At some point when I was in my 20s, I realized that high heels were not for me. I had spent years hobbling around on my spikes like any aspiring fashionista in the early '80s, pretending my feet didn't hurt, and pretending I wasn't frustrated that I couldn't walk as fast as I wanted to.
But finally, I had had enough. I realized that, although high heels looked great, they just weren't me. It meant more to me to be able to stride in comfort. (Luckily, I soon discovered Dr. Martens, and my feet breathed a sigh of relief.) These days, when I see other women wearing beautiful high-heeled shoes, I still let out a sigh. But I know that style is not for me, and that I'd be miserable wearing them.
I've just decided that atmospheric painted surfaces are like high-heeled shoes for me -- they look great for other people, but they're just not me.
I've spent a lot of paint and canvas coming to this conclusion. I'm constantly poring over "how to paint" books showing lush, atmospheric surfaces that seem to go on for miles, because I love that look.
But I have to be honest. Whenever I start painting like that, I get frustrated. I have to get real: what I want is a painting with two flat tones, one dark and one light, feeding in and out of one another in a distinct, graphic style. Even middle tones frustrate me; I want dark and light to co-exist, without mediation.
So I think all my containers of gel medium and interference paints are going to go the way of my high heels. I love looking at them in other people's paintings, but they just don't work for me.
My painting "Web," shown at the top of this entry, is the way I like to work. An intricate pattern, but the result of two tones of lines weaving together, not an implication of deep space. I can get lost in this image, but I still feel I know where I am at all times.
5 comments:
Catherine, I think your work is atmospheric in its own way, I love the intricate patterns - that's something I don't master...so, each his own. But like you I sometimes want to paint in a different manner and have to be honest and accept that that just is not me. Ah well!
Marina -- I found it freeing to realize this style wasn't "me" -- then I was free to appreciate it in others' work and not try to force it to happen in mine. Thank you for your comments on the patterns in my work.
Yes, I totally agree with you. realizing what is your own visual language is important and I find that I appreciate painters who do something that I cannot. I guess that's why artist buy art by others very easily (when affordable)
Yes, I totally agree with you. realizing what is your own visual language is important and I find that I appreciate painters who do something that I cannot. I guess that's why artist buy art by others very easily (when affordable)
That's one of my favorite things to do at art exhibits -- pretend I am so wealthy that money is no object, and ask myself, which piece would I buy? It's fun to think of how happy that would make the artist, to know that someone loved their work so much that they wanted to take it home so they could look at it whenever they wanted.
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