the importance of a series

Have you ever created a series? A group of painting, drawings that are all related and oftentimes the group is the same size. Why make series you ask? Well I could go on and on. But since you want to  have more painting time I will be brief.

1. A series allows the brain the release of thinking what to paint.

2.When you begin a series, you feel you have this.... bu the surprise happens later, when you start to get a little bored. That, " Oh. it's those trees again" means you finally stop imposing your intention on your subject. Your subject is the painting, not the trees.
3. You now will try anything.

Ideas for a series:
1. Work from your small studies- make many
2. Focus on making landscapes without a horizon line  or only a high horizon
3. Do a black and white series
4. Choose and abstract noun, verb, adverb or adjective as the base of your series
5. Allow a poem or song guide your series
6. Find a challenging format and make all of your paintings in that. Same size, same shape
7. Focus on a technique that you want to master- an underpainting technique, a mark making

As you can see I continued by cherries...this time pompom cherries since the regular delicate pink ones have lost their blossoms.
The work has developed in the studio as well. Here is one large 30 x40 studio oil. It's in its infancy. I think I will do many versions that are small and in the studio. Play.
What are you going to make your series about?

30x40 oil..just the beginning of a painting journey

Painting as meditation (in the time of Covid-19)

Painting as Meditation

Painting, no matter when you do it, is a calling.  While it's not an essential calling like nursing- those amazing people helping to save the world during this time of Covid 19- it's essential to hope. For me, the consistency of turning up every day and silently reaching a little farther is akin to a meditation. While I do meditate on the cushion each day, I also paint. Right now I have chosen to begin each day at the same scene and paint. I do not allow myself to deviate from the subject matter. The reason is- that by no longer thinking about what to paint, where to paint, I can go inward and simply paint the inner landscape as my mind works. Sit and without evaluation and thought simply put it down.
So today, as I return to my forgotten blog I share with you a series of my cherry tree paintings.

 I am slowly falling in love with this scene. I see and feel her differently each day.

 Here you see a visual journal.. thoughts without being self-conscious.

It's good to be back to my blog... it's different than other social media. If you are still there and reading please let me know. Stay well my friends!

the refusal to be habit-ridden

“To be creative,....may mean nothing more than the refusal to be habit-ridden.”

Wolf Kahn

Think about it. To me, and I see WK agreed, to be a painter means that you are an explorer. Never satisfied with what you can do, you are forever searching. That said, you if you are genuinely searching you can't have a technique you rely on to create a certain effect. Even if you paint the same thing every day, the concept is different. 

I learned this long ago. When I was studying for my MFA I spent two full years painting a pot of yellow mums. Yes, I did have to keep buying new yellow mums when the fresh pot withered away completely, but it was always the same size yellow mums.  I can tell you I learned more in those two years painting those mums. I learned about painting and endless possibilities. I continue that work now as I paint the same block of trees, or the same soccer field near my house. Sometimes I feel like Magellan as he rounded Cape Horn and discovered the other side. 

What happens if I do this? 

I wonder......?

black and white opens up possibilities for color

Planning some cherry tree/apple tree paintings. I'm doing my on location small sketches in black and white only. That way when I am back in the studio I can play with the color, rather than being locked into only pink.

All of my paintings for my next show Intimate Landscapes are at the framer. Now I am just enjoying paintings without pressure. Sweeeeet.