Blue Dance

Oil On Canvas Over Sculpted Forman, Baas Relief46x70 Inches

Oil On Canvas Over Sculpted Forman, Baas Relief

46x70 Inches

This picture started out as an oil, flat on canvas, I had every intention of keeping that way. One of the better backgrounds I had yet lucked upon, nice movement and a satisfying composition of warm colors; ultramarine rose, earth orange , raw umber. I liked the gritty black line tracing throughout the rectangle like a cowboy wrangler's lasso, under, around, below and over the top. .  On the other side of the studio I was delighted with a pose which emerged out of group of sketches that I had worked on for several weeks. A drawing of a dancer; I eliminated one of the arms and enlarged the other to balance the leg carriage underneath. The hair streaming off to the left compensated for the absent arm. I was very fond of the torso and wanted to present it unfettered by limbs, like a classical bust. The shoulders, breast shapes and tummy are an arrangement that fit together in a most appealing way, my favorite precinct of the picture.    What I did not anticipate was the warm medium dark back ground would not be easily overcome by a cool hued figure. Warms tend to dominate cools when located behind. To create contrast it, the body would have to be a very light blue and….it just did not work!   I was blinded by belief and anticipation , the requisite optimism i I need to create something from nothing ;I did not expect it would fail,..   The figure would not visually lift off, separate from its background. Being an airborne dance movement increased this imperative. I brought the picture up from my studio to the gallery and soon I overheard a disparaging comment. I was crestfallen, dashed, hurt…destroyed!...the painting returned to the storage rack for two years. The observer was correct.  However during that period I never stopped considering it, pulling it out and reconsidering strategies , contemplating a the means of liberating the figure. How to let it soar above the background?  After the success of Black Beach Beauty, came an epiphany; I saw in my minds eye the gleaming form which now appears to the left.  I cut out the blue figure in canvas, so many pieces dropped to the floor. Over period of six weeks I carved a three dimensional figure and then transformed the background into undulating planes interposed.

What Have I Become

201272 X 48 X 4 InchesBackground: Oil on canvas over sculptedFigure: Oil on sculpted foamFrame: Polished, welded aluminum

2012

72 X 48 X 4 Inches

Background: Oil on canvas over sculpted

Figure: Oil on sculpted foam

Frame: Polished, welded aluminum

If possible I like the being depicted to have a clearly stated mood. It is important to stop well short of illustrating this, rather have it become evident, arise from body language, select facial features, color and fragmentation and paint handling. The head despairingly propped by the right hand the omnipotent detachment of the left arm conveys a self divided. I was particularly pleased by the odd composure of the two legs, suggesting frontal and profile simultaneously. The isolated torso tilted left at length south to north contribute to her resignation. The resulting spaces allow the sap green and burnt sienna background to come through. They performed nicely contrasting the highlighted and contoured Prussian blue body

Drumming Her Fingers

          2013         60x48 Inches         Oil on canvas over sculpted foam         Bronze frame

          2013

         60x48 Inches

         Oil on canvas over sculpted foam

         Bronze frame

A figure at rest allows weight shifts and limb locations within the restraints of gravity. A fascinating sculptural form is the thrill I am always seeking. She is expectant, slightly anxious but poised. These elements were worked out quickly on a scrap of paper made at an outdoor café while observing a New Yorker. The commitment to a color scheme occurred quickly; as soon as I stained the raw canvas background with pale Earth Orange and transparent Zinc Yellow .The dark, cool body hues are dragged over with dry brushed cobalt Violet light. This is the point when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A thin veil was applied of sand over the entire canvas before painting the muse.This allows the joy of gently scumbled oil paint over her limbs. I will cherish this painting for the single brush stroke which begins at the right breast, includes her chin and ends with flipped hair.