About blogging... and not...

Ok, ok, ok. I haven't written in my blog for a long time -- two years?

Well, I've been busy. I thought moving to the beach was a great idea. It was cheap and quiet. I could really get a lot of painting done. And I did. But I found the beach a great place to visit but boring to live there. The ocean comes in, the ocean goes out. Very little socialization. Very little art opportunities. PLUS, I paint Portland, sell almost exclusively in Portland, SO, at last we are in Portland again. Living on a yacht (really just a big 'ol boat) with a wonderful studio at the top of the dock. Whew! Am I glad.

What we see and don't see...

I am really "looking" at the painting I am working on today. A freeway bridge - I am looking at it for both the overall sense of it and the details that give it its "bridgeness." How the pillars connect. How the approach curves and slants. What can you see between its struts.

And color - not just gray -- green moss (mildew), purple stains, rusted iron, brown gray and blue gray.
Different angles.
Leaving things out.
Putting things in.

What do we miss when we look at our surroundings too quickly, in a conventional manner?

Anticipating the best painting I have ever done...

I am very excited because I am starting a series of 8 new paintings. I am always filled with anticipation that I just KNOW that each new painting is the best I have ever done. Unfortunately it never turns out that way... but it is probably for the best because you would probably never want to do a new painting, would you? And maybe the trying is the whole idea. So here we go, a painting a week for the next 6 weeks. They are not going to be my usual larger size canvases but I have learned something about painting smaller ... like in golf, the swing is the same, you just use smaller clubs. In painting, you just use smaller brushes -- a revelation! I'll let you know tomorrow how I progress today.