#103 – Tuesday March 5th
One of the things that has me excited about the new canvasses, is having more acreage for my explorations. Actually forty-four percent more surface area than the canvasses I used in the last series of paintings. On those canvases, it was all brush work, partly because of their size, but also because these compositions are an assemblage of interlocking patterns and shapes drenched in color, and were best brought to life through the end of a brush. Now with a move toward opening up the space within the painting and the extra expanse of the larger canvasses, it’s knife and trowel work. I keep an assortment of palette knives at hand, mostly for mixing color, but when the occasion occurs I’ve supplemented these traditional painter’s tools with trowels and putty knives appropriated from my home workshop. One of my all time favorite’s is this ultra thin, highly flexible stainless steel Japanese trowel. This trowel is normally used for smoothing fine finish plasters. Its flexibility and pointy tip make it a superb tool for everything from applying large swaths of color to carving delicate lines.
For scraping and burnishing depending on the surface needing more aggressive attention. Remarkably these tools are significantly less sensitive then the Japanese trowel but lend themselves to working those minimal problem regions.
Then for those tiny sensitive bits, this little guy.
It isn’t all cold steel, there is still plenty of brush work on the horizon, but I am enjoying the big sweeping gestures made possible with room to move.
Thanks for reading.
Charles
kurre.art news 
It’s exciting to read about an artist in the midst of creating. How do you know what you want to paint? Is it concrete in your mind or is it organic and grow as you move along?
How do I know what to paint . . . that’s a great question. Personally my inspiration is derived from a myriad of sources, the happenstance of every day, a passion for the outdoors, my perspective on politics and social issues, and the overwhelming need in attempting to order chaos. I know this all sounds a bit nebulous as to putting paint on canvas, but as pieces of all these parts of life come into contact with each other, they create both a jumping off point and a compass that guides the explorations that become my work. Organic, yes to some degree, but driven buy necessity, experience and a healthy dose of curiosity. I don’t know if this actually answers your question, but there it is and I thank you for asking . . .
Charles
How do I know what to paint . . . that’s a great question. Personally my inspiration is derived from a myriad of sources, the happenstance of every day, a passion for the outdoors, my perspective on politics and social issues, and the overwhelming need in attempting to order chaos. I know this all sounds a bit nebulous as to putting paint on canvas, but as pieces of all these parts of life come into contact with each other, they create both a jumping off point and a compass that guides the explorations that become my work. Organic, yes to some degree, but driven buy necessity, experience and a healthy dose of curiosity. I don’t know if this actually answers your question, but there it is and I thank you for asking . . .
Charles