If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it – keep going, keep going come what may.
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
Reaching Out– Part of the June Principle Gallery Show
Like many of my paintings, this piece, Reaching Out, a canvas measuring 36″ by 18″, is concerned with the Search.
The search for something that we think is missing or that we need.
Love. Friendship. Knowledge. Wisdom. Fame. Fortune. Peace. Acceptance. Truth. God.
Answers to those needs and questions that never rest within us. Those things that define us as who we truly are and what place we occupy in this universe.
I think that this searching will always be with us, that we shall never find all of the answers we seek. I know that I will never find all of the answers that I desire. But finding just a few answers, even if only a glimpse of an answer, satisfies me for a time, giving me a prod to continue scanning the horizon even when I am most content in my life as it is.
So, I maintain my own personal search.
As, I am sure, you do as well.
The post above is from a few years back, concerning the painting above, a favorite of mine called Reaching Out, which is headed to the Principle Gallery for this year’s June show.
I reran this post because I am thinking about taking a short hiatus from the blog, maybe just a few days. Maybe longer. I am feeling a bit stressed about running short on time for show preparations this year and am trying to find ways to make my time in the studio more productive.
You probably would be surprised at the time it takes to write this thing. It seems like it should only take a few minutes to bang out a few paragraphs of my typical blather. But it’s not the actual writing, which still takes me a while because I struggle with putting words together, but the task of just trying to come up with something each day takes a lot of time in scanning websites, doing research, searching music and videos, etc. I spend quite a bit of time this way, maybe too much.
I am not complaining. I like doing it most days and always feel it contributes something to my actual work. But as I have aged, my painting and prep process take more and more time to complete. Some of it is due to my process becoming more and more layered than in past years. As a result, each new piece takes quite a bit longer than in earlier years. I often feel the pressure of finishing work weighing on my mind when I am trying to get past the blog during these times. Even now, I have several tasks running through my mind as I write this.
And that makes it harder to think about the blog and write effectively to my satisfaction. So, maybe a short break is in order. Of course, I might change my mind tomorrow morning. As Walt Whitman said in Song of Myself:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself
We’ll see.
In the original post I included the Richard Thompson song below. It’s a lovely song, so if you have time, give a listen. If not, then I’ll see you down that winding road sometime in the future. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.
Who knows?
Redtree Times 