I think I’ve mentioned here that there is some of my early work where my documentation is a bit sketchy. There is a handful of pieces of which I have no images, which bothers me a bit now. The rest of the work from that time is from iffy slides, photos and simple photocopies where the work was small enough to fit on a copier bed. I was trying to organize some of these old images recently and came across one of those photocopies.
It was the piece shown here. This was a 7″ by 9″ image on paper. I’m still trying to locate it’s title which is a bit embarassing for me, mainly because this painting rekindles so many memories when I see it. I remember distinctly how this piece came about. I had been looking at a framing magazine ( this was a time when I was still uncertain of how I would present my work and hadn’t settled on my own framing which I’ve used for about 14 years now) and came across an ad featuring a painting that caught my eye.
I don’t remember who painted that particular painting but it didn’t really matter. The painting itself did nothing for me. I wasn’t crazy about the color or tone of the image. I wasn’t interested in its texture of atmosphere or all of the detail that painter had used in the fields and trees. But the composition screamed out at me and in my mind I was immediately transforming the composition into my own work, with my own simple forms and lines. We’re talking a matter of seconds here.
It was like the composition was merely a sculptural armature, a framework underneath, that served as a foundation but could be transformed on its surface. While I used the armature of that painting in the magazine, it would be hard to see the similarities between my piece and that original image. That tranformation and how quickly it happened in my mind always remains in my memory, permanently attached to this painting. I felt like I was really finding my own voice in that moment, where I could synthesize influences in a very distinct individual manner.
I wish I could see this piece again in person, to see if it holds that same feeling for me. To see how the person who owns it now sees it and to let them know how strongly it remains in my own memory.
Redtree Times 