Success or Failure

Here is that "start" I posted a day or two ago.  I kept some of the elements but lost some too.  I'm not sure which version I like the best.  This piece ... I think it works no matter which way it ends up being hung.  Left is the same position as the start ... on the right another view.  I do like using a square canvas ... when a piece turns out like this one ... it can also be hung on the diagonal.  I see different images in each view.  Directly above is yet another possibility.  I'm not used to this blogging tool, and the pictures keep slipping around.  I can't seem to keep them in any order, so will skip the last view. 

I was tempted to bring each section of the painting to a representational state.  My goal is to engage the viewer and let them define or not define the images.  The little digitals do not show the subtle details.  The changing light of the studio change the image.  I succeeded.  I failed to keep the essence of the start.  I painted the start with my fingers and a rag.  It was a very satisfying experience.  I enjoyed creating the final image, and as process is more important than product ... the one element lacking was excitement seeing images take shape ... there is something foreign to me in this latest effort.  I believe all of my work is a self portrait, and like touch drawings, I'll know what it is in due time.

I've had my seat outside in sun, watched and heard the Canadian geese land on the river, the goose families multiply each year, heard the song of the loon, and all the other birdsong.  With that inspiration, I'll spend some time in the studio.

Committed

I have decided this piece is done for the moment.  I was not happy with it as I painted, but I kept at it.  I have another started, but it's still too wet to work.

It's 18 x 18 on gallery wrapped canvas.  I've never destroyed work, but this is on a recycled canvas.  I had three pieces I was not interested in pursuing any further.  They were on wrapped canvas ... I paid good money for the support and was not going to waste it.  I had some gold gesso from Daniel Smith so I made them into blanks. 

I've used all three now and the only supplies I had left were three 18 x 24 canvases, and a full roll of primed canvas.  That's been sitting in the corner of the studio for several years now.  I don't like to stretch canvas.  I was saving those three because I thought I was going to do some "Old Masters Style" paintings.  I don't enjoy that process ... so why was I considering it?  It wasn't even a personal challenge.  Why did I keep saving the canvases for when I was in the mood and had the time?

I do enjoy the process above, and of a prior post and that is why I work.  I committed myself to doing what I enjoy.  Just ordered a dozed 18 x 18 canvases and a few 30 x 30.  I'm traveling my own path into the unknown.  As I was applying the gesso to the 18 x 24s, I was thinking of that roll in the corner.  When I work large I don't stretch the canvas, just tack it to the wall.  That way, I'm free to create as large or small a piece as I wish.  Sometimes it is confining to have the size predetermined.  I'm thinking of tacking a large piece up, and seeing what happens.  Might take me all summer, but there's no rush.

Happy Holiday Weekend!