Sunday, January 25, 2009

Late Bloomers


A recent article, passed along by a friend, written by Malcolm Gladwell
(The Tipping Point), illuminates this idea that some artists are 
fiercely direct and quick with their art. No experimentation, no 
search- just an incandescent manifestation of work--Picasso. On 
the other hand, there are those, the "late bloomers" (me too) that 
sort of grope our way along. Never really sure, but trial and error, 
and repeated mistakes eventually lead to some clarification, some results.
Gladwell asserts that Cezanne was one of these types. Never satisfied, 
persistently frustrated, although steadily getting better over the course 
of his life. The story goes that when Ambrose Vollard, the sponser of 
Cezanne's first one man show, at age 56, hunted down Cezanne in Aix 
"He spotted a still life in a tree, where it had been flung by 
Cezanne in disgust."Gladwell emphasizes the vital importance that 
the outside patrons , friends, family etc. are for the survival of these 
kind of "late bloomers" I have a hunch this is true for most artists. 
How many times has a friend said "I love this!" as they pull a painting 
out of the garbage can, instantly redeeming it to one of your recent 
favorites.  The article ends "We'd like to think that mundane matters 
like loyalty, steadfastness, and the willingness to keep writing 
checks to support what looks like failure have nothing to do with 
something as rarefied as genius. But sometimes genius is anything 
but rarefied; sometimes it's just the thing that emerges after 
twenty years of working at your kitchen table"


Sunday, January 18, 2009

Red White and Blue



I am staring at this painting on the bottom and I 
can't figure what is bugging me about it for the 
longest time and then I realize it's the colors. I 
hate when a painting starts going red white and blue.
I don't know what it is about those colors--I even like
our flag  since we elected Obama....but anyway, 
I shifted the colors. When your at a very bright 
color it always amazes me how much you can 
grey it down and it still seems so bright. Color 
is funny that way. The red is SO red in this painting 
that almost everything has to quiet down or else
it's going to be very tutti fruitti. And then again, now
I see the before and after I am not sure which is 
better....which would mean that I went possibly 
backwards all evening. Hmmm.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Surface and Time


This is a detail from a painting I just finished. Sometimes 
parts of paintings are better than other parts. This kind
of density of surface is what I am after. Shapes and forms
disappearing and emerging simultaneously. Similar to 
life...memories fading and new experiences arriving,
never perfectly clear, always changing and often just out 
of reach.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Years Day 2009




Rocks on the shore of  Stinson Beach, California.