New Work: Running Through It

Running Through It
12" x 16" painted acrylic papers on wc paper

It doesn't bother me anymore when Rich walks into the studio to look at my work and make comments. I want him to say what it is he sees. If nothing else his observations provide for some good comic relief. It's not possible to take myself seriously these days. So, he walks in and I ask him what he thinks of this piece shown above. He says, "Oh, the balls now have caps." Fair enough! (Though I prefer to think of them (the balls) as heads with safety helmets but that is just me!)

Some Composition Issues:

I used similar colors for this piece as I did for the last one. I decided to emphasize the warmer colors though and play down the blues. I sort of did that I think. There is more of a warm feeling for me anyway. Something interesting though that I learned had to do with colors being dispersed throughout the piece. Originally I didn't have any yellow strips on the right side and there were no yellow shapes either. Those orange red bars seemed to be screaming at me. It seemed like kind of a contrast/saturation issue but then I thought that it was more of a color distribution/dominance issue. I decided that the yellow needed to be the dominant color and be placed throughout the piece in varying amounts. It is like Carol's mention in an earlier post of the "mother color" in a way. And I think this would apply to those of you who would be painting landscapes. An overall color feeling is very unifying. For me, I think it was a good solution. I also like the shape that was created with the addition of the yellow on the orange-red bars.

The Title:

Originally for this piece I had been thinking about the phrase "x marks the spot" in reference to the men who went out to find the best location for the placement and building of Hoover Dam. (I think I read in one of my books that as the dam was nearing completion some workers found the original stakes/markers made by that survey crew.) When I was about halfway through the piece I began thinking more about how the Colorado River drops in elevation as it progresses through the various sections of land and canyons. I also considered how the river is over allotted and over used. (So far as I know this is still the case to this day.) The title then has a dual meaning. It refers to both the river running through the land and also the way in which we as a population are running through this resource. And I am OK with people not getting that from looking at the painting itself. Whatever anyone gets out of it is fine and if you are reading and would like to say what it is you see then please leave a comment. I want to know.

I learn something small with each of these pieces that I make. It isn't painful anymore either when I make blunders (knock on wood) and maybe that is because I have made them so often now! That sense of being able to fix things or at least muddle through is invaluable. It makes the process much more enjoyable. 

OK, I hope everyone has had a good weekend. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Libby