this figure was more grounded if she was only lost in her thoughts, and not sleeping.

The colors in this painting seem kind of fun and playful, so I thought I could get away with little surprises like her striped socks. I have another thing or two that I’m thinking of adding in, but I’m letting the painting sit for a little while before I change too much. Alot of this canvas got repainted this weekend, a good amount of the quilt and its far edge along the grass got repainted after I shot this photo at lunch, so I want to get used to all of this new information before I change too much. I’m pretty happy with the way the face is painted, and the general sense of the scene, but we’ll see how I feel in a few days.

I’ll get more and better shots of this painting in a few weeks. It’s hard to get a good shot of a painting when it is still wet, plus I’ll probably wait until I consider it finished before posting about it again.

Now, as for our Port Clyde trip, there was a story written about us in the Free Press, a local newspaper. It’s a great story and I htink it does a really good job of getting the feel of our trip across. If you want to check it out here’s the adress:
http://www.freepressonline.com/

Also, tomorrow there is a series of panel discussions starting at the Farnsworth. There will be 4 Monday evening discussions by artists about making art. I will be participating in one on Monday Oct 6. Our topic will be “Tradition and Innovation” At the Farnsworth Museum Auditorium Monday Evening, October 6, 2008. 5:30-7:30 PM. Individual talks $6/$8. Series of four evenings $20/$28. Reservations: 207-596-0949. The panel will consist of me, Connie Hayes, Sam Cady, and the moderator, Tom Denenberg. You can see Connie’s and Sam’s work at the sites below.
http://www.conniehayes.com/
http://www.caldbeck.com/artist_info.html?artist_id=14

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