For months now I've had something in my head that I've been trying to get down on canvas. I love Tonalism. Ever since I started this journey, I've known that I wanted to eventually wind up in some kind of tonal/impressionist/contemporary world where I could throw all of the painting styles I love into a big pot and let my imagination mingle with the real visual world.
Ironically, one of my pet peeves in the arts is the obsession with "finding a style." I dealt with it for years in music. I fought it by telling myself not to worry about it and just absorbing everything I could and working my a** off. Coincidentally, that is essentially the message Richard Schmid, Robert Henri, and Edgar Payne convey(ed) to their students. Being on this self-guided tour of becoming a painter, I was incredibly lucky to have happened upon the writings of these great teachers almost by accident with a gentle nudge from a couple of generous artist friends.
With all that in mind, I simply set out (often blindly) and started painting as much as I could. First ragged contemporary attempts, clumsy still-lifes, immature landscapes....then plein air, which I know I will continue to dance with the rest of my life. Finally a couple of things started to click to the point where I didn't want to burn every canvas within days of finishing them.
Mind you, I still feel like things are very clumsy....but I do see glimmers of light here and there that also make me feel like I'm headed in the right direction.
Four weeks ago, I wound up in the hospital (apparently a little less than 24 hours from shuffling off this mortal coil). It's odd, I didn't know you could be grateful and depressed at the same time...but there I was....I made a deal with myself to work even harder once I was healthy. I also told myself that I was REALLY not going to worry about style and just enjoy the process.
To be continued......
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