Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Double Four Time

Double Four Time
Oil on canvas, 36x48
Please contact me for price and availability

If this painting looks familiar, it's because it's not the first time I've painted this particular group of cows. Might be my favorite group ever! I've painted them before - and plan to paint them again. The light and shadow on them is bold. Their expressions are fantastic. They lend themselves to a bit of abstraction. Perfect! For a while, it worried me that I felt compelled to paint the same cows, the same salt marsh, the same idea. Then I remembered Monet, Degas and, for the mystery-readers among you, Kurt Wallander's father. 

There's something delightful in painting the same whatever again and again. Some of the fear vanishes; I know I'll be able to make the painting because I've already made the painting. I don't have to worry about seeing the details or understanding the light - I've already solved those problems. 

Of course, there's the worry that because I've already painted it, the new piece will be stale. But I believe that keeping that possibility in mind will help me avoid it. 
One other note - When I just had the cows painted, I posted this painting on Facebook and got so many positive comments that I'm going to start a series of small paintings of cows on black, and see what happens. 

The just-started piece is below. Above, a detail of the finished piece. 


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thought you might like to see me as a conehead! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Henry, Cynthia and Kevin's German shepherd-Airedale mix, 
wishing you all a Merry Henry Holidays! 

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A Final Thought

"Art is the proper task of life." 

- Friedrich Nietzsche





2 comments:

Sara said...

Most of the best photography happens in locations we know best and visit often. Interesting to hear an artist talk about the same type of thing....some of the best images are created with scenes we are familiar with.

carrie jacobson said...

Isn't that interesting? There's something wonderful about the thrill of discovering a place for the first time, seeing it for the first time - I love that, the sense of excitement and discovery. And then coming back to a place. I paint our salt marsh over and over, and I think those paintings are some of my very best.