learning a new language

i made a bunch of marks today. i had more consecutive painting time today than i have had in several weeks.

worked on several canvases simultaneously - all paintings that had been started before which needed work. no white canvases. was fairly brave (by that i mean uncharacteristically willing to destroy a painting in the pursuit of exploration). trying new things in the studio. new ways of simplifying images of nature. new materials. new scale. new process.

.

my motivation remains the same, but nearly everything else is new, and frankly, it's not going real well. i feel like i'm learning to paint all over again. i probably worked on seven or eight canvases today, ranging from 9" x 11" to 24" x 30", and i maybe like one of them. i'll see how i feel about it in the morning. thankfully i'm meeting with a group of artists tomorrow for a monthly critique of each other's work, because i could use some help with this stuff.

i know where i want to go, and i can picture the results in my head, but i just can't seem to make my hands cooperate. i guess it's a new language and i should be more patient, but i want to be fluent now!

i wonder if this is what raising children is like. some days this can be so much fun, and other times it can frustrate the hell out of me. uncooperative little brats, these paintings are.