Winter Hues

A photograph of snow and asphalt, while walking home the other day.....

In China's Tang Dynasty ( about 627 AD-) Someone wrote..."We see only what we look for; we look for only what we know" ( I just found this quote from a friend and fellow artist, Harris Browns, essay about "what is art" for 4th graders..and it is very apropos for me this week)

Below are four paintings I completed about a week ago. I was terribly dissatisfied at first and almost embarrassed by them, despite that I greatly enjoyed the process of creating them. I felt so uncomfortable with them, because I thought, "What are these? Their so trite and about nothing...why am I inspired to make marks about nothing?" I showed my husband and he encouraged me that they were nice as was..even without a known figure, symbol, intention or purpose.

So, I didn't touch them, ( or destroy them), and I went for a walk. While I was walking I noticed what I was looking at, I was looking at the marks in the snow, on the ground...the silhouettes, flat shapes, lines and textures... I SAW my paintings!!! I realized that I am painting what I see, feel and think, even when I don't consciously recognize it, and this helped me to know that I need to trust in the process. TRUST my painting process. That doesn't mean I have to love every outcome, but that I need to let go of the control even more, and just swim in the wonderful unknown waters of creativity, which is where my joy is....

Winter Hues I 11" x 11" Mixed Medium on Wood

Winter Hues II 11" x 11" Mixed Medium on Wood

Winter Hues III 11" x 11" Mixed Medium on Wood

Winter Hues IV 11" x 11" Mixed Medium on Wood