This is a painting titled Light Imminent that I’ve been working on for several months, on and off. I used it some time back in a short film I put together in which I was working on this piece in an earlier stage of its development.
It’s a pretty big piece, 20″ by 60″ on canvas, so it sort of dominated the space where it sat incomplete for a long time, always in the edge of my vision. It was, once again, a matter of letting a piece sit until it was ready to be completed, to have the last few pieces added which brings everything together. The time it sat allowed me to really take in and weigh all the parts and make subtle decisions about the finishing touches.
For some pieces, this time spent resting is invaluable. There is no rush to finish and options are given a chance to grow. There are pieces that don’t require this period of mulling, that have an inevitability from the first few strokes that tell me where it wants to go. There’s a sense of satisfaction in both types of painting. Those that sit have the satisfaction of seeing the idea and feel of the piece take shape over time. There’s a real sense of contemplation in this work. Those that take shape quickly have the satisfaction of sudden birth, a burst of energy that takes form and becomes alive before your eyes.
I see the contemplative nature of the slower process in this painting. It’s in little things that I probably am the only to notice. A sharper edge here or there. The modeling and strokework of the central tree. A stroke or two added in the sky to bring the light to higher effect. Little things.
Now I’m in the last few days of taking it in before it leaves to go out in the world. Hopefully, it will find someone who sees some of what I see in it…
Redtree Times 