Mentor Meeting 10/23

Today I had a good meeting with Page. I haven't made very much progress this semester, which is frustrating. But, all I can do is keep working.

I have switched to working smaller and on paper. However, I am falling back into the same habits of all-over gestural mark-making, which results in a shallow space and nowhere for the eye to find interest or rest. I am also perhaps hooked on the "fresh look" -- again, not going back and eliminating information/reworking:

From October

I've also been doing very small, quick studies:

From October

From October

Page had some other good ideas:

- Go back over the sketches I brought in today. render light changes smoothly, eliminating the brushstrokes. See what that does.

- Start intuitively, but then that has to be backed up with knowledge and technique. Think about the underlying structure. Even Pollock had a very well thought out structure.

- The mark-making now is all on the surface -- too much to look at. Too much on one plane (decorative???). It pushes you away from the surface instead of drawing you in. What drives the choices to put certain colors in certain areas? Again, what is the structure?

- Some of my gestural lines could become ribbons moving back and forth in space. Think about depth, undulation, really pushing certain areas way back, others very far forward. Think about tilting things.

- Oils? The acrylic doesn't lend itself to scraping away and editing. Maybe I need to pull out the oils...

So, I think I need to set up some kind of project for myself -- something that takes some of the variables out of the mix (not a new idea, but one I haven't been successful following through with. I am thinking about just focusing on painting the fallen sticks and stumps I thought were interesting down in the bosque. Page suggested collecting specific sticks (rather than work from photos) and bring them back to the studio.

I feel that I need to jump in this afternoon and paint. I was needing to put the paint away and focus on writing my next paper, but I feel if I don't dive in right now, I am going to get discouraged and stuck.

...

After the meeting, I headed over the the Albuquerque Museum to see a show, Albuquerque Now. I particularly liked Jennifer Nehrbass, Angela Berkson, Reg Loving, Holly Roberts, and Jane Abrams.

...

Also, loved an Elaine De Kooning painting, "Juarez". I can't find the image, but here is one from the same series:

Elaine de Kooning, Bull, 1958, oil on canvas, 72x84. Grey Art Gallery, New York University Art Collection. Gift of Harold Diamond, 1961.42.