“You can observe a lot just by watching”
—Yogi Berra
Just watching involves more than one might suppose. Learning to pay attention is half the battle. But having observed a green sky, I might just paint it yellow anyway.
I am not an objective reporter taking inventory of the natural world. “Free play of the imagination” might best describe my aim, but observation is where it begins. And it always helps to start with great material.
Another day at the office
Speaking of great material, I would like to thank all the chemists who make these great paints possible. Forty thousand years ago artists smeared colored mud on cave walls. Their ochers and umbers we still use today, and almost as well. It took modern science to develop the more brilliant colors, unobtainable throughout all of history until quite recently. We now take them entirely for granted, and are jaded with our abundance.
Art does not happen in a vaccum. It requires a live audience. Your thoughts and comments are always important.
As for my own work, I proceed in the classic way: I look until I see something that moves me and then construct a painting around that experience. Much of my work is done “en plein air” -which is the classy French way of saying that I paint outside. But they really are onto something; I can often get more accomplished in three hours on the spot, than in three days in the studio. To say that the close observation of nature expands ones imagination, is just another way of saying that the couch potato mind is a very puny place. Get up, get out, and trust your instincts and training.
I would also like to acknowledge the community of artists and institutions that lend suport and context to all of our cultural endeavors.