Also please check out my second blog, The Painting Archives to see older (pre-2004) paintings for sale.
Sunday, November 05, 2017
the whole
I'm back from a very satisfying time in Ireland, where I spent six weeks at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in County Mayo. My exhibit in the gallery there, and the connections made and strengthened with other artists deepened my overall experience. Plus I taught some great people, had some wonderful visitors, and good adventures.
This was my fifth time at Ballinglen and while many aspects of the landscape inform my work, each time I've been there a particular aspect of the surroundings has stood out as most compelling and important. The first year it was the rugged seacoast, and in other years it was the bog plants, the hedgerows, and the moving water of surf and stream. On a walk to the beach on my last morning in Ballycastle, I asked myself what had been most significant for me this time.
It was a misty day, with the fields along the lane glowing in many shades of green, and the huge rocks on the shore appearing rugged yet soft in the atmosphere. Crows and seabirds flew overhead. The surf pulsed and foamed like breath, and the sand shifted and flowed where it met the sea. The kelp lay in odd lumps and twisted mounds. For a while I simply took this all in and thought of nothing much. Then the answer came...what was significant for me this time was everything...all of it, without labels or categories or boundaries. For a moment, on the beach, I sensed the perfection of everything fitting together in a magnificent whole. And that went beyond what I saw and sensed in this particular place--it was about the perfect interlocking of elements. The way that nature has a presence and rightness that arises from its individual parts but is more powerful than any one thing.
As I walked back to Ballinglen I thought about this some more. What I experienced on the beach resonated with changes in my work over the past year or so. I've been looking for a different kind of expression, less tied to particular locations and more about the fitting together of parts. I've been interested in the idea that power and presence, intimacy and intricacy all exist together. That the deep beauty of the landscape arises from the presence of these seemingly contradictory elements. In my work I've been working with the strength of shape and contrast, while retaining the subtle and delicacy of texture and layered nuance.
I have to smile a little at my circuitous journey with abstraction. Looking back, one of my first conceptual leaps-- about fifteen years ago-- was to realize that an essence of a place could be found in its details. Rather than the traditional view of landscape with its horizon lines and pictorial illusions, I began exploring the idea that the close-up textures of rock or the rich colors of foliage could convey a feeling of connection with nature in general, and relate to specific places as well. I don't think I have lost that idea-- the microcosm still fascinates me, and I continue to want parts of my work to reflect detail and specificity. But I also want to craft these parts into something strong, a fitting together of small bits and pieces into a bigger whole. And rather than evoking particular locations, I'm interested now in a more universal idea of the complex beauty and power of nature.
These ideas have been percolating for months, but I've only just begun to work with them consciously. I'm excited to see where they take me. With only one workshop left to teach in 2017 (next week in Oakland, with Jerry) I'm looking forward now to the winter months ahead--I'll be in New Mexico with Don through early March, painting (and maybe even relaxing a little!) A time to slow down and process. I am thinking about large work, and about perhaps returning to my old multiple panel format as a way to introduce more contrast. Looking ahead, my teaching schedule in 2018 is by design very minimal. I want to make good use of the time I've cleared for my own work, and ideas are coming together... ¶ 10:05 AM
This was my fifth time at Ballinglen and while many aspects of the landscape inform my work, each time I've been there a particular aspect of the surroundings has stood out as most compelling and important. The first year it was the rugged seacoast, and in other years it was the bog plants, the hedgerows, and the moving water of surf and stream. On a walk to the beach on my last morning in Ballycastle, I asked myself what had been most significant for me this time.
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| Moving Water #1, acrylic on paper, 29"x38" 2016 |
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| bog plants, County May0 |
As I walked back to Ballinglen I thought about this some more. What I experienced on the beach resonated with changes in my work over the past year or so. I've been looking for a different kind of expression, less tied to particular locations and more about the fitting together of parts. I've been interested in the idea that power and presence, intimacy and intricacy all exist together. That the deep beauty of the landscape arises from the presence of these seemingly contradictory elements. In my work I've been working with the strength of shape and contrast, while retaining the subtle and delicacy of texture and layered nuance.
I have to smile a little at my circuitous journey with abstraction. Looking back, one of my first conceptual leaps-- about fifteen years ago-- was to realize that an essence of a place could be found in its details. Rather than the traditional view of landscape with its horizon lines and pictorial illusions, I began exploring the idea that the close-up textures of rock or the rich colors of foliage could convey a feeling of connection with nature in general, and relate to specific places as well. I don't think I have lost that idea-- the microcosm still fascinates me, and I continue to want parts of my work to reflect detail and specificity. But I also want to craft these parts into something strong, a fitting together of small bits and pieces into a bigger whole. And rather than evoking particular locations, I'm interested now in a more universal idea of the complex beauty and power of nature.
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| Shelter, 42"x36" oil/cold wax on panel 2017 |
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| Passing Through, 24"x20" oil/cold wax on panel, 2017; painted at Ballinglen Arts Foundation |
These ideas have been percolating for months, but I've only just begun to work with them consciously. I'm excited to see where they take me. With only one workshop left to teach in 2017 (next week in Oakland, with Jerry) I'm looking forward now to the winter months ahead--I'll be in New Mexico with Don through early March, painting (and maybe even relaxing a little!) A time to slow down and process. I am thinking about large work, and about perhaps returning to my old multiple panel format as a way to introduce more contrast. Looking ahead, my teaching schedule in 2018 is by design very minimal. I want to make good use of the time I've cleared for my own work, and ideas are coming together... ¶ 10:05 AM
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The artist has the experience and the art is the interpreter, from soul to surface.
# posted by 
: 6/11/17 6:26 AM
: 6/11/17 6:26 AM
Good morning, Rebecca and thank you for such an insightful post. It reminds me of my time spent on the Oregon coast as a child...the wonder I felt, even at that young age, of the wild and perfect beauty of the place. Crags in rocks, sweeping swaths of coastal grasses, a myriad of soft-valued grays, the wind blowing through my physical body, all fitting together perfectly to whisper of the spiritual essence of that place. Because I just took your workshop (in Oakland), your words have a particular resonance with me. The work you did with me there was so powerful for me and has had the effect of causing me to think more deeply about my process and use learned techniques to move beyond 'painting a pretty picture' and rather, use them to delve deep into my soul and find a genuine expression for what is there. I have much work to do! Thanks again for a fabulous workshop! Kathryn
Kathryn--sorry I did not see this comment until now (the notice went into my spam file) but better late than never. Thanks very much for your response about your experiences as a child, as well as your appreciation of the workshop in Oakland. Hope our paths will cross again sometime and all best with your work.
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