Sunday, June 17, 2007

Self Portrait

Well, not exactly, but a portrait of a beloved object in my life.. My Mystic board, sitting in the water on a calm day, in between waves.. waiting...As for the painting, I painted over a previous unsuccessful canvas.. Used some previously unfamilar colors. Still working with a limited palette..And, after all, it is all about the water..which, by the way, has a lot of transparent green in the dark areas.. this is overly blue.. and a bit dark..
A couple of issues at work here..
1) This is my third try at a photo.. Since I glazed some of the colors, the canvas is shiny in some spots.. so any light bounces back..in compensation, I took the photo in an area with indirect light, which was really too dark, hence, the slight out of focus look. Not to mention , of course, the ever evasive color matching.
2) Impatient, lazy or does perfection no longer matter? If I spent a bit more time "getting it right" I could probably get a lot closer to the original. But, since this is only a blog (ie. not a portfolio or sales site) does it matter that much to me? Uh, yes and no.. Today it doesn't matter.
3) Working title was "mystic(k)" John Moore, a local shaper, made the board, a Mystic. But it is my stick.. yeah, I know, kinda dumb.. Whatd'ya think?

4 comments:

xola said...

This surfboard has such an ethereal, luminous glow. It suggests that surfing is so much more than a physical activity - Mystic, in fact.

The painting has a mysteriouness quality - no human figure - just a shining presence in the undulating shades of blue.

Looking at the image for a long time - often the board seems gigantic like an white whale. Then in relation to the horizon and the foreground waves, it seems more like an "ordinary" surfboard. Lots of movement.

I so love to picture you in your light-suffused studio, seaching for the perfect blues!

Heidi Fuller said...

There's a surrealistic quality to the painting, the colors own more of their color quality than our eye typically sees them. What I love is that this painting allows the eye to experience the image as the image makes us feel. So often, especially in looking at a photograph, the eye sees one thing and the soul reacts. This painting allows the eye's reaction to match the soul's, which is more an emotion than a physical feeling.
This is something that happens to kids all the time, rarely adults. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I can almost feel you just outside the picture plane,to the right sitting on the mystic, watching, legs dangling. I can step into this painting and stay a LONG time. Perfection. ah.....

RAINY CONVERSATION said...

Okay, I luv this one.