About to start the first canvas of the tides series.
the first one will be called "drift" signifying the end of my aimless searching for direction in art. that awful moment in between one canvas and the next when for a brief (sometimes not so brief) when you say to yourself "i've got nothing left to say" or worse "what i just said sucks ass i might aswell quit" or even worse "i'll never say anything as good as that... so i might aswell quit" and the moment when your whole body aches with joy in finding that next idea that propels you to the easle.
no one said artmaking would be easy... sometimes i wish someone would so we could all throw rotten tomatoes at their car!

initial sketch from my free flow drawings



sweeling organic life bits



first composition



second composition: ideas taking form now



third compostion: the basis/foundation for the first canvas



should an interesting week!

the Tides

search and exploring, i have stumbled onto the Tides.
Primodial movement (implicating the effects of the earth's rotation on the oceans)
slow and powerful, swirling and sinking
constant motion, heart beat of the sea
wet, fluid
engulfing, current

starting with studies in oil stick and paint.
next will be on canvas

Movement

I've decided that I'm going to dig deeper into the concept of movement.
Enough waffling... get down to some work that will challenge me that will (hopefully) push my visual vocabulary into somewhere it hasn't gone before.

here's my starting point.



Below are some free form abstract drawings to loosen me up. I'm so full of doubt and uncertainty. This is something I'm going to have to resolve before I get started. There's no going back to my old forms and working methods. I have to break the ice.... and this is the only way i know how. (plus i love the concept of movement as it relates to the 2d space/time of the page)



let's go and explore one of these variations... make it bigger... dig deeper.

Images from B.E.

I haven't posted in a while because i've been replanting myself. I clean out the studio from corner to ceiling to make my way for some (hopefully) new and exciting artmaking.
Below are some action shots from the final performance from Brief Encounters.

Hey... so if y'all were wondering what the "finished" product looked like... here's the two panels that i painted... the first being the one i responded to the music... the second one responding to Lynette.





i've been told they look radically different up close than when i was working on them on stage...
hmmm?
any hoo... twas a blast folks... hope to see you soon out there in art land

peace out homies
pete

One more time

This experience of performing / painting live on stage is quite a thrill. This is a really cool opportunity... one that i'll never forget.
Lynette and I had our rehearsal last night. We worked out the frame of the piece. Since it is relies heavily on improvisation, we didn't go over it too many times... just enough to know when our main queues are.
I'm probably going to do a practice tomorrow and then prep the canvases for the final show. i've added some depth to the colour palette just to make it punch a little more. I'm also going to visualize how i'm going to respond lynette... but it's all up to the moment now.


Other thoughts;
a series of paintings on the subject of some of the daily poems that i've written.
giving visual form to my words....
not an earthshaking concept... but something that might facilitate my desire to create experimental work.
i feel as though i'm at some sort of stylistic crossroads... involving my dialogue with oil painting.
do i commit to it and dig as deep as i can and find out if oils can bring shape to my ideas?
or do i start fresh with new and a variety of medium?
"i hate freakin' crossroads"
pete

Brief Encounters

Lynette and I both know what our roles are this piece. We have one more part to work out but other than that, it's "in the bag"! I can't wait to do a full rehearsal but tonight i've got to ask myself "how do we connect?" "how do we bring this full circle?" So i'm going to put the piece we are performing to on repeat until i get a glimmer/seed of an idea.
Feedback from katy and mara was great. they seem into what we are doing (which is awesome) and had some helpful suggestions regarding logistics and "choreography". mara's dog is a lil' cutie too. Lynette and i did a quick run through for them and since i didn't have my gear, i was forced to do some "air painting" ;)

An example of personal/artistic growth:
here's a couple of pics of my paintings.










and here's a glimpse of what we are planning to do for Brief Encounters.


i know i was wanting to get more experimental... watch what you wish for cuz you just might get it :)

tuesday we get together again in the body spirit studio... this time i'll be materially prepared
Pete

p.s. the salmon are running in Goldstream if anyone cares. it was my first time seeing a salmon run... twas pretty cool