Balancing Act

A successful painting, for me, is one that achieves a balance between intent and chance. An unsuccessful painting is almost always one that has become too organized, too planned. So I hold a brush very loosely, at the end of the handle, and let it slap around a bit. With the palette knife, I can plop a large amount of paint on the canvas and then scrape it thinly or thickly and never be sure just what is going to become of it.

It's not easy to keep from adding just one more touch, one more line, one more edge. But it is very, very easy to go too far!

My studio in Jackson.