progress

newest small painting...in progress. a bit blurry.
acrylic over collage
moleskine notebook about 6" x 6"
painting in the background is by colleen stepanic (back in tyler days). i like it and so does leo...

rothko's reason

i have been reading (periodically) the artist's reality by mark rothko and while there are definitely some difficult concepts discussed most have to do with verbage than concept. the manuscript was written while rothko was still working through surrealistic tendencies but it lays the groundwork for his more fulfilling and honest fields.
while reading it yesterday i was struck by this passage..."They [Renaissance artists] must study the organic construction of all the objects which they portray in order to mirror them properly. This approach displays the ultimate faith in appearances. It implies that the artist, in addition to portraying external appearances, can depending on his skills, also portray internal truths by noting and depicting the profound subtleties of those external appearances. So far so good."
While this statement is offered in his discussion of beauty, it strikes me that it has little to do with beauty at all. Instead it has to do with experience. and this experience (both consumer and creator) is the only thing that can move you. It isn't about truth at all, but movement.

turning over a new leaf

i am going to make every effort to update this blog on a semi-regular basis. we will see how long that lasts.
-r