Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Making a commitment. Going back to the yellow warehouse

I think about painting and drawing every day.  Nothing has yet inspired me enough to pick up the pad or brush.  I find myself once again trying to boost that inspiration by writing about what I'm thinking.  What goes through my head when I think about art?..I just know what I like.  I know what draws me in when I see a painting.  Immediately, without hesitation, I want to do something like what I see...but nothing and seemingly no one can put an instrument in my hand, sit me down and make me go forward beyond that thought.  Maybe I'm trying to create the demons that have inspired so many great artists.  Well, I believe that I have started to feel those demons.  For the past week, I have started to feel down.  Something is nagging at my soul.  I haven't figured it out yet.
What I know is this.  Last night I went to bed feeling uneasy.  I was trying to talk myself into feeling better so I could go to sleep.  I need to feel comfort in the quiet moments.  The comfort that comes from knowing you have done something good.  From knowing that you have made some sort of positive difference in your life lately.  For me, it's knowing that I have a gift, and giving that gift of creating something.
I woke up this morning and started looking at episodes of Oregon Art Beat, originally to find a painter who was compared to Mary Cassatt.  I remember thinking that this artist didn't merit the comparison because her art was more gestural, and Cassatt although impressionistic had more of a representational style.  She was much more refined technically.  But that's another topic...  As I was looking through the episodes, I landed on a story about Gabe Fernandez.  Okay, now I have a base to work with.  His style is impressionistic but with enough realism that it satisfies my visual taste.
  I went through my own work, and found something that I could see myself painting again.  The yellow warehouse in watercolor.  I painted this a few years ago.  It has promise as a full scale painting.  It's a start.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kevin,
    Nice to see you in the blog-o-sphere once again! I was beginning to think you had moved on. In my heart, I decided it could be work and you were simply too busy and tired to blog, much less paint. So you can imagine my surprise to see a new post!
    Welcome back! You've been missed.
    Sincerely,
    Gary.

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  2. No more "crazy schedule" excuses. And here comes the flood of creativity....any minute...just wait...but don't hold your breath. I feel it coming though.

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