If it ain't broke, change everything

Winter Color, 2008. oil on panel 8 x 10

There are times when I realize that I'm in a rut. It's time to mix it up and change things. I start a piece that I don't really know how to make it work. I explore. I make mistakes. I mumble to myself about how bad a painter I am. I get mad at the canvas. But sometimes my experiments work. And my painting change and, I believe, improve. So you get Winter Color which is different than anything I've done before. I'm excited to see where it will lead.

Like a Mad Man

That's about It, 2008. oil on panel, 6 x 7

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I've been painting a lot these first few weeks of this year. I'm mostly doing smaller paintings which is nice because I can quickly just get a batch of new ideas down on the panel and out of my head. Probably some will work their way into larger paintings. At the same time these are not studies, per say. Its just easier to try new things on a smaller scale first to see if my new ideas work in paint. If any larger works come from these, they won't really resemble these painting at all, except in some of the color combination that will be used. Some of my most recent (stuff from this past week, I'll post them when they are dry) are quite surprising, I don't know to make of them yet. So, I'll have to wait and see what they look like next week when I get back to my studio.

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I can hardly wait.