He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with
the world.
– Marcus Aurelius
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This is a new painting that is titled Streaming Peaceful, a 24″ by 36″ canvas that is part of a group of paintings that should be arriving today at the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast of California. This very much a signature piece for my work in form and content, a deep landscape under a gradated sky with the Red Tree holding central focus.
But for me the central aspect of this piece is the placid feel that emanates from it. It has a rich and supple feel that I find brings immediate calm as soon as my eyes lock on to the image. Even at this moment as I write, there is an instant sensation as though I am releasing a deep breath when I shift my gaze upward on the screen to this painting.
And that sense of being near some sort of core of peacefulness is what I am looking for in my work, at least in my own personal relationship to it. I have maintained this quite a few times over the years here that my primary personal goal in painting is not in mere representation, not in pure design or technical prowess. No, what I want, my ultimate goal, is to simply move myself with the work to an inner point where I am finally calm and at peace with the world. For me, feeling that calming envelope surround me is all I truly seek in my work.
Everything else is secondary.
And this piece hits that mark– for me. I can’t speak for others. We all seek different things and have differing reactions to art. What others see or feel in this is their experience alone and that is as it should be.
But, like it or not, I am at peace in it.
I’ve been hobbled a bit over the last couple of weeks by a pinched nerve in my neck that has made any work (or sleep) almost impossible to accomplish. Hopefully, it will soon fade and I will be working feverishly again. But while it has kept me from work, it has not prevented me from thinking back on 2012 and what it meant for my work. It was truly a great year for it, one that will be hard to replicate.
I just wanted to share a few more tidbits from the recent foray out west. The image shown here is from the late artist Eyvind Earle, who I have mentioned here a couple of times before. I have quite an attraction to his graphic style and as we finally emerged on our drive westward from the wide agricultural central valley I began to see how the landscape of the coastal hills of California inspired his work. Golden hills with perfectly crowned oaks placed sporadically upon them were in abundance. It was hard not to see paintings coming to life as I drove through the hills.
I am slowly trying to get back into some sort of rhythm in the studio after getting back from what for me was an extended absence while traveling out to California for my show there. It was only a week or so but it was enough to disrupt that fragile balance and set me a bit off kilter. I can sense it in getting back into my painting rhythm as well as writing this blog. Just a bit more of a struggle at the moment. I don’t fret over this as I once might have because I’ve been through this more than a few times. If I put my head down and forge forward, it returns after a bit.
On our recent trip west, we headed first into Yosemite National Park before heading over to San Luis Obispo for the show. Both Cheri and I had always wanted to see the iconic sights with which we were so well acquainted and thought that a few days there beforehand would better acclimate us to California time. We’re really glad we did. Yosemite was everything we had hoped for, even with the iffy weather as the storms that buffeted California would occasionally pass through.
Going as we did, in late November when the hustle and traffic of the high tourist season has long passed by, there were very few people there which added to the drama of the place. It’s easier to reverently take in the full power and magic of the place without the constant sound of human voices. And there is an elemental power there. It is all granite and water and wood and mists that shift quickly, one moment shrouding the cliffs and the next moving on to reveal a grand vista. Awe inspiring.
Well, I’ve been back for a couple of days now and I’m still trying to recall details of our trip out to California, particularly those from the show at the Just Looking Gallery on Saturday evening. I am trying to recollect the many faces and names and stories that flash in my memory, trying to make sure that I account them all properly. For instance, here is a photo taken during the show with Yvette and Akshay along with two paintings they chose from the show. We had a lovely conversation during the show where I learned more about their lives and their backgrounds. While I know it’s important to expound and to shed some light, if I can, on the work, the meaningful part of these shows for me comes in hearing what people who find something of value in my work have to say. I realize how fortunate I am to be in a position where I can listen, a position where people are willing to speak earnestly with me.
Well, we got home last night after several days on the west coast for my show this past weekend at the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo. And though it was very wet , we had a great time. We saw a lot of great sights, from the heights of Yosemite down to the coastal area around SLO. But it was the friendliness and warmth of the people there that made the biggest impression. We met so many wonderful people. My biggest complaint is that they were there to hear about my work so I did more talking when I would rather be listening, hearing about their lives and stories.
Redtree Times 