back in the studio

funny how i forget everything i was going to write as soon as i sit down to the computer.

so i'm getting ready for the next show with my five fellow organ players and storytellers, which is december 3-4-5, by the way, and i have moved back into my studio as of last week. i am thrilled to have a space where i can paint some large canvases again. painting plein air is a blast, but it's tough to do these big ones out there, and of course the fall weather is less than ideal.

today was great. i stretched then touched up a big painting (56" x 48") that i started last week, and worked on a new one as well (54 x 45).

i like how the paintings go through a metamorphosis. first the unstretched painting which tends to look a little rough. then, after determining the edges of the image and stretching it, it looks very different to me. more complete. then adding a frame at the end really does change the appearance one more time. it takes this messy sprawling thing and says "it's right there". it goes from here, to there, and that's it.

painting while the canvas is unstretched gives me some freedom to expand or contract the image while it's under way. i also like to show some of the peripheral marks (drips, splatters, or thin underpainting) along the edges, in the final presentation, as a sort of peek behind the curtain. those marks are an intimate look at the raw material and the process.