What Andrew Said

I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious.

-Andrew Wyeth

Yesterday morning I rolled into the studio a 5:00 am. A little early for me, even for the early riser that I am. I have several new canvases going that I'm working on. I'm trying to put some of my landscape into my figures and some of my figure into my landscapes if that makes any sense. A different and challenging color palette is percolating to the surface, so it's hard work; a layer, then another over it, wiping one layer off, leaving the residue of a layer and the edges of another. Back and forth, back and forth. Adding and subtracting. Thinking you've learned something, only to have to learn it anew on each new piece. Ahh...kinda like life! Painting is a metaphor once again!!!

Through the mechanics of painting, getting up, going to the studio, opening the jars of paint, mixing, listening to the brush hit the canvas and the tools scratch into the paint, the water being agitated by the cleaning of the brushes, I'm finding a new stillness; I've turned off the music for a change to see what happens to my painting in a quiet space.  This is good work; new but familiar work.

I painted until 8:00am, then headed out to dance with my friends. I'm so fortunate to have such a lovely community of people to dance with. Back to the studio for more painting, computer tasks and a meeting with videographers.  This day was a good day of the familiar made unusual.

Wyeth's quote resonates strongly with me. These new paintings are definitely conceived in a dream and brought forth through a process that surely involves the subconscious, a process that I don't pretend to understand, I just know it's real.  

In progress. A goddess with cloths and flowers!