On Naming Things . . .

"Apples"

oil on linen on panel, 6" x 8"

SOLD

Sometimes, I chuckle to myself when I am painting. Sudden realizations show up at the silliest times. While doing this painting, I found myself saying "Oh, my Gosh! What color is the meat of an apple?! I never thought about it before this moment!" It 's funny that I still, after years of painting, have to have a name in my mind for a color. That is the left side of my brain working overtime. Other times, I will look at something and see that there are several colors there and know precisely how to mix them . . . .without naming anything.


Names of things get in our way as painters. The moment we name something, then it MUST be that THING . . . .instead of a shape of this color in that value. When we stop naming 'things' is when the creative muscles start to act . . .and that is when our paintings become something unusual. Letting go of names gives the freedom to compose without being "wrong."


Am working on the pinapple in a larger format. (See Saturday's post). I had to set it aside to do today's painting. The naming business showed up to try to trip me up in that painting. You'll see in a day or two what came out of that.

P.S. Carol Marine has been painting a long series of apples. Her work is really alive. I left her a note that you can almost smell the apples, yet one can sense her expert hand in each painting. In my opinion, the artist's hand (as I call it) is what sets her work apart from 'reality' and makes the ordinary and mundane very exciting. Check her out!