A Step In The Opposite Direction

#114 – Tuesday May 21st

As a rule, I don’t go back and re-work paintings. Done is done.  I’ve kept canvasses in play, literally for years, simply because I was too stubborn to let go, and I’ve appropriated pieces of unsuccessful efforts to start something new . . . but  revisit . . . not so much. If a painting doesn’t stand my test of time, I’m more likely just to tear it into little strips and toss them in the round file. But I liked this one, and the problem was technical not aesthetic. I’ve my tools. Intuitive, tried and true, the mechanisms of my creativity. Because  I use a variety of media I need something to bind all that stuff together and my fixative of choice at the time, was no longer available. So I started experimenting. I was working on raw canvas, significant portions of the canvas’ natural color incorporated into the composition’s palette, and on this piece I used a varnish to keep  everything where it belonged.  But over time the varnish altered the color of the raw canvas, turning it into a weird orangish hue, not  at all what I’d intended.

Since 2005 this canvas has been included in several exhibitions then ended up back in the studio. I thought a prime candidate for the round file, but as I said . . . I liked it. So it sat. Now almost a decade on, I’m not painting on raw canvas, and  I’ve been through a dozen different fixatives and finally found one that works with my technique. Here is the exception to the rule, re-visited. “Being naked and in love, portrayed as a Cheshire Cat, while looking over my shoulder, walking backwards, seeing sideways”

Thanks for reading.

Charles