Wood sculptures – just for fun

Some friends brought me a pile of old juniper wood (or pinyon, don’t know for sure). I played around and made a few sculptures.

Small steps forward

A rough frame and some small additions. Some say it is finished… I will make another version.

And one more lines painting, this one for a friend! 48 x 32 cm this time.

Lines No. 17 & New work in progress

I completed another line piece a few days ago. Lines No. 17 is 58 x 32 cm.

Yesterday we visited the Museum of Contemporary Indian Arts (MoCNA) in Santa Fe. We saw a very good exhibition with Spokane artist Ric Gendron (pronounced zhan-drea) and it was some of the most interesting and inspiring art I have seen in a long time. It made me go home and start painting immediately. On a Sunday afternoon/evening I painted in an inspired frenzy for four hours and from a fresh piece of plywood I produced this beginning. The piece is 80 x 40 cm.

There is something mystical in the look of this eye and countless others that just keeps me fascinated and motivated to keep working with eyes and faces.

Three new small lines paintings

These pieces are only 20 x 15 cm.

Skies over Piedra Lumbre, New Mexico

After sunset, amazing skies.

After a long day of painting

Maybe ten hours of concentration, I have gone over everything! Unfortunately the light is poor, there is some glare and the colors are not fully true, but it gives an idea about where it is now. Next I will sit and look at the work, analyzing all areas, thinking about what needs to be done. To me, a big part of painting is not painting, just looking, seeing, digesting.

Maybe the piece should be called Bluff – wondering where to go…

Hours later… hours to go

This is as it looks now, before another day of patient work. Painting the car yesterday made me feel like I was a teenager building plastic car models. Weird. This also works as an illustration of how the surrounding light changes the colors. Same background, same camera, same settings, but different light. Today a combination of fluorescent light and cloudy daylight.

Slowly adding, adding…

For some strange reason my paints are drying slower than what I am used to. It could be because the plywood I am painting on has more tar, it feels like it is more “greasy”. But I am adding paint, working in this confused state where nothing really looks good or makes sense. But I have been here so many times before and I just need to press on. At some stage I will come up with a solution, at least that is what I believe. The photo is taken in daylight this time, so the colors are a bit different (I have added one layer of blue to the sky). The size of the piece is 105 x 140 cm, fairly large but small enough to show my shaky hand.

Risking failure… again

To me, painting is often quite a challenge. I start out with enthusiasm, soon I free-fall into self doubt. This morning I was wondering if I should just chop this to pieces and do something else. But I cannot take the elevator, I have to walk all the stairs, slowly building up, adding layers of paint. I feel miserable, paint with a grim look on my face. But I still love it, absolutely! Because all of a sudden I can see some glimmer of hope. It may vanish into yet more despair, but why should it be simple? Now, don’t judge this piece yet. I have much more work to do, but I am sharing the process of risking failure…

Full page ad in THE magazine, Santa Fe

In the October 2014 issue of THE magazine I have a full page ad. To flip through the magazine on-line, go to www.themagazineonline.com.