Friday, August 26, 2011

getting into the paint

Mineral Point, WI

After two days of travel, meeting up with a friend and exploring Madison before coming to Mineral Point for the workshop, the first day of class today passed in a flurry of talk and painting. It was a day of settling in, of cohering as a group, finding a rhythm and a way of working together even as we each work independently. It was a time to be generous, to acknowledge each other and support each other, to get past introductions and find a level of mutual comfort. It didn't seem to take long: This is a group of very dynamic and cordial artists.

I have begun to work on several panels (probably too many), trying to focus on creating foundations rather than finished paintings.  I plan to continue to build base layers tomorrow, even if it means that I can't finish pieces before going home. I don't have anything specific in mind, although I still hope to address my dilemma of how to portray the land that I love.  Still, I like the idea of a series of rather random foundation layers, on top of which to build something more coherent.  Rebecca gave us a list of optional exercises on color, and I immediately adopted her "Random" idea: to close my eyes and pick up two tubes of paint at random, and use whatever they are for whatever layer I am working on.

I'll come back and edit this post to add an image of today's work, once I get the images out of my camera.  I forgot the cord!

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