Slapstick 12/11/17

Just spent a happy heuristic hour in my studio, an hour of flow.

A timeless stretch where challenges were just slightly ahead of talent or skill, and interest and motivation were high.

An engagement with color, light, line, paper, scissors, and glue which allowed me to discover and learn for myself what worked, what didn't.

A practical, hands-on process not guaranteed to be optimal or perfect, but invitingly sufficient for my immediate goals.

Problem-solving.

Problem-creating.

Trial and error.

The best.

Looking for Sky in Manhattan
4x5"; acrylic, china marker, ink, oil pastel, and collage on paper,
mounted on card stock
abstract
2017

Favorite orientation?

Slapstick 12/8/17

A "short" "burst" of a good couple of hours!

Sunlight Showing the Inkstains
4x5"; acrylic, china marker, ink, oil pastel, and collage on paper,
mounted on card stock
abstract
2017

Favorite orientation?

Slapstick 12/7/17

I paused today to reflect on my current so-named Slapstick inquiry.

Here's how I set it up—controls: slap it on, let it stick; variables: everything else.

Here's how it has played out so far:

• the inner turmoil I'd been feeling for weeks has taken leave of me for a good week now;
• on most days I have not worked in short quick bursts; on a few days I have;
• I have stumbled into generating a series that totally engages me;
• in that series I notice the interplay of two phases—an initial intuitive unfettered slap onto paper of paint, texture, pattern, and line and the subsequent detail-oriented resolving of ongoing challenging visual puzzles that emerge;
• I do catch myself fussing and getting detrimentally precious but can often tap into my self-designed guiding principles to slap something into place rather than fuss and to let it stick rather than get precious;
• until I forget again.

Onwards and sideways.

A Twenty-Foot Wooden Crate of Fifty-Cent Sweaters
4x5"; acrylic, grease pencil, and collage on paper,
mounted on card stock
abstract
2017

Favorite orientation?

Slapstick 12/6/17

A favorite story:

When my son Jay was maybe 14 or so, I dropped him off at a local fishing hole one evening. On my way home I was aware of the many twists and turns my train of thought took as I drove, and I wondered where Jay's thoughts might meander while he fished. When I picked him up I asked.

Mom: Jay, what kinds of things did you think about while you were fishing?

Jay: Fishing.

Mom: Well, yeah, but what else did you think about?

Jay:  I studied the surface of the water to see where fish might be.

Mom: But what else?

Jay: Fishing.

I was incredulous.

---

When I paint, every now and then I experience that same grace of focus and flow. I pick up my fishing pole and study the surface of the water to see where the fish might be.

I had a few such moments today.

Hearing My Inner Voice Over the Cacophony
4x5"; acrylic, grease pencil, and collage on paper,
mounted on card stock
abstract
2017

Favorite orientation?

Slapstick 12/5/17

Today: way more than five minutes, fewer than 60.

Pretty fast, yes?

A little slapstick joke there. Broad comedy, ya know?

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Had great fun with yesterday's piece so I cut yesterday's entire start into postcard size pieces. Some will become fodder for collage with which to turn all the others into finished pieces.

Willing to Do the Grunt Work
4x5"; acrylic, grease pencil, and collage on paper,
mounted on card stock
abstract
2017

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Favorite orientation?

Slapstick 12/4/17

Slap, slap, slap.

Snip, snip, snip.

Oh, wait.

This is a slapstick inquiry, not a slapsnip inquiry.

Too late.

Not only too late to backtrack but also too late to rewind the clock and claim that I worked quickly, although I did generate a 9x12" start and bring to completion a 4x5" piece this afternoon.

After slapping:

acrylic and china marker on 12x16" paper;
WIP

I cut two 4x5" postcards from the start above, and then snipped pieces from one card to collage onto the other.

After snipping and sticking:

No One in Town Wanted Dr. Byron's Counsel
4x5"; acrylic, china marker, and collage on paper,
mounted on heavy manila stock
abstract
2017

Slapstick, an Inquiry

I've been experiencing pronounced inner turmoil in my painting practice of late. I'm hoping the situation will prove to be like occasions I remember from when my children would go into stretches of wild disequilibrium as babies and toddlers, only to suddenly pop out the other side sporting two new teeth or pulling themselves to a stand or surprising me by speaking in complete sentences.

In the interim, in the thick of my own current wild disequilibrium, what to do?

When the word slapstick bubbled up yesterday, I paid attention.

I looked it up. The definition was pretty much what I expected, and it satisfied my curiosity about the literal origin of the word.

The best part, though, was the language used to define:

boisterous action
farcical situations and jokes
broad comedy
horseplay

Yes!

Sounds like as good a way as any to frame a new painting inquiry!

So here's what I'm thinking—controls: slap it on, let it stick; variables: everything else.

I'll work in quick short bursts, letting boisterousness, farce, and horseplay find their way into expression without regard for outcome. Then I'll stop. No fussing, no revision, no extended time.

I'll let whatever emerges, whether little jokes or large disasters, stick, and I'll post as is.

Today, putting the above into practice, I moved along guided by impulse and intuition.

I experienced bunches of discord as well as periodic moments of flow.

I didn't 'finish' this piece—I stopped.

Here it is, as is.

Probably Out of Earshot
4x5"; acrylic, ink, pencil, and oil pastel on heavy manila stock
abstract
2017
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