More updates on Our Lady Spiral.
Sometimes when I’m working on cityscapes I feel stuck or sortof blah about the piece. It can get hard to move forward or at least feel like you’re making progress. A college prof of mine used to call these Slave Paintings. Pieces you feel like you’re tied to. They can become a burden. They can even make you feel like you don’t want to go to the studio and work. Sometimes though, all you have is dogged determination. I’ve got a couple of pieces on the easel or in the sketchbook that are started to feel like this. Projects that I’ve started or should start that I just don’t want to touch right now.

This piece has stepped in and wiped all of that away for a while at least. It’s taking focus away from my core portfolio work, but I like painting this way sometimes. It has really gripped my imagination. Painting without references is pretty liberating to me although I’m still grumbling about the lack of a figure-model to help with the arms and final leg positioning. You do what you can sometimes. There IS a life drawing group that gets together at a local gallery. Perhaps I’ll get off my ass and get down there. I’ll have to make do. Improvisation is a big part of creativity in my book. If you can’t improvise you can quickly find yourself stuck. When you don’t have what you need you find a way to get it or get around it.

I feel like I’m getting to the end of this one even tho I’m still unsure as to how many limbs she’ll have when we’re done. Plus I’m still fiddling with the final positioning of the one’s she’s got. I’ve got some ideas for a new one, but I’ve got to get some more cityscapes done. Some potential shows coming up that I’ll need them for. I don’t feel like this work should mix with the rest. Pieces like Spiral are more personal to me and need special attention. Their own show

Cheers,

R