PAINTING
I always wanted to be able to go outdoors and paint landscapes. I could
spend the day alone, commune with nature, and have a painting to show
for my time. This barn painting was my first effort to actually do so,
and, really, my last.
On a Sunday, in October, 1981, instead of watching football, I loaded up
my van with painting paraphernalia and headed to an abandoned farm I
had noticed some days before, thinking it would be a good subject for
me to use my newfound painting skills on. I remember it was a brisk, fall
afternoon with a fairly warm sun, but fairly cold wind. I set my easel up
at the side of the road, and began to paint. No thumbnail sketches or studies
or any other pre-works, I just dove right in. The cold, and changing afternoon
light forced me to work quickly, and so did the odd car that stopped at the side
of the road to see what I was doing. These intrusions made me uncomfortable,
and are probably the main reason I gave up the idea of being an open-air painter.
Very cold hands and cheeks, though, may have a part as well.
In spite of the cold, and the intrusions, I was very pleased with how this
work caught the spirit of the place, and the day. The painting stands as a
record of my honest intention and experience. I know I could not reproduce,
or recapture, or better the experience with subsequent attempts. At best,
I might be able to produce a work with more interesting paint qualities.
This work is in my collection.
Your comments and questions are welcomed. E-mail me.