Redtree Times

Work-In-Progress 2023

I aim here only at revealing myself, who will perhaps be different tomorrow, if I learn something new which changes me.

–Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

This is a Work-In-Progress that is currently on the easel here in the studio. Thought I’d show it this morning because it’s at that point where it begins to reveal its true self in its evolution from the nothingness of a bare canvas to whatever it turns out to be.

It’s my favorite point in the process because the tones of the red oxide underpainting and the first few touches of color coalesce into a wholeness that begins emitting an emotional radiance.

Yeah, that sounds kind of pretentious, I know. But you have to give me a break– if I had better words I most likely would be a writer and not a painter. Or maybe a plumber. Who knows?

But the point I am trying to make is that it’s at a point where it begins to tell its story with feeling. My struggle is to keep this first burst of feeling intact or increase it as the painting progresses from here. Actually, it’s to try to figure out now to not obscure that feeling that I am getting from it at this point.

And that sometimes happens. I have had pieces where they feel very strong at this juncture but end up losing a bit of their emotional impact under the layers of paint that will follow. I toy with the idea of going just a touch further than this before leaving the painting alone but am blocked in doing from some compulsion to see it go as far as I can take it.

It’s a kind of metaphor for our personal evolution, much like the words at the top from the 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne. We are like the painting in that we find ourselves revealed to be who we are at certain points in our lives. But we do not have to remain at that point. With knowledge, new revelations about ourselves and the world around us, we change. We have that same underpainting in place but we are now somehow different.

Hopefully, for the better.

I am eager to see where this piece goes. I will be sure to share it at some point.

Here’s a song in that same vein. It’s a live version Changes from David Bowie. Good way to kick off the new week that is facing a difficult world.

Now, get the heck out of here. I got work to do.