Friday, April 13, 2018

No Man's Land

I'm in such an awkward place with this patch in my Core Values project. A no man's land. Although I trust that the layers I've built have the potential to go somewhere awesome, I don't particularly like what I see now, nor do I have any idea how to proceed.

I can detect some of what is needed.

But, I can't yet imagine how to create what is needed.

Artist Marion Hedger recently wrote about the phases of creating a painting, referencing an interview by Nicholas Wilton of Mark Eanes in which Eanes talks about three phases each painting moves through and how each phase has three phases.

So far, the one or two times I've tried in the moment to identify where I am in the process? No clue.

Today, when I stopped for the day, I thought, I am smack in the middle of the middle.

But maybe not. I may be at the beginning of the middle.

Or, possibly, the middle of the end.

The one fact of which I am certain: you'll see this painting at least once more, and it will have changed.

patch in progress



8 comments:

carol edan said...

Wow, that is/was confusing! I can only say that I like what I see. Of course I am definitely not in the middle,beginning or the end. Will view the interview again tomorrow morning with a clearer head, would also love to learn this painting process!
Definitely be great to know just where I am!

dotty seiter: now playing said...

The idea of a painting's perhaps having three phases, each of which had three phases, was interesting to try on, if for no other reason than to be reminded in a general way that any piece of work is likely to go through cycles of freeplay, congestion, and resolution (my words, not Eanes's). In the end, as Eanes did point out, a painting may not ever be 'done' per se, but the hope is to stop in a good place.

Lola (Jen Jovan) said...

What a Seussical description of your state of painting! The idea of congestion...I like that. I think of it as tension that I must resolve. Being stuck in the middle is uncomfortable, but it gives the final resolution that much more JOY! And this patch is definitely going to be a beauty...

dotty seiter: now playing said...

Jen, LOVE your Dr. Seuss allusion! Like you, I often refer to the unresolved as tension—because that's exactly what it is!—but in this case congestion came to mind. And it really can be fun (with or without discomfort), especially once your experiential databank includes moving past that middle ground to transforation and resolutions. Thanks for your faith that I'm moving towards a beauty!

Sheila said...

You said, exactly what I was feeling with my sunset clouds. I knew kinda what I needed, but I could not figure out how to create it. LOL Only you said it so much better. I love the little pattern pieces, they make me think of windows. This feels dreamy, reminds me of Chagall, and his dreamy works ;)

dotty seiter: now playing said...

That knowing what-but-not-how is a tricky place to be! I'm so grateful to be in the lab with you experimenting, learning first hand together and from each other.

The little pattern pieces, which were put in place with a stencil, remind me of windows also.

Chagall! Sheila, thanks for providing company in my no man's land! Gives me a whole new optimistic outlook!

Joany Kendra said...

I also see windows, like a tall apartment building in a city. Is that a cloud of steam rising from a manhole cover? I love the blues in this.

dotty seiter: now playing said...

Joje, I'm just loving your observations! Fun, and helpful to me. I see a tall apartment building also but you added to the city scene with a cloud of steam rsising from a manhole cover. Glad you're liking the blues here.

Thank you for your comments!

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