primal painting

I love how when approaching a painting it begins as a concept, it is merely a thought, but the thought soon evolves into form. Intelligence dictates the form, the colors, tones and shading, but while the form is emerging, the process engages materiality and evokes the sensual. At this point, the painting has more to do with the artist’s body and movements and less about the artist’s thoughts and concepts. The application hypnotizes the mind. Intuition begins to flow more freely. The focus is then placed on the shape of the brush strokes. Materials, the paint, the senses, the textures, all override the concept. Emotion takes hold of the lines and tempt the artist to use strange color combinations. Sometimes I have to step back and scrape off over-zealous, reactive brush strokes, meditate again on the concept and re-enter the piece. Other times, I maintain a tight discipline and faithful rendering of the idea. Still, at other times, I give in to absurd urges and simply let the mark-making lead me. There is a variety of beauty and satisfaction in all of these possibilities. In the end, painting is just pushing colorful mud around on a surface in different ways.