Mental Conflict

"Confetti"
oil on primed hardboard, 12" x 9"


Some time ago I made a promise to myself to open the doors to my studio and let anyone watch my painting process here on cyberspace. That also meant letting everyone who looked see my failures. Frankly, I don't like it . . .showing my failures, that is. Who does? After all, I am a teacher. I am supposed to be the example, right? Well, I have decided to be just that. Be the example that people can follow and not look over their shoulder.


So, here you have it. I do show what I consider to be the poor ones . . . always have. And I will continue to do so. I think it shows those who are learning that failure, or mis-steps, or crummy results is not something only beginners have. Some of the best painters I know destroy as many, if not more than, as they put into galleries or sell. It's just part of the game. No one likes that aspect, but it just is. And it particularly is if you experiment or try new things.


So, I tried a new type of ground on which to paint . . .to show the brush more . . .and agreed with myself to use ONLY a size 8 flat brush. The object was to remain loose and schmutz on the paint in places. Just to see what would happen. I used a subect I used earlier this week because I think it lent itself to the experiment. Petals and surfaces that splay all over the place. And many variations of one color combination . . .green and red. Again, I had fun. And I learned a little bit more . . . . .big chunks of light and dark and medium can be fooled with indefinetely until you ruin em. "Ruin" may not be the right word, but I can see a lot of places that I could take some serious direction from a master painter.

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