Well, it’s the day before the Principle Gallery show that begins tomorrow with an opening that starts at 6:30 and I’m spending the day puttering around in the studio, doing a little painting and getting the studio back in some sort of order as it looks like a twister came through after finishing preparations for a show. It’s pretty much the same every year. I try not to get too involved in a painting since I won’t be back at it for a couple of days and I don’t like starting the momentum of a piece then suspending it. Sometimes just a few short days will change the whole feel I have for a piece in progress, as far as how it’s coming together and where it’s going.
So, I putter.
This is, as I’ve said, my tenth show at the Principle Gallery. I usually title the show and write a statement that explains the general theme of the main body of work in it. For this show, we decided to leave the show untitled except to say it was the tenth annual show and I have decided not to write a statement instead letting the work say everything this year. Besides, after plugging away at this blog, I sometimes feel at a loss for words.
I suppose, looking at the group, that this show could be called Redtree Redux, after the name of my first show there and the first showing of that ubiquitous tree. There is, by design, an abundance of the Redtree pieces. I felt that for a show that marked ten years that the overlying theme should be that which has become my signature – the red tree.
Probably the underlying theme would be that of the journey in the form of the path that runs into and through many of the pieces. This again is a significant element in my work and seemed fitting to denote a show that represents a milestone of sorts, my tenth show there, on my own journey. Believe me, fifteen years ago I could have never imagined that my path would wind through forests of red trees to this point. I couldn’t even see a path back then.
So this show, for me, is about expressing a certain degree of gratitude to those images that have helped me find a road on which to move ahead as well as to those who have seen something personal in the work that helps them on their own journeys.
The piece above is titled, fittingly End of the Rainbow. I think this post says all that has to be said about this piece…
The show starts tomorrow, Friday, June 12th, at the Principle Gallery at 208 King Street in Alexandria, Virginia .
Redtree Times 