Asian Influences #2

Description

My current work Some Thoughts about Orbs examines the relationship of control and chaos. We live in a world full of this sort of conflict. Control is easy to see. Drive a car, buy groceries, walk the dogs. Chaos is just around the corner. The car ahead of you brakes suddenly and you’re thrown forward. Maybe an accident, maybe not. Grocery shopping may require a list but items aren’t on the shelf. Walk two dogs like me and you’re tangled up in leashes. There are so many times that what was intended didn’t in fact happen.

A lot of this has to do with process. I thin the oil paint with mineral spirits pouring it on to a board. The paint is moved around with a blow dryer, spreading quickly throughout the support. I can change the direction, force, color and momentum. The image is unconsciously, intuitive sought. The control comes in with time. Do I keep it? Do I continue? Is it good or good enough?

I start with color. Choosing a palette is a matter of mood. Am I light and airy? Then yellows and light blues, maybe a little rose. Am I indecisive and wary? Then darker values and Payne’s gray, maybe some dark green. The resulting colors can be a total surprise. As I work, I am constantly asking am I present in this very moment. Then I spend hours, days watching paint dry. It becomes a very Zen state of mind. The titles- Some Thoughts about Orbs reflect my thinking and feeling at the time. The orbs come last. They stand in for all the things we cannot see- atoms, molecules, dust, pollen, insects.

The result is an ethereal landscape full of mystery. Mountains, valleys,, trees, water flow throughout a spiritual time and place. Ultimately there is a balance between chaos and control. Just like ordinary life.