It has been quite a while since I devoted any time at all to this blogspot. My banner says something about plein air painting, and I need to explain that in October that no longer seemed to work as a proper description of the direction I was going. I spent last winter doing still life studies and occasionally working from photos and through the summer, I did very little art work, just a few plein air outings and the rest of the time I guess I felt there was more work to do in the garden. By the time fall rolled around I was ready to get back to painting on a more regular basis. Then I had another wake up call. I had a strange episode with my left eye while traveling, I awoke with a spider web of shadow due to something happening in the inside of my eye. After a thorough check with the eye specialists in Ames Iowa where I was visiting my brother, I was assured that there was not a detachment and I should expect to have the shadows for awhile. The following week, after I returned to Door County, the right eye did the same thing, and nearly four months later, I am still experiencing this shadow floater business, as well as some blurring in both eyes, due to the cataracts that were discovered in the past year. There are times when I see things that aren't there, birds that don't exist, and shadows that move and track which ever direction i might be looking. I decided to put plein air painting on hold for a while, so just started making marks, calligraphic form, color field and patterns that mimic the floaters which are with me every day. I have also purchased larger oil sticks as well, which makes for an interesting layering and application of color, which can be thinned and spread with thinner or oil medium, or built up to more of an impasto, and it is sometimes easier for me to grasp the fatter sticks, rather than narrow handled paint brushes.
Floaters
Group of six studies, popped into frames, these pieces are small, 6 x 8 inches.
Untitled Study
FIELD OF VISION SERIES
Untitled Studies 18"x18" water based oil and oil stick on canvas
Exploring movement and color, through expressive marks which
reference calligraphic image and patterns.
