About two weeks ago, I took some new painting to the gallery in Carmel. While I was there, a couple was interested in my work and they were introduced to me. It’s always lovely to meet folks who like my work.
While we were chatting, they asked me if I ever worked on more that one painting at a time. I really had to laugh because I very seldom just paint one at a time. Not that I mass produce them in any way. But because if I only work on one, I am literally spending my work hours watching paint dry.
So, yes, I go from one to another a lot of the time. Doing background or skies, or ocean water. And because I like a fairly smooth canvas, I thin down the paint and a dark sea require many layers to become opaque. If I can see any streaks from the canvas, I do another layer. It’s just the way I paint. Even if I know I’ll probably being putting a foreground over it.
So lots of layers and lots of drying in between so for me to work efficiently, I need several going at once.
And then, there is my attention span.
Later, that same week…
I can lose interest in what I am working on and go off on a tangent. Easily. I get an idea and suddenly the otter falls by the wayside and I’m working on a Paris. Or Big Sur.
And so, to illustrate that very clearly, here in my studio at the moment. And yes, the baskets all have a few paintings in there in different stages of completion. And some of them are literally decades old. Artists eh!
