March 23, 2012

A New Painting: One Two Three

 One Two Three, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 7 x 9 in. 


I like stretching my boundaries, trying something a little different, but with that comes the usual uncertainty: is this any good or a big mistake? I titled this painting One Two Three because I wanted to emphasize the simplicity of its elements: three shapes, two flat and one curved; earth colors; no sunlight or cast shadows.


One Two Three, detail

One Two Three, detail

Surface texture brings whatever complexity the image has. It was a pleasure to paint this, building variations of color and value with fluid and quick brushstrokes, sometimes scrubbing, layering lighter or darker colors. The balance of the shapes is very satisfying to me, but is it too stark or empty?




When I look at this painting in the midst of other recent work it seems to fit in. This is a work I'm going to have to live with for a while before I can judge its quality.


11 comments:

  1. No. one and No. two have strong presences. No. three is waiting.
    The first two are very interesting pair. More she cried.............

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    1. Myrna, the second and third images are details of the painting. I've now labeled them for clarity. Were you asking for more details??

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  2. The triangular shape does seem to be "waiting"; maybe Myrna's meaning? I find it beautiful, classical, not at all "empty," and in the group photo, of a piece with your work, not so much a departure as it seems to you.

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    1. Thanks so much, Ravenna. During the painting process, I kept putting it in that lineup of paintings to see if it worked with them; seeing it not look too out of place did help to reassure me.

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  3. this one looks like it holds some kind of symbolic significance - like it wants interpretation - but I know you don't work that way any more than I read that way. but it still holds this expectation. good to get a view of it in the lineup also!

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    1. That's a very interesting response, rappel. I wonder if it's because the simplicity of elements gives it an air of an icon of some sort.

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  4. This one draws a lot of emotion. It really reminds of the colors and feel of an Andrew Wyeth work. Lonely and isolated.

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  5. gee, thank you so much, Lori and R Henry. It's a great relief to me that you all like this one.

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  6. Do I see the influence of the tantric paintings in this one? The objects are farther from being recognizable than many of your other paintings.

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    1. I wasn't thinking of Tantric painting when I did this, Helen, but I'm sure everything goes into the mix. I actually had a more "realistic" version of this motif but decided to plunge into the more abstract image and see how it worked.

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