Begin at the Beginning

Time spent in the studio has been productive over the past couple of weeks. It’s been nice exploring the paints again, indulging myself in straight out-of-the-tube colors. For some reason, right now it doesn’t feel like the time to be timid or subtle.

It’s true that just showing up for work eventually gets some momentum going, as trite as that sounds. Why does it take so long to re-learn that? We don’t have to wait for inspiration to strike us in order to just begin at the beginning. But I’m finding out something else about just being in the studio, with the materials all laid out, the lighting just right, and the music playing. The more time I spend doing my work, the more I begin to look forward to the experience. I don’t think it’s as much about the results as it is about just being in one’s own space, surrounded by the things that provide inspiration. The work builds on itself. Soon a time comes when I wake up in the morning thinking about a work in progress — sometimes after dreaming about it — and how I might resolve it. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting close.

This new one is titled “Awake.”

The one on my easel at the moment is 24 x 48 inches. Right now it’s just colors, but before long it will tell me what it wants to be, or where it wants to go from here. I think it’s almost finished. In the spirit of exuberant color, the only tweak I would possibly make is to intensify the contrasts a little bit more. We’ll see.