I give my annual Gallery Talk this Sunday, September 20, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria. These talks generally are pretty loosely formed and easy flowing conversations between the audience and myself, with a lot of audience participation. That’s a big part of keeping these talks fresh. Usually something new or different reveals itself in these conversations.
Over the past several years, an added part of these talks has been the drawing for one of my paintings. It’s not something I take lightly. As I’ve said in the past, I want to give away paintings where I feel a pang of loss in giving them away, want them to have some sort of meaning for me so that this is not just an empty gesture.
And it is a real gesture of gratitude. I am nothing but thankful for all that the people who enjoy my work have provided me both through their buying of my work and in the inspiration which they provide away from the galleries. Their willingness to examine and respond to my work makes it so much easier to share those things that often stem from places deep inside. As a result, I try to carefully choose the works that I give away, not wanting to just go the far corner of the closet where I hide those early experiments that make me grimace to look at them now.
I want the selection to matter. This year’s selection is definitely in this vein. Shown above, it is titled Living Flame and is a 10″ by 18″ painting on paper. It is under glass inside an 18″ by 26″ frame so it has some size. It is painted very much in the style on which my body of work was formed with transparent washes and organic shapes, all surrounding the central figure of the Red Tree. It is airy and quiet but contemplative, a piece that in many ways could sum up much of my work.
So, I am pleased with this year’s selection and hope you can make it into Old Town for this year’s Gallery Talk which starts at 1 PM. There are always a few other surprises so I hope you’re there.
Redtree Times 