I love the idea that objects can transcend their materials and appear to be something totally different. I guess I get a childish sense of delight from this---and maybe more----an appreciation of mastery, I guess.
My mother gave me a set of whittled flowers last Christmas. I have forgotten the type of wood, but I have divided the group and have placed some in my studio. It seemed a natural thing to paint them with some left over paint on the palette. I like the way it stands tall. I have been wondering about the significance of shadows----like in Limbourg's Book of Hours, they signify a turn from preoccupation of the spiritual self to a consciousness of more earthly things. A cast shadow can tell so much---time of day, type of light---morning, afternoon, etc.
Back to transcending materials...while I appreciate it, I have no desire to create trompe l'oeil paintings. I love the surprises of paint too much to want to have complete control over it. Like when an edge appears unexpectedly. Or when the abstraction of brushstrokes is just pure fun.
I do enjoy painting realistically sometimes...there is a certain magic to making something look real. But it's that sense of play that keeps me coming back to the studio. The idea that I don't know what's going to happen, and sometimes my time there is spent mapping new territory.
No comments:
Post a Comment