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Method reflected by purpose
January 30, 2009
Left: Hemlocks, Queen Charlotte Island, 1980 – 48 x 48 x 2 inches 
acrylics on canvas, painted plein air. Right: Birch, 1993 – 6 x 4 watercolors. I have been trying to return to the same carefree approach I painted with during the earlier years. While some of my first paintings were a little on the sloppy side, the look and feeling of life in the work comes through the first reactive sloppy-looking brushstrokes. Too much refining tones down that energy. It has taken about six years to rid myself of a lot of habits that developed by painting murals, like tidying up too much and mixing colors on the palette as opposed to just throwing the color onto the canvas. Not that mural painting is valued as less than canvas paintings, but they require entirely different methods, and because their intended purpose is slightly different, so is the approach to painting them. Switching back to canvas now, even if the surface is large it’s taken six years to re-adapt to the process of painting on canvas. All that I think I know can get in the way sometimes. In Dancing With Trees 03 I’m rediscovering some of the joy that pushed everything forward in the first place. Virginia, you say that this sings and dances…well, that’s exactly how I feel while painting this one.
Dancing With Trees 03 work in progress, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted
Categories: abstract/impressionist, acrylic painting, Canada, Dancing With Trees Collection, Ontario, Seasonal, summer, The Majesty of Trees Collection, trees, work in progress | 7 Comments »
7 Responses to “Method reflected by purpose”
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January 21st, 2009 at 11:06
Love those pink layers on the trees….the turquoise is gorgeous, too…your use of colour ia always inspirationsl (when use an exepected colour in a painting, I call it a “Nikki”)…the size of the piece will really make it awe-inspiring — majestic….
January 21st, 2009 at 11:06
Karen, thanks! I’m trying hard to keep the colors – or, er, colours – or colors fresh in this one. (I have a tough time leaving out the ‘u’ every time here, but When in Rome…or the U.S..)
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:06
Your colours are indeed fresh! Beautiful new definition of the trees.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:06
I have an earlier painting of this idea of yours and, love it but, this painting that your doing now shows a big leap in understanding and confidence with color. This one forces me to feel something.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:06
I was looking at a painting of birches of yours from 1993- you sent me a notecard- and the bones of this recent tree work are there, but these new pieces just SING!!
January 28th, 2009 at 11:06
I noticed that this resembled a few from way back too..it’s the colors and the wild brushstrokes, which I used to leave alone and not refine. I’m trying to return to that style, so funny that you both mention earlier pieces.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:06
It’s singing and DANCING!