Time spent in the studio has been productive over the past couple of weeks. I have been working very hard to set up the space. At the same time, I have been exploring the paints again, indulging myself straight out-of-the-tube. White and black have been calling to me. For some reason, right now it doesn’t feel like the time to be timid or subtle.
It’s true that just showing up for work eventually gets some momentum going, as trite as that sounds. Why did it take me so long to re-learn that? We don’t have to wait for inspiration to strike us in order to just begin at the beginning. But I’m finding out something else about just being in the studio, with the materials all laid out, the lighting just right, and the music playing. The more time I spend doing my work, the more I begin to look forward to the experience. It’s not as much about the results as it is about just being in my own space, surrounded by the things that provide inspiration. The art builds on itself. Soon a time will come when I will wake up in the morning thinking about a work in progress — sometimes after having dreamt about it — and how I might resolve it. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting close.
This one on my easel at the moment is 28 x 40 inches. Right now, it’s just butterflies, but before long it will tell me what it wants to be, or where it wants to go from here. In the spirit of monochrome colour, the only tweak I would possibly make is to intensify the contrasts a little bit more. We’ll see.
Every painting teaches me something new. It’s been so good to be back in the studio. Still trying to understand what this new direction is. It seems like a thread that I’ve picked up from the road not taken earlier. And on that note, I can’t help thinking…so many roads not taken, so little time.
Oh, there’s my title. The Road Not Taken.