quietude

 written piece that describes this body of work:
 

Quietude-peace and serenity after times of struggle

Oftentimes we think that life should go smoothly and bring pleasure. The truth is life is made up of layers of happiness and pain, success and failure, triumph and doubts, endings and beginnings. When we take time to simply observe, we know that the beauty we experience could not exist without these layers. The paintings here are a metaphor for that journey. It was not my intent to make that metaphor; it simply imposed itself on me. The concept of “Quietude” was chosen before the struggle.

How does one create that feeling of “quietude” in an image? First I spent a considerable amount of time painting outdoors, making color notes. Later in the studio I created small color harmony studies. My goal was not to record a place, rather to understand the concept through the landscape. In the studio, each large painting was painted and scraped, lovingly glazed and then scratched down with sandpaper. Each painting underwent constant change. I allowed the layers to remain translucent so they would affect and influence each other. This constant alteration was not an intentional process but rather the byproduct of my striving to make something better as I struggled with my dissatisfaction with a certain outcome. After all my planning, I must surrender some measure of control and pursue the unanticipated. The pursuit of quietude is a long road. I hope that these paintings resonate to your personal journey.

the demonstration, Saturday afternoon- I do like giving a demonstration, even though I am so nervous before it begins.

As promised, this is my show- Quietude. Even when I say that word it comes out of my mouth differently. Hmmmm. My vision for this show was to hang one large painting and have it accompanied by its plein air piece and color studies. In addition to that, a few walls have small memory and plein air paintings and one wall is full of tiny color studies.
I would like to thank all the people who attended the opening reception. It always wonderful to see so many supportive faces and meet many new folks. The show continues through May 5th. If you are in town and get a chance to stop by the gallery shoot me an email. If it is possible I will happily come by and meet you there.