Abstract Painting w/Fabric & Hand Made Paper

 

Untitled 

16" x 22" (I think, perhaps bigger??)

Acrylic, Graphite, Handmade Linen Paper, Muslin, Pastel

I am amazed by the amount of time and effort it is taking me to make a small painting that appears so simple. I do think the scale is difficult being smallish, it feels like being inside a pen and your trying to get full expansion of your wings, but the walls keep your breath short. I wonder are they all going to take this long, or need so much work?  I'm not sure if its that I havn't been painting in so long or that something is trying to emerge...or I don't know?  I also think that there is something in the way I create that demands learning all over again with every single painting.  I don't have a routine or a "go to bag of tricks" or a theme-like portraits. Its funny because a friend and painter said to me "you paint abstract so it must be so much easier with so much freedom" but I disagree or it depends on how you define easy?  Easy yes because I paint freely but its very difficult to go forward without knowing where your going and when your ending vs. a plotted out painting.  Maybe one day each of these paintings will become a part of the "formula" and it will be easy to paint....maybe?
 By the way if you havn't seen the Gerhard Richter movie you should, he is an inspiration!