Let It Flow!

My internal weather is frightful;

Can't get calm, though, try as I mightful,

But since I've got paint set to go,

Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow!

paint straight from the tube,
moved around with my finger

detail;
more colors, finger painting and mixing

Continuous Loop

idea, trial
error trial nope trial*
oh! resolution

---------------------------
*repeat as indicated

Through the Heaven-Reaching Evergreens
12 x 12"; acrylic, ink, and pastel on masonite panel
abstract landscape
2019

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history:

free already-painted masonite panel
acquired at neighborhood yard sale

my first layers on the panel;
acrylic over black gesso

multiple layers later, 
over another coat of black gesso

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detail photographs, showcasing accident and blessing, layering and scraping, mixing and remixing, tapping lived experience and flying blind, trying one thing after another and responding to my inner compass moment by moment:

Whispers on the Wind

yes no maybe so
walking changing step by step
here there letting go

Holding Fast in Rising Wind
12x12"; acrylic, ink, and pastels on masonite panel
abstract
2019

Transposition

About a year ago I posted a rhythmic chant from camp days that periodically comes to mind:

Left foot, left foot,
Left foot, left foot,
Left foot, left foot,
        Right right foot!

As was the case a year ago, the words today transpose themselves, this time to the following:

Bookmark, bookmark,
Bookmark, bookmark,
Bookmark, bookmark,
          Post post card!

I'm feeling feelings today, yielding to many transpositions swirling around me.

Responding to intuition, to what I see in front of me, to what pops into mind.

Pushing Like a Storm Surge into Unexpected Places
4 x 5 "; acrylic, India ink, and transfer letters on drawing paper, mounted on cardstock
abstract
2018
[gift]

Romper Room

I don't often paint in the morning.

But today?

I relish nourishing early-day moments in my studio.

And I romp.

Windows and doors wide open to the fresh air and sparkle of a stunning summer morning in August.

Paintbrush and paints wide open to the unpredictable play of creating conundrums, puzzling out predicaments, ruining resolutions, and indulging impulsivities.

Really, though, what is that blue vase still doing there?

work-in-progress after today's romping

Constraints

My constraints today: (1) only a few minutes to play in my studio and (2) feeling stumped.

Tension arises from the combination of my having a pre- but barely-conceived idea in mind, not knowing how I might reach toward that idea, and resisting my intuition's call to let go of any specific outcome to instead respond to the canvas as it evolves.

The tension is just that: tension. Something pulled tight. Neither 'good' nor 'bad,' just something of which I am aware.

So.

I draw some lines with pencil and ruler.

I yield to the unpredictability of tracing those lines with a temperamental ink applicator.

Now I need to turn my attention elsewhere, so I prop this little 36 square inches of canvas on my desk, where it will catch my eye off and on until I get back to my studio tomorrow. Wonder what will percolate in the interim.

pencil lines
work in progress

India ink on top of pencil lines
work in progress

Who's in Charge Here?

I have an idea I want to capture in paint, a feeling actually, the feeling of a particular afternoon from a few weeks ago. Not sure how having a vague idea and a conscious desire to express a feeling will play out.

I select a 6x6" substrate (canvas board this time) that I painted in 2014 and never liked. Dab some colors on the surface straight from paint tubes.

2014 painting done at Prince Edward Island

Move the paint around with a scruffy hardware-store brush, a foam brush, and my finger. Scratch the surface with a metal skewer.

first layer of coverup

Keep adding and moving paint around, do a bit of stenciling with a piece of mesh.

additional layers

This isn't how I planned to start this experiment at all, but my thinking brain gets mostly usurped by my intuition and body who tag-team and take over.

Lickety-Split

With my friend Simone as a role model, I keep setting out to make a quick collage postcard. My plan is always to pop into my studio, grab some already-painted paper, tear off a few pieces, glue them to cardstock in a simple composition, and add a dash of finishing touches with crayons/pencil/pastels.

In and done, lickety-split.

My dream is that I will whip out a collection of postcards in no time.

I keep noticing that it has yet to happen that way.

Oh, well.

Today I picked up a card I'd started last week (no lickety-split with this undertaking), and parked myself with some supplies while I listened to an interview posted online. The interview seemed to claim my left brain, making space for my right brain—which held the ink pens and pastels—to wander freely without interference from thoughts. Perfect.

A postcard.

In and done, as slow as molasses in January.

The Second Thing Happened Only Three Days After the First
4x5"; latex, acrylic, India ink, collage, and water-soluble pastels on cardstock
abstract
2018
[gifted]

Repartée

Another day with a few minutes in my studio and further interaction with free canvas #3.

I set the canvas in front of me.

Give it time to speak to me in some way.

Several pockets of neutral make a little noise that catches my attention. Develop them a bit and, once I set paint and palette knife in motion, the conversation picks up for a short, rapid, playful back-and-forth that includes bright pops of oil pastels and bold marks from a black paint marker.

The canvas now sits on the landing at the top of the stairs near my studio. We exchange greetings in passing. Intermittentlythroughout the day I take in its color, composition, linework, and layers.

Will continue to do so till sometime next week.

free canvas #3
work in progress

Inspiration

Along with moseying back into painting and blogging this week, I've begun to mosey back into Instagram.

While scrolling through my IG feed, I took inspiration from artist Maz Hawes.

Literally.

I inhaled and then before I even had time to exhale, I took that inspiration, squeezed some white paint on free canvas #3, and spread it around with a palette knife.

Then I let my breath out.

Love that all-action-no-mind kind of painting—thank you, Maz!

free canvas #3
work in progress

detail

detail

To Unfold Exactly

Deep inside, almost from day one, I've trusted my art to unfold exactly as it will unfold. 

My shallow outside, however, gets a little antsy and doubting at times, wanting to direct and control more than trust. Wanting to hurry things along or achieve a particular result. But for the most part, it is also surprisingly trusting. 

Really, what else can my art do but unfold exactly as it will unfold?

Jane Davies recently wrote about painting studies she'd done, saying: To me, it is important that these "studies" have no pressure on them to BE anything other than the result of a process. If they went directly into the wood stove now, it would be fine; their purpose has been served. I've made them, and I've looked at them.

Those words stopped me in my tracks. I might trust my art to unfold as it will unfold, but I do get attached to outcome.

I would LOVE to experience what Jane describes, to engage wholeheartedly and fully in studies that need be nothing other than the result of a process, to generate pieces that could go directly into a wood stove having served their purpose, with no backward glance from me, no pang of indecision, no grasping. 

My first impulse? Make it happen! do it! set it as a goal! start now! …

Oh.

Yeah.

Trust.

That experience will either unfold in my life or it won't.

Today I painted happily and freely, wonderfully open to intuition and play and experimentation. I was so content in quiet timeless flow in my teeny studio in my little house in the deep cold of winter.

free canvas #2
8x10"
work in progress

Crossing a Bridge

For me, one of the fun parts of crossing the bridge from 2017 to 2018 has been prepping one of my paintings to leave my home so it can take up residence in the home of a collector.

Probably Out of Earshot is excited as it puts its best foot forward to step into a wider world.

Originally painted on paper, it is now mounted on a block of wood painted with a black satin finish. The black paint 'frames' the image on the front of the wood block and provides a backdrop on the other side for a haiku I composed, along with info about the painting.

Very satisfying.