Category: Completion

Removing Falderal

3/4/2019

"The Doctrine of Liberty" (2019 No.1, state 15), oil on canvas, 67x59.5 inches {"I believe there is a golden thread which alone gives meaning to the political history of the West, from Marathon to Alamein, from Solon to Winston Churchill and after. This I chose to call the doctrine of liberty under the law." -Anthony Sampson, "The Changing Anatomy of Britain", 1982}

"How's It Gonna End" (2019 No.2, state 7), oil on canvas, 59.5x32 inches {"Life is sweet at the edge of a razor; And down in the front row of an old picture show the old man is asleep as the credits start to roll. And I want to know, the same thing everyone wants to know, how's it going to end?" -Tom Waits}

I am nearing my exhibition dates for 2019. I am getting ready. Curiously, I am also looking hard at the means I use to speak. I am cleaning up my work, paring it down to essentials. Thus comes the completion of "The Doctrine of Liberty" (2019) and the simplification of "How's It Gonna End" (2019 No.2). "How's It Gonna End" may simplify even further; I may remove that orange form in the lower right. I believe I am learning the most important lesson of all — to speak well one must speak to the point, remove the falderal, be as simple as possible with one's message.

"Burnt Norton"; Almost There!

10/14/2018

"Burnt Norton" (2018 No.8, state 15), oil on canvas, 63x66 inches {"What might have been is an abstraction; Remaining a perpetual possibility; Only in a world of speculation. What might have been and what has been point to one end, which is always present. Footfalls echo in the memory." -T.S. Eliot, "Burnt Norton"}

Sometimes T.S. Eliot could be a bit long-winded. Perhaps his Burnt Norton and mine share long-windedness. My Burnt Norton is almost complete. I need to give it a few minor changes, enhancements, alterations — all to bring it to conclusion. Strange it is; This finishing off a painting feels sad. Burnt Norton has taken me, slow step by slow step, through multiple movements; each toward summation. Its journey was often cumbersome, sometimes difficult, always interesting. This is wide-awake living at its best!

Reality Hits

9/5/2018

"Along for the Ride" (2018 No.7, state 16), oil on canvas, 65x53 inches {"Maybe the best thing would be to forget being right or wrong... and just go along for the ride." - Philip Roth, "American Pastoral"}

Drawing 09·04·2018, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches

You know it when you see it! Along for the Ride has absolutely completed its ride; therefore declared complete! Yesterday's drawing is wonderfully exploratory. I am, it is, anticipating my next painting (which I hope to begin this week). Enjoy! I am!

Removing Falderal

"Burnt Norton"; Almost There!

Reality Hits

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