Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Study of a Young Woman
oil on panel
10" x 8"
I've recently embarked on a series of studies of students - working rapidly and wet-in-wet to avoid too much busy work on detail while holding to the visual reality as much as I can. If I've learned anything of value in 32 years of teaching, it is simply that making art requires an abandonment of what one thinks one knows, as well as ignoring the idea of (or concern with) a finished product. Each work requires a leap of faith that process will lead to results - and that process must be a commitment to visual exploration as if everything encountered is absolutely new to the artist. This requires a focus that borders  transcendance (forgetting time and place) and requires total absorbedness with a shadow / light / space / shape / form sort of awareness. Sounds a little flakey but that is actually how / what artmaking seems to be. It just so happens that this kind of work encompasses the human mind and spirit functioning at the highest level - no matter what the pursuit. Bill Walsh, late coach of the San Francisco 49ers and respected football innovator, titled his book "The Score Takes Care of Itself". Pretty much sums it all up - involve yourself in the process fully with command of the fundamentals and the results will be there waiting for you - as if by magic.

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