I have been in a painting slump for quite a while now. Well, maybe not a slump, but definitely a plateau. I mean I have during my career painted and drawn so many different themes all of which seemed to follow each other effortlessly without pause; and to my surprise they have always been exciting to me while I was painting them.
Apparently my style of painting has provided a unity to these themes so that everyone seems to know that I am the one who painted not only those classical musicians, but also the oyster boats and horses.
Several several years ago, I found the next great theme wasn’t jumping into my brain and screaming paint me! I was merely rehashing older thought processes with slightly different changes in colors and application of paint. I went from watercolor years ago to acrylic and mixed media without much of a hiccup. From my days as newspaper illustrator pen and ink, I loved black and white, but the switch to intense color and movement was so exciting that I stopped black and white except for an occasional figure.
But now
(excepting the cartoon series I have wanted to put online but have not yet resolved and a series involving women in history that seems to require more research than I am willing to do)
I have been stymied.
One day I happened on a movie in which a major character threw paint on huge canvases using buckets of paint and mop-like brushes and I was entranced. I was not going to strap on a harness and suspend myself over a canvas on the floor, but I did have in my vast collection of brushes including several calligraphy and other large brushes so it was worth a try.
In no way was I going back to classical watercolor though. With watercolor, there may be the always appreciated happy accident where colors flow into each other and result in textures and shapes that were unforeseen. Sadly, this dynamic occurs infrequently, but it was exciting nonetheless.
Rather I am now revisiting some older pieces that I have not fallen in love with. I am throwing my paints and attitude into their revitalization.
We will see what happens.
Could be a brand new subject matter will not be as important to me as revisiting older stuff with new eyes and techniques.
I will be bold enough to include a few examples of these play pieces.
