This was a case of a painting dictating what is was to be, against my efforts to make it otherwise.
This new 24″ by 24″ canvas grew slowly and once I was painting in the sky I kept telling myself that it had to be lighter and lighter. Since 2002 when I was featuring paintings that featured darker tones (referred to as my “dark work“), I have resisted working in this series. That work was not as well received as most of my work and I was responding to the market. Personally, I felt that this was very strong work, work that excited my sensibilities. But if they had no place in the galleries, I was hesitant to spend my time on the work.
So when I was in the midst of this piece I began to naturally steer away from the darkness that marked these earlier works. I saw the sky as being brighter and having high contrast but with each stroke there was a nagging feeling that that was not what was meant for this piece. I went so far as to load my palette with lighter colors and stand, brush in hand, before the canvas, ready to change this painting in a way that would alter everything about it.
But there was something that told me to stop, that this was where the sky stopped, that this was the destination. This was what this piece was meant to be. I stepped back and put down the palette. It would stay dark.
Now, maybe this will not fit into the marketplace for my work but that doesn’t matter. When I look at this piece, that is the last thing in my mind. I am immediately pulled into the picture plane and upward, over the knolls, toward the top of the rise where the sun/moon hovers, urging me to continue climbing. It is complete and has its own life, its own momentum. It is what it is and that is beyond me now.
Redtree Times 