Saturday, May 8, 2010

Mystical New Painting






Initiation
9" x 12"
Acrylic on paper



Last week I returned to painting. It’s been a while and remembering how to play with paint again, this piece of watercolor paper began yielding something wondrous.

This has happened before. I’ll be mindlessly rolling paint around when light and shadow will appear and I will be filled with delightful discovery. Since nothing was planned, I often feel like an archeologist finding an object in a dig and need to clear away the encrusted surface to bring a treasure to life.

If I had consciously set out to paint this mystical image, it would not be nearly so powerful to me. It might lack great technical skill or refinement since I’m often afraid to overwork such a piece thus losing its raw intent. So, I might not have nailed this one. It might not communicate effectively what I felt, but I’m pleased to have uncovered it.

9 comments:

  1. The golden light on the procession is wonderful.

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  2. Hi Gina,

    I like the way the painting revealed itself toyou. Somehow I like that process very much myself even though it can feel mysterious at times...
    I like you header by the way!

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  3. Hi Sophie. Yes, it’s the best part of art-making—you see something that speaks to you and it reveals itself to you. All you need is to get out of the way and let it come through. You have some very interesting blogs I will need to explore more thoroughly; thanks for visiting mine.

    Thank you Alexi! How is your work going?

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  4. So powerful, Gina! And I have finally followed your lead and learned how to make a blog! Painting is next, and soon!

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  5. Oh, this is exciting news, Mary--best of luck on your new blog! The blogging community is a wonderful group of people.

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  6. I feel the same way--that I discover images, instead of creating them. And then at other times, I feel like I don't find the images, instead I feel like they find me.

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  7. I'm so glad you feel that way, too, Leslie. I love it when it happens, when, as you say, the images find us.

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