It's been quite some time since I've posted to my blog-- I miss being in touch with you! For the last month or so, I've been traveling to see friends and family from coast to coast and trying to see as much art as possible at the same time. I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Chelsea gallery district in NYC, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and finished up with the wonderful "Boticelli to Braque, Masterpieces from the Scottish Museum" at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. All this art can be inspiring, and it can also be intimidating!
It's actually kind of tough coming back home and facing the blank canvas after seeing so many master works. After a few deep breaths, I tell myself that even the masters had several "clunkers" along the way-- not every single piece they created ended up in a museum. Any time I flip through a book of an artist's works, I end up loving a few, and feeling rather lukewarm about many others. And that's OK! If I am to explore new expressions, I have to be comfortable with the clunkers that might result as part of the process.
"Resilience" was painted quickly during this intense period of travel and observation. I decided to leave her rather unfinished. I thought that if I finished off every bit of the painting, it would loose some of its spontaneity, and I enjoy seeing my thought process under the paint from time to time.
This painting is for sale at the Button Petter Gallery in Saugatuck, Michigan. Click here for more information.
its a beautiful portrait Ann. So nice that you got to see so many masterpieces. My favorites are the Sargeant's at the Met. oooh la la.
ReplyDeleteLove the 'unfinished' painterly brushwork here in the painting.