A Way Forward (2012)- Now at Principle Gallery
If we would guide by the light of reason, we must let our minds be bold.
–Justice Louis Brandeis, dissenting opinion in Jay Burns Baking Co. v. Bryan (1924)
The painting above, A Way Forward, was completed in 2012. It left the studio almost as soon as it was done so I only lived with it for a very brief time. Since it left, with only its image to remind me of it, I thought it was good piece. A very good painting even.
But something always seemed missing in it. The image I was looking at on my computer screen didn’t seem to fully capture what I remembered of that piece. After a while I just rationalized that away by saying that I didn’t get to fully know the painting since it lived with me for such a short period of time and that the image on the screen was most likely accurate.
When it returned to the studio several months ago, I realized how wrong I had been. The image on the screen didn’t capture hardly any of the depth or nuance in this painting. That image was much flatter in tone, the colors seemed too dark and dull, and it had a sort of yellow glaze over the whole of it. It was a like I was looking at a different and altogether inferior painting.
The actual painting was so much more. Shockingly so.
It was, of course, my fault as that earlier image was from my own photography and photo editing. This was not the first instance of this, especially in work from that period around 2012 and 2013. I featured painting, Islander, here this past week whose digital image had many of the same flaws as that of this painting. It was a mess, causing the painting to lose much of the pop that made it so effectively alive when seen in person.
I am not sure why there was this dramatic lapse in the quality of the images at that time. Maybe it was the camera or computer I was working with at the time. I don’t really know. Whatever the reason, I am aware that my photography often does not always capture the depth or the full effect of certain pieces. I have been told numerous times by people in the galleries how much better the work looked in person, that the images they saw online didn’t compare. I have often written here that if you like the image here, you’ll love it even more in person.
I immediately reshot both paintings, as well as a few more from that time. The image here is infinitely better than my original image of this painting. But even then, it will still show more depth and subtlety in person.
My opinion of this painting soared after getting it back. Even its emotional impact and messaging, as I saw it then in 2012 and now, seemed clearer to me. It has a pop to it feels much bolder and far more confident than the image I looked at for so many years. There is again lovely nuance in the sky and distant hills and the Red Tree seems to have an air of certainty in its stance and position as a guide pointing us forward into the future.
It is a piece filled with hopeful optimism.
I once again feel that excitement that I remember feeling when it was painted back in 2012, a feeling that was somewhat dulled in my memory by my poor imaging of it.
Now I am able to fully enjoy this painting again and I am thrilled.
This painting, A Way Forward, is 10″ by 16″ on paper, matted and framed at 16″ by 22″. It is included in Flow, my annual solo exhibit at the Principle Gallery that opens Friday, June 12 with an opening reception from 6-8:30 PM.
For this week’s Sunday Morning Music, here’s a favorite song that the Red Tree might very well be singing in this painting. This is the classic I’ll Take You There. from the always great Staple Singers.
