the big three: 'the difference'; 'blink'; 'ocean'; ‘It Starts Here’.
'the difference' 48 x48”, acrylic on wood, 1992 (springish?)
It all started when…
All paintings before 'the difference' were hobby explorations (though they were very serious) but I still was thinking I was a writer who could paint.
That changed when I spent 13 months painting 'the difference'. During those 13 I would read about art, go see art; think about art. When done these 16 sq. ft. I knew my real ability was in making art, not writing it.
It took that long because I had a full time job, girl friends; and family and other friends that required attention. Indeed sometimes as much as 3 weeks would go by without me painting a spot.
But when it was finished I knew I WAS AN ARTIST.
I made the decision to paint every day in order to produce more work and more work quickly.
'the difference' is six colors, a four foot square, a two foot diameter circle; and most often makes me ponder just how different, how individual; and how separate we are from each other. But with distance, we get lost in the sameness of our race. We are the same, we are one among the many of one race; and we are all on one world. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT. WE ARE ALL THE SAME.
'blink' 48 x 48”, acrylic, tape on wood; 1993 (winterish)
So 'blink', the very next painting after 'the difference' took only 7 months to finish. Not bad.
I started with the larger green triangle, blue trapezoid; and red 'y' in the same position as 'the difference' though less organic and then built from there. I purchased many more colors and a metallic tape and tried to make something different from the last painting.
I fool myself thinking that I see patterns like this when I 'blink' and rub my eyes.
'ocean' 48 x 48”, acrylic, tape on wood; 1994 (spring again?)
Now I'm down to 4 months to finish my third painting. Still 16 square feet. Actually it might have taken less time if I hadn't started over after reaching a impasse. There was more text from a poem but only 'ocean' remains. Vast oceans; or a sense of beng loss and having no direction seem to press on me when looking at it now.
The starting point was the yellow square and rectangle from 'blink'. I once had enough wall space in an apartment to hang the three paintings side by side. The continued progression from one to the next was visible to me but most often not to others.
After spending two years on only three paintings I knew I was right in my direction/path/desire/drive and have never doubted it since.
‘It Starts Here’ 12 x 24”, acrylic on wood, 1994 sometime…
I found this recently, it was likely a trial practice study/experiment for ‘Ocean’.
I have a lot of paintings in storage that I have not seen in decades.