–Thomas Hardy
I came across a group of work the other day and realized that they were from a week almost exactly twenty years ago when I had worked on them. For instance, the piece above was done twenty years ago yesterday. The sheer idea of twenty years passing seemed fantastic in the moment. So much has happened and so many things changed over that time yet I still feel new in what I am doing, still feel like the person who looked with wonder at the painting above.
There have been only a few moments, most in the last year or so, when this passing of time has fully sunk in and I feel as though I am a veteran at what I do, feel as though I am what might be termed an established artist. Maybe seeing these pieces will cement that feeling in place.
Looking at them, I can see my confidence burgeoning in my work as I began to better understand the materials I worked with and how to control them. It was all about learning control at that time. At the time these were painted I was still torn over how and what I would paint. I still didn’t fully understand the importance of personal vision and was only trying to harmonize forms and color in a pleasing way. The work still captured emotion but it was simply a by-product of being immersed in the process so deeply that it could not help but reflect what I was feeling internally.
As I said, I still feel very much like that same person from twenty years ago. Outside of my marriage, this is the only thing that I have stuck at for so long and that is probably due to the ever-changing and constant sense of newness and wonder it produces. That same feeling that I felt years ago when I painted these is still felt today when I work on something new. Thankfully, that is one thing that has not changed.
Redtree Times 