After a crazy July, full of moving and playing, I am back in the studio working on the Iris Flowsaics, the really BIG egg tempera painting and the experimental aluminum white flower series!

Feels fabulous to again be at work.

Good news! Two of the Quaking Aspen Flowsaics will be in a group show at eo art lab. More on that in a day or two.

I've leaped from the early jellie scribbles to a new body of work I'm calling the white flower series. It is still in the experimental stages but I'm sourcing materials and making progress. Here are two images of a piece I did just before the July madness set in.

I'm printing white peonies images I captured with my iPhone onto 17" x 35" aluminum flashing. Then I'm pouring varnish with micron pigments, in this I've used some earth-based yellow and some white, pink and orange flourescent pigments. I'm adding some linseed oil as well! It's unpredictable play.

Another view of the first white flower piece.

I love Goethe's "unscientific" color theory!


"The human being himself, to the extent that he makes sound use of his senses, is the most exact physical apparatus that can exist." (Goethe, Scientific Studies)

light seen through a turbid medium appears yellow, and darkness seen through an illuminated medium appears blue - the world is full of turbidity (especially now.)

Why the sky is blue . . .

The highest degree of light, such as that of the sun... is for the most part colourless. This light, however, seen through a medium but very slightly thickened, appears to us yellow. If the density of such a medium be increased, or if its volume become greater, we shall see the light gradually assume a yellow-red hue, which at last deepens to a ruby colour. If on the other hand darkness is seen through a semi-transparent medium, which is itself illumined by a light striking on it, a blue colour appears: this becomes lighter and paler as the density of the medium is increased, but on the contrary appears darker and deeper the more transparent the medium becomes: in the least degree of dimness short of absolute transparence, always supposing a perfectly colourless medium, this deep blue approaches the most beautiful violet.

—Goethe, Theory of Colours, pp. 150–151



Curiously, since the crux of Goethe's theory is tied to what is experiential, he would reject both the wave and particle theories since they are conceptually inferred and not directly perceived by the human senses.

So back to the beginning . . . we are the most exact physical apparatus that can exist. And I'd go further and posit that the human heart has infinite depth beyond any scripture. Indeed the light and dark work together and in that working color forms.

July 5 heading to Delaware for our big move. Stopping on the NJ turnpike for food - ugh! However there is no better place to people watch!

And gassing up on the NJ turnpike - gotta love those prices and someone to pump the gas for you!

A farewell to Wilmington, DE.

The entourage

Uhaul returned July 9 - yay!!

I'm trying to remember when I began this large, as yet untitled, egg tempera painting; but I cannot. It's been a while since I've worked on it and it's wonderful to be back in pure egg tempera work. While this medium is never forgiving and demands strict discipline and attention it's rewards are unparalleled.

Below is a detail of the work in progress. It'll be months before this one is finished. But painting the river seems to keep me cool during these hot summer days.

Oh, that's me on the left at work in the studio.

And after an all day session on teh really large egg tempera painting I played with a new aluminum piece. I've been experimenting with a series of digital images of just white flowers printed on aluminum. I'm pouring varnish tinted with pigments - some flourescent. And then dripping tinted oil atop the varnish.

I'm loving the drippy wetness! And playing with flourescent pigments as the sun sets makes for some interesting photos!

Quartets. That's how I'm going to organize the Flowsaics.

Just like the little icons on my iPhone.

Perhaps it's the underlying structure I'm feeling. The grid that connects all life? Who can say?

I've begun the iris Flowsaics.

Here's a little detail from number one

On this first day of summer a few new digital polaroids . . .

Summer! Wow summer arrived right on time! I am in love all over again with these cool early mornings. Especially on a day you know will grow into a one of those hot steamy ones that can only end with thunder and lightening.

Yesterday I happened upon some day lilies. With this iPhone polaroid app I get some cool effects. Like the blue in the shadows. The lilies are a mish mash of shape and colors! Can't wait to play and paint with them!

Even with their bursting and bubbling of color and form there exists within the images a subtlety. A kind of ephemeral understanding of their short life span. And within their shapes are a primordial pattern of manifestation which we all feel. What person doesn't know the bloom?

The idea that they arrive in their glorious color from the vast unmanifest realm that we arrived from gives me comfort and joy.

 

Louise Bourgeois

painter and sculptor
born 25 December 1911;
died 31 May 2010





at left:
Lousie Bourgeois by Robert Maplethorpe



Her obit

The other day I gave in to a long time creative impulse of playing with chickens. Okay so the roosters paraded in front my iPhone and dominated that days digital polaroids. The chickens will arrive later this summer. Here's the result:

On this morning's walk my heart was heavy with concern. As I walked shrouded in the fog I was feeling sad about the challenges and choices facing me. Knowing the day would warm up to near 90 I found solace in the early morning's coolness.

Two years ago I made a commitment to honor my need for integrity; to truly respect my time and energy and my deepest sense of trust in me by saying “no thanks” when the project or opportunity wasn't aligned with this inner knowing. It has, and continues to be, a strenuous path requiring all my strength and courage, and yes, my faith.

I'm learning that faith contains confidence, not in God or a god or some deity, but in me. Recently I had a conversation with a friend about the difference between hope and optimism. We concluded that hope, while necessary, was less tangible than optimism. And that optimism had a strong component of confidence that we had the ability to succeed. I am also learning that I am an optimist.

Toward the end of my walk the fog began to lift. As the fog lifted and the sun's energy spread across the dewy fields a breeze accompanied it. It was a gentle breeze barely discernible. But the smallest of aspen trees quivered in it. For me that is faith made tangible.

I have a new Flowsaic series from these aspen Polaroids. And yes, the series touches on faith made tangible.