posted February 28, 2008 12:39 AM         

I might rename it eventually to:

The Circle Game

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when youre older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down

Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it wont be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
Therell be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
Were captive on the carousel of time
We cant return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

posted February 28, 2008 12:55 AM         

paint:

Yellow Ochre
Dioxazine Purple
Cardinal Red
Fawn

touches of
Titanium White
Metallic Pure Gold and Metallic Inca Gold

brushes:

2'' Flat Wash
#5' Round
#4' Shader
3/4'' Wash

Painting Knife
Toothbrush
Sponge
old debit card

Modeling paste

posted February 28, 2008 01:39 AM         

This is beautiful, T! WOw!

So much to say, but it will have to wait. I've got to get some rest for class in the morning.

It's funny, really. I was just going to go to bed after finishing my latest project but, for some reason, I had a strong urge to check in on the web.

Glad I did.

posted February 28, 2008 08:09 AM         

You especially got that hind leg perfect.

Reminds me of classical Japanese paintings of horses.

There's something beautifully Taurean
in the positioning of the head.
Or so my gut tells me.

The "circus" is so big...

But the horse is the center of attention...

Is she just about to cross the threshold,
or just about to circle back....

Beautiful.

posted February 28, 2008 11:32 AM         

That is the most beautiful painting I have ever seen. When I looked at the first frame I sat for a few seconds and looked and thought... okaaaaaay, well, I love her so it is good hehehehe Then I saw something and squinted and then went ahead and scrolled down and my mouth literally dropped open. It was magical. You are magical. And then the carousal... ohhhh
I can't wait to show this to Rosie to see if she sees it in the first frame. You are so beautiful. Thank you for touching my soul this morning. I'm coming fresh from philosophy class and I had just opened and read something from my favorite author (on God) that related perfectly to what I was writing a mini essay about in class and your art is the perfect addition to my mood.

posted February 28, 2008 12:07 PM         

quote:

---

She's escaped the carousal and is about to tear through into a new reality.

---

She's escaped, but she's looking back.

posted February 28, 2008 03:56 PM         

I' m rushing because i have to go to work soon.

NosiS, I eagerly await your response as this is your area of expertise. I've been trying break out of my norm to create more abstractly lately. As you know, these 'organized messes' are more difficult to create than they may seem, and i have a strong urge to try to develop more in this area. My appreciation for abstract work has deepened greatly because of these recent attempts ive been making. I thought i would have an easier time painting this way; free and loose, but have found out that it is just as difficult as any other way. In this one i broke out of my comfortable palette too. I rarely use red as it's my least favorite color but i decided it was time to get more comfortable with it.

HSC, the oriental style of the horse is the look i was going for. The positioning of the head was intentional. The horse is looking to it's right in an attempt to convey it as choosing to focus on the "right" positive side of life in this go-around. I think the position gives it more visual interest and helps to get across the feeling of movement in the scene.

I take swear words as great compliments, so thank you.

Mel, You made me so happy when you said:
"She's escaped the carousal and is about to tear through into a new reality."
Yes, exactly! I'm delighted that was communicated to you. The horse's face quickly took on a look or life of it's own and i tried not to meddle with it too much. I almost went into the mouth to make it open like the horses we see on carousels but decided it didnt fit.

What Rosie said was cute. Yes, i suppose she IS a girl. lol

Thank you and HSC for your added insight into it.

The golden bar that carousel horses have is exaggerated on this horse and reaches high up to represent the connection everything always has to what is Above. The horse has broken free of 'the carousel of time' but still has it's connection to the divine. The purple tearing through is supposed to resemble a path taken downward into matter - a dark, heavy one. The concentration of yellow and red on the lower half represent flesh and blood on the physical plane. The brush strokes become denser and more complicated or busier on the "matter half" of the painting.

posted February 28, 2008 04:33 PM         

Ok, Rosie saw a human face in the horse's mane. I can see it too now.

Next, when I pointed out the golden bar and said it represented more than one thing, one, the bar for the carousal, and also, a connection to the sky and to God, Rosie said, "ohhhhh There is a BIG carousal too?"

It was awe inspiring and reminded me of dimensions and mirrors within mirrors and vastness and as above and so below and understanding and transcending your chart only to be faced with galaxies and planets extending eternally.

Rosie just said, "And write that I love the picture."

posted February 28, 2008 11:31 PM         

Well, Rosie sounds like she could be a budding artist herself! That is SO cool she found a face in the mane!!! I'm trying to find it now.. Wish I was there so she could show me. I'm curious about her Sun Sign, Moon and Venus Sign...?...

It's fascinating, how people interpret a picture. Thank you for sharing that with me.

I would gladly give it to you girls, if you lived closer or something and i could drive it over - 'cause the thing is HUGE. Also, although I'm happy with it, i'm not extremely proud of it and think of it more as practice and a good reference. I'm trying hard to stay away and not jump back into it. One of the hardest things for me is knowing or deciding when a painting is "done". I've ruined many by over working them. I feel like that happened here, but not too badly. Then.. sometimes when i look at it, it seems like it's underworked too...
who knows? I'm not educated in art so it's hard to tell. I'm going to let that one go for awhile and get back into the others.

If i ever perfect it and get prints made, I will send you two one for sure.

posted February 29, 2008 01:44 AM         

Your talent and skill never cease to amaze me. I think most of the reason for that is because you seem to work very consciously. The theme of this painting was so brilliantly clear to me, having some insight into your personality, and I am caught in such a wonderful admiration of your expression. I tend to work very subconsciously and have been working on planning with more accuracy.

I wonder how this painting developed. Did you have an idea or an intention at first? Or did you just start painting and let it make itself out to you bit by bit?

Since you have touched on abstraction, I shall allow myself to go off as I am wont to.
You are most likely familiar with two of history's favorite "abstractionists", Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. I bring them up to elaborate on the point of how difficult these "organized messes" can truly be. Here is one of Pollock's paintings titled Galaxy:

And here is one of Rothko's paintings No.5/No.22:

posted February 29, 2008 01:44 AM         

It's surprising how difficult it can be to make paint splatter as Pollock did or to choose colors that convey the same relationships that Rothko filed on his canvases. The qualities of paint, its properties and characteristics, were an important focus for Pollock as an "action painter". To Rothko it was color. The kind of art made by artists that focus on specific elements of art (elements like line, point, shape, color, time, space, rhythm and repetition, et cetera) is not what the collected consciousness of humanity was used to during the 1940s and on, shortly after WWII. It is certain that the presence of a nuclear reality greatly affected the psyche of the world and was, in large part, a pivotal force upon the content of human life and communications (fine art being one of the many areas). In art, this further deepened the questioning of traditions and orthodoxies that was already occurring since the mid 18oos. Some scholars point to Cézanne as the grandfather of modern art but along with the styles of Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso and others as you go up (further along) the timeline, it is easier to see what that all really means as the messages behind the artists' works become much more audible in this context. These earlier artist's were already rebelling in their pre-WWII period, but they were rebelling against the accepted methods employed to represent an image or symbol through medium. Post WWII, with the introduction of the smallest particles known to science, Einstein's relativity theory and the fracturing of the relationship between the collective consciousness and mythology, the rebellion shifted not only against how an image should be conveyed but the very images and symbols that have been the focus of art itself, were also brought into question. Pollock and Rothko (who are only two of many others) were artists that began to break the anatomy of art down to its very skeleton. Art's conversations no longer became a narrative of scenery or symbology, but a meditation of the very elements and principles of design.

Forgive my lecturing here but I promise that this isn't a lunatically-based tangent.

posted February 29, 2008 01:45 AM         

"One has to believe in what one is doing, one has to commit oneself inwardly, in order to do painting. Once obsessed, one ultimately carries it to the point of believing that one might change human beings through painting. But if one lacks this passionate commitment, there is nothing left to do. Then it is best to leave it alone. For basically painting is idiocy.” -Gerard Richter

I highly suggest anyone to check out Richter and his work. He is a perfect example of the power and utility that can be accomplished by working in "abstract" methods. He works both abstractly and in representation and his art shows exactly how his own skill has benefited by meditating on certain elements abstractly.

Here are two examples:

Richter has been known to use a squeegee to help "blur" the paint onto his surfaces. His experiments with this blurring have culminated in unbelievably photo-realistic images that produce an arcane sense of wonder, as with this one:

posted February 29, 2008 01:45 AM         

You have something going here, T. Upon first glance, the great chasm that rips diagonally through the painting is reminiscent of a wound or scar that is healing. It then seemed to transform into an erupting volcano to me, from which the horse was narrowly escaping. Then, noticing the golden bar on the horse and the faint carousel (as you pointed out), the painting became even more intriguing. The textures are a treasure all on their own. They remind me of the great underwater ridges that occur where the earth's tectonic plates meet. Your stroke is very peculiar and extremely delicate (as I have previously noticed). The texture, giving the painting a strongly brusque quality that seems contradictory to your style, is done with a nice finesse that resembles hand-written script (which is much like your style). The atmosphere you've created with the choice in colors seems quite violent and, yet, so beautiful. I could write a whole 'nother post on that alone. You've really got the subtlety down, too. The horse and carousel fall right into the chaos, hidden. When they finally come out, they really come out. The way you've expressed the carousel is illusory, to say the least. You seem to have drawn such a fine line between vagueness and assurance that one thinks to be seeing things at first. After a close look, these objects really stand out in a way that much is still left to the imagination without leaning too much towards the imaginary. Brilliant work!!!
Seriously.

You really made it hard for me to find some constructive criticism, here. All I can really say is that I think you should allow yourself to keep working just a little further on this one. I think it's almost there, but it's not quite nearly finished. IMO, you shouldn't touch the horse nor the carousel. I'm not suggesting you add another subject either, at least not strongly. Personally, I would continue pushing the painting by adding a few more details to show the unity of the entire scene, like some faint birds/clouds in the sky and/or rocks or debris on the ground. But that's just me. You could very well leave the painting where it is now. It is a very strong piece of work.

I think I've exhausted myself. I have to work in the morning. I hope I haven't made an ass of myself. Your work just really inspires me.

posted February 29, 2008 03:03 AM         

Thank you so much for all this.

I will get back tomorrow.

"Sleep with the Angels"

posted February 29, 2008 03:13 PM         

Your passion for art pours through in this well thought out response. Thank you for the sharing some history and examples of other artists works and methods. I really enjoyed reading that and appreciate you taking the time to write it. I told you you were going to teach art someday. And I think you should still consider it.

I am not familiar with the artists mentioned, but a few weeks ago ran into Galaxy while browsing online and it struck me as a really great peice.

quote:

---

Ignorance will often overlook paintings such as these, claim them as illegitimate works of art, taking the works out of the allegorical contexts of their history, their chronology. I have been guilty of this, myself, as I have often looked upon such works with great contempt. I really couldn't understand their value and judged them as "shortcuts" that some artists took to make easy money. Boy, was I wrong.

---

I know. Boy, I was wrong once too.

quote:

---

Forgive my lecturing here but I promise that this isn't a lunatically-based tangent.

---

Forgive you??
I'll thank you instead.

I will be checking out Richter as you suggested. The examples you provided are unbelievable! That second one, my God...i cant believe it's not a photograph. It's awe inspiring!

To answer your questions...
Yes, I had an idea turning around for this paining in my head. I saw it in many different ways and color schemes for a few days, but it was pretty well planned in the sense that i knew most of the details, elements and had a rough layout in my mind. I practiced painting out horses in different positions and ended up going with the one you see.

Something I found interesting about how you yourself work is that you tend to let a piece come out to you bit by bit, i guess you could say. You just jump on in and get to work, confident that the finished peice is already there, you just start bringing it out. That's kind of how i looked at your method anyway. Like you said, you work more subconsciously without a lot of planning involved. I really admired that and you helped me break through a barrier in my own way of going about a painting (or drawing) by observing that. Part of my problem has been too much planning in my mind and then getting frustrated when it doesnt come out exactly the way i envisioned it. You taught me a good lesson in letting some of that go and trusting the piece will pull itself together.

quote:

---

The atmosphere you've created with the choice in colors seems quite violent and, yet, so beautiful.

---

I'm glad you noticed that. It was one of the most important factors i was trying to express.

The rest of your review leaves me somewhat speechless...all i can say is thank you.

The constructive critisism is very important valuble to me. It helps me get unstuck and gives some direction where to improve. When you get so absorbed in something, for hours on end, it can be hard to take a step back and seperate from it, you get lost in it, no longer able to see what your next move should or shouldnt be. I know i do anyway. A couple of wrong moves and youve lost something that might have been best left as it was and there is no getting it back quite the same way.

Adding some birds was something i thought about doing (i know you might find that hard to believe. lol j/k) I decided not too because I thought that might put it on the verge of being too busy and take the focus off the main elements. I was trying to keep this one simple through stong energy somehow. But you are right that i think there needs to be some work done on tying it all together somehow. Clouds are a great idea. The top half bothers me because i feel like it looks a little too broken and needs to become more cohesive..

Youve given me so much food for thought and I cant thank you enough.

posted February 29, 2008 03:32 PM         

Let's wait and see if i can make some improvements to it. And I've never sold a painting before, but have given many away. There is no way i can make friends or family pay for one...it doesnt feel right.