Friday, January 18, 2008

The essence of prey 9"x12"


The size of this mixed media painting is 9"x12" it is painted on canvas.


My process in the making of an abstract or mixed media painting is to find what is already there and remove all that it is not. I do this by adding layers of paint until it speaks to me - or not. My hope is to find the essence of whatever is there and to learn something new in the doing. At first the only thing in this piece was the skull, which is a familiar symbol to me and means many things so I thought I knew why it was there and that it was finished so I hung it up in the studio to dry so it could be varnished. Then after a few weeks I saw out of the corner of my eye the bird, and the bird was even larger than the skull! Now how could I have missed that? Why is it there? The bird is a bird of prey which one I don't know maybe none just an idea of one. "Someone said" the artist always paints themselves and I believe this to be true, especially with the abstracts, so - what am I doing with a bird of prey and a skull? What part of me is a person of prey? Setting aside the the idea's of food, shelter, transportation, war, and politics which have all kinds of polarities. What could be "good" about this idea of prey? To hunt, catch, or eat, a creature hunted of caught for food. I am a why person so I am then the hunter according to Webster. Scavenger another word that comes to mind! "to gather by searching" well this is what I do, so now it fits. The polarity is balanced. There is always good and not so good in all ideas. I am a why person and now I know the why of this one.


This is a long windy boring explanation of a painting and the process of painting it, which is why I usually only give the size and medium.

If you would like to purchase this painting e mail me at phyljan@aol.com

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