When I paint with oils, sometimes I will pull out an small, old canvas and end up mixing my colors on there in addition to my other palette. After the last painting I posted I ended up with a really colorful canvas with what I felt were interesting brushstrokes and texture. I hung it on my studio wall because I liked it. And then one evening I took black paint and covered up parts until I had the remaining shape. It reminded me of a thought bubble and probably how my thoughts actually look- a jumble of colors and shapes. Some parts peaceful, other parts filled with turmoil.
It was fun and I decided that it needed to stay and be.
I’ve been keeping this blog for, good grief, 20+ years. It was meant to document my creative journey and also to help me find the language around my art. I’ve gotten to a point where people associate my work with a certain style and at some point I started to feel more self conscious about sharing these experiments or when I shift gears like I have recently done from my earthy encaustic mixed media paintings to colorful landscapes. I hear a nagging voice in my head saying,”If you have too many different styles, then curators won’t take you seriously, blah, blah, blah”. Well I have been showing my work for a while and I take myself seriously, so does what these voices from the internet art world matter? Maybe. Maybe not.
Recently when I put a show together at xoxo Gallery in Baltimore, I was looking at a lot of work and honestly, I didn’t care about that. I looked for work that resonated with me and what the exhibition was about. But I’m not a Curator, so my experience doesn’t hold ground. I totally understand the argument.
But this is my visual journal that I have shared in this strange online world we’ve been living in for the past 20 some years. And that by itself is the reason why should I share this Thought Bubble piece. In fact, I made two more small abstract pieces during my landscape oil painting stint. And I love them! And today I finally put my oils away and turned my wax back on and I revisited a painting that was once deemed done, but I decided to work on it today. I got rid of the plant image and this piece is going to stay an abstract painting. (I think. Nothing is every final in my world)
So Thought Bubble is part of the journey. The origin of the word journal comes from Old French jornel, “a day; time; a day’s travel or work”.
This is my journey.
Also, this country has completely upended all norms that are socially and morally acceptable. Who cares what I do? Earthy mixed media paintings to colorful contemporary landscapes to abstractions. At least I’m not hurting anyone or destroying institutions.
(Can you tell I just read the morning news? Sigh….)