At this time of the year I normally take a little time and revisit some of my work from the past. I am typically beginning to look ahead to the coming year and am looking for inspiration, hoping to find a new path to follow and examine. By starting with my own work first, I look for pieces from the past that have a singular look for the time in which they were created. Perhaps I was doing something at that time, experimenting with color or the manner in which I apply the paint for example, something that was set aside and never revisited. Perhaps, now would be a good time to revisit this path.
If I can find it.
The painting above is one example of what I’m talking about. Called Pride and Joy and painted in the first month or so of 2003, it is a 15.5″ by 16″ image on a wood panel. While it has the elements of the Red Roof series that was emerging at that time, it has a sky that is different from others of that time and not one that I have painted since. It has a golden glow in it that gives the whole piece a great warmth and shimmer.
I find it really appealing yet am somewhat baffled by how it was achieved. That’s one of the drawbacks in the way I paint. Being self-taught, my technique is always shifting, nudging in small degrees one way or the other by new discoveries or ingrained habits. I don’t have an anchor of taught technique that I work from. This was especially evident in my early work where you could see how the technique would sometimes have wide swings throughout a year.
In this case, could I recapture the look, the golden quality of that sky? I don’t know. But it does open up a path for me that I may want to follow for a while, hoping that it leads somewhere new and exciting. Maybe that path that I double back to will be one that I am now more ready to follow than I was a decade ago.
And that’s the purpose of looking back at this time of the year for me. I have a couple of more examples to show in the next few weeks that illustrate how there are paintings that were the start of paths that I have yet to fully follow. Stay tuned.
Redtree Times 
I couldn’t help but think about gold when you mentioned that golden sky. In the image, it has an aura to it, almost as if it’s set apart and to me it’s the subject matter of the piece. Gold is a precious metal loved and cherished around the world for it’s visual appeal and intrinsic value, much like your work to your collectors I’m sure. I also thought about the process of making gold, bringing back memories of a jewelry class I took years ago in which the metal is heated and the impurities removed. Though I’m a recent fan of your work, I can tell by looking at the works you share from the past that your work has been refined, and perhaps it’s been through the refining process of practice and reflection, of success and defeat. I agree, the sky is amazing, and being on a wood panel, wow. Have a great holiday season Gary, may your work in the coming year be golden.
Aaron– Thanks so much, Hope your holidays are happy and your work continues to blossom in 2013.
What a compelling painting. I’d have called it copper rather than gold, but the burnished look would be the same in either case. I’m rather taken with the soft folds of the land, too. The hill the tree is on looks like the skin of a Shar Pei, or a lovely velvet throw.
Now, when it comes to the title – this is Texas after all, and “Pride and Joy” resonates in some other ways, too. 😉
Linda, you’re right. It is more coppery than gold. It has the redness and warmth that copper possesses. Thanks for the SRV clip– “Pride and Joy” is a favorite.