 "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 8), oil on canvas, 49.8x62.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974} The painting Seriously? is transitioning into a serious painting. I am not leaving humor behind. I cannot remove the beginning from the end. The righteous activity I am now doing on Seriously? is a celebration of my mastery. Mastery does not mean this painting is coming quickly and easily. Grand and eloquent cannot be achieved with quick solutions. The painting Seriously? shall be a celebratory example of my arrival as Master of my craft. Achieving mastery is laborious!
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 "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 7), oil on canvas, 49.8x62.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974}  Drawing 12·04·2018, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches Art-making is getting to know thyself. As the English poet, David Hartley Coleridge, wrote, "Great poet 'twas thy art to know thyself and in thyself to be whate'er Love, Hate, Ambition, Destiny, or the firm, fatal purpose of the Heart can make of Man." Thus comes all art work that is worth more than a hill of beans. This activity does not reveal a Man quickly or easily, but it is happening to me and my art. The painting Seriously? will require much more of my time. I am getting to know it, as I am getting to know myself. I like the twist in the largest form of yesterday's drawing!
 "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 6), oil on canvas, 49.8x62.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974}  Drawing 11·30·2018, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches Surprises never cease! Yesterday's drawing looks similar to nothing I have recently created. Yesterday's work on the painting Seriously? has expanded its dimensions (which is enabled because I work on a canvas tacked to a work wall — expansion further toward the edge of the canvas is afforded by an excessive amount of canvas being on the wall).
 "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 5), oil on canvas, 49.8x61.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974}  Drawing 11·28·2018, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches Reality is fluid. Corrections are always possible, but not always efficacious. The painting Seriously? has many corrections to come, as does Chaos, Stillness & Prayer (the painting whose beginning immediately preceded Seriously?).
I find yesterday's drawing very good. One measure of excellence is perception while in action — this one, during its making, made me feel full of knowledge. I believe that's a good thing. I always fear self-delusion. Vincent Van Gogh feared self-delusion too; look where that got Vincent!  "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 4), oil on canvas, 48.5x61.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974} It takes more than time in the studio to produce one of my paintings. Thought-power happens now, while I am writing my Blog, while I am in the studio, and much of the time in-between. What a simple thing it would be if I was so present in thought and action that I could make a painting in one studio session! My drawings work that way. I act on a drawing till my ideas run out. That is true about my paintings as well, but the difference between drawing and painting (for me) is this: I am willing to allow slow and steady regurgitation of an idea in the making of a painting; a drawings is always a study. In other words, my drawings are practice and introspection surrounding idea-possibilities; paintings are solidly exploring idea-fulfillment.
 "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 2), oil on canvas, 48.5x61.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974}  Drawing 11·24·2018, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches I have changed the title of my newest painting. I am following its call. It is a question: "Seriously?". I must place it in quotes because I need to emphasize it is questioning my behavior. Yesterday's drawing is a study for this painting. Right now I feel light of heart; more daring than usual. This painting is certainly surprising me. Yesterday's drawing surprises me too; its solution is unusual. To me, this drawing is astonishingly unexpected.
 "Seriously?" (2018 No.10, state 1), oil on canvas, 48.5x61.5 inches {"All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." - Hermann Hesse, "Reflections", ed. Volker Michels, 1974} The advance continues! This morning I visited my studio — very early in the morning (I always visit a couple hours before work in order to turn on the heat). I looked at my new painting, now in state 1 with its ice-blue paint-stick scrawls. It is humorous! It is a twisted reference to reality! It is a departure from my recent works, which have been relatively serious. It is me saying, "What the hell! Just animate the thing!" Perhaps this is a new beginning, or perhaps it is an interlude. I don't care. It looks good to me; it looks right! It began with vigor and celebration; I hope this painting will continue in this mood of joy, celebration, and humor. Appropriately, I have named this painting after a quote from Hermann Hesse, the Nobel Prize winning author of Siddhartha, "All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously." Thus, the painting 2018 No.10 has this title: Seriously?
 Drawing 11·21·2018, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches A robust and heavy contrast took over my last two drawings. In a recent post I noted that my recent days in the studio have gone one way or the other, but no both at once; I am talking choice of media. I have drawn, or I have painted; never both on the same day. This is a recent separation of time dedication. The last two days were spent making the drawing I show today. No painting was accomplished; unless the act of painting includes preparation to paint (I removed the painting Burnt Norton from my work wall. I am in the midst of placing a new, blank canvas where Burnt Norton once resided).
In the drawing I show today the thickness of the black graphite had only once before been realized by me; that was in the immediately previous drawing (posted 11/19/2018), In these drawings I could not get enough black from my pencil! I stroked and pushed until the graphite sat on the paper like snow on a frozen lake; a little wind could move the flakes of carbon about in swirls! Next time in the studio (tomorrow), I will begin a new painting (2018 No.10).  "Chaos, Stillness & Prayer" (2018 No.9, state 6), oil on canvas, 54x36 inches {"Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm.... an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction." -Saul Bellow, "Writers at Work: Third Series", 1967} Chaos, Stillness & Prayer is Standing straight and tall! This after I made a 1° counterclockwise move. My studio time is filled with more physical effort than ever before. Yesterday I did as much physical change as artistic change. I removed the many pins holding Chaos, Stillness & Prayer to my work wall — except the one on the upper left — then I rotated the canvas. This was followed by pinning the canvas down again. In addition I have recently begun taping the edges of my canvas with black painter's tape; by doing this I know how the final rectangle will look. So I had to remove all the tape applied previous to the 1° rotation and place new tape to surround the image. Finally, I painted. As consequence, state 6 of Chaos, Stillness & Prayer is now much better than state 5!
 "Burnt Norton" (2018 No.8, state 22), 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." -T.S. Eliot, "Burnt Norton"}  "Chaos, Stillness & Prayer" (2018 No.9, state 5), oil on canvas, 54x36 inches {"Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm.... an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction." -Saul Bellow, "Writers at Work: Third Series", 1967} What might have been is becoming what is. The painting Burnt Norton is closing in on its own personal conclusion. Burnt Norton is close to finality. It is rounding its final corner toward a center that is an abstraction which denotes perpetual possibility. Further away from its personal possibility is the painting Chaos, Stillness & Prayer.
A note of interest: Burnt Norton was twisted my me, 1° counter-clockwise. This happened about three states ago. Now I feel the same about Chaos, Stillness & Prayer. It requires a 1° counter-clockwise rotation. What is happening in the studio? My eyes see the need for rotation here before I see it in the real life of the studio. I immediately realize the required twist when I see these images in the concise rectangle of my computer screen. Why do I miss it on the larger rectangular work wall of the studio? |
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December 2018
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