I know it's been a while...

Not that I don't think, often, of things I would like to put on this blog, but it's the doing that is the problem, not the thinking. By the time I get around to sitting down at the computer, the thoughts have flitted away and I'm left with nothing to say.
But this time, I wrote those thoughts down!

I've been learning some Tai Chi forms for a couple of years now, and we were discussing the process. It is one of refining and perfecting each element of the overall form. Each time we do the form, we work on being better and smoother and more balanced...
The end result - a perfectly performed form - is the goal.

With painting, for me, the end result is totally different each time.

In my work, the painting must be a one-of-a-kind. It must be unique. Even the way in which it is produced is unique. I have various ways of working and tools I use, but they vary with each paintings I produce.

In other words, the goal of a good painting requires me to be endlessly innovative and flexible and to seek the unexpected. This is probably why I so enjoy painting over the top of work that doesn't quite hold up to my expectations. The underpainting always affects the new work even if only in the texture of the dried paint. But more often, the previous painting becomes part of the new one in ways I wouldn't ever be able to anticipate, much less plan.

So - 40 x 40 "In the Morning Window"