Yesterday evening, I conducted a painting demonstration for a dozen people at the Emerald Art Center. The focus was on how I paint pictures such as Automatist Landscape (pictured.) From the recent painting exhibit at the EAC came an interest in my method, heavily layered and textured paintings. Last night’s was the second of two demos, and I am grateful for all who attended. I think we all had a good time.
It can be challenging to do what I do so naturally alone in a public forum, but I learned a lot and was able to start a couple of decent pieces. The process, and some much appreciated signs of affirmation and understanding when discussing the need for abstraction and the continued development of methods to dig into the core of Art, affirm my belief in the need for a greater Art consciousness in society at large as well as an impetus to do my own small part to help that happen.
Abstraction brings color and form together without mandated purpose or narrative force, but for the celebration of life, the life that color reverberates with its varied relations to other colors. Layering allows for compositional focus, freeing the Artist from the need to describe something, abstract or not, right away, and thus letting the painting develop through the organic joy of painting. Texture marks a break into the 3Drd dimension, bringing in light, shadow, and a parallax affected composition into the framework of painting., which can be layered indefinitely into sculpture. All of these elements can raise new questions about Art and its purpose, and proclaim, through their collective affects on the human consciousness, the cultural necessity of further exploring Art.
I am continuously reminded of the beauty of thinking and the sublimity of imagination. I am wary of a future that deters thinking, even if that thinking means challenging cherished, longstanding ideas. Art, its purpose, its future, its capacity to affect humanity, should not be exempt from this. The more we question with understanding, rather than to challenge, the greater our collective bond to it can become. I believe automatism and this approach to painting does that by its nature, stroke to stroke. Without intent, every mark is a question, every note a new variable in an equation that ends, at least in my own work, only when the painting is signed, and sometimes beyond that. It is a way to paint beyond ego. In its capacity for both abstraction and representation, this method questions how we can see the world, as Art has always done. And, with the love and imagination of future Artists, always will.
Thanks again to the Emerald Art Center and for all of those who attended and helped with the demos!!!
The Demo Piece, TBC…