Metamorphosis of a new series

I have experienced the most growth in the last few years, painting more, exploring more and just finally realizing where my interests lie. I have been painting for many years now and it’s amazing that I am only just beginning to clearly see the image that I have been perfecting for so many years.

My main focus is water and the night sky and the landscape has always been a filler mixed with wildlife or people at times depending on my skill level or attention span at the time. I remember I used to paint a landscape that was intended to have a person in it and in the end there was a good chance the person would be lost. Now I tend to forge forward and am less afraid of ruining what I think is a good painting at the time.

It is a liberating feeling to be unafraid of failure. It makes the artist push farther, move forward. I equate it with learning to drive a stick shift on a one ton truck, if you are timid about shifting it’s going to be a loud jerky experience.

So this is what I’ve been doing in the last few months; pushing stubbornly forward. The last series ended rather abruptly-all that excitement and ideas and than nothing. Paintings tend to sit there almost finished but just not quite.

One painting that was from the previous series is Moonflower. It was supposed to have detail and distance into the tree. I want the viewer to look up to the moon. The light and shadows just never seemed to gel. Suddenly I pick the painting up and I believe it has what it was previously missing.

Putting the finishing touches on paintings and getting to that sweet spot is a lot like photography-many times you see an image that looks acceptable but when the light is perfect an ordinary photograph becomes an extraordinary  photo.