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Carved enamel coated masonite - 16 in. x 23-3/8 in.
Sunday 6/3/1990 - Recycled
I had these enamel coated masonite panels leftover from a job of some sort and decided to carve a drawing out of the surface of one of them. The rest of the panels got used three years later for the Woven Suits Paintings 128-133.
Leading up to being a full time painter I used to draw all the time, using pens, pencils, pastels and even Crayola crayons. As I was creating each painting I was often drawing ideas for other paintings in my Painting Journals, and once I discovered I could carve out lines and shapes from the enamel coating on the masonite, I just went with it. Like my approach to most of my paintings, I just started carving into the masonite panel without any plan or idea about what I was carving/drawing. Suddenly fish, water, music notes, and faces in clouds and rocks started appearing, along with the popular staircase motif. And once finished, I was satisfied with my effort and didn't see any reason to carve out another drawing on masonite. This piece has never been shown prior to showing up here on the website. It still makes me smile when I look at it.
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Tuesday 6/5/1990 - Collection of the Artist
Christopher and I found a spot by the Yosemite River to camp where there weren't any other people. Near the campsite was a device that allowed you to hang your food and other scented items up between two trees where a hungry bear couldn't access them. Otherwise it was just Christopher and I, some fallen trees and some large granite rocks along the river's edge. Long story short is it was early in the season, some snow was still present in lower altitude areas, and a fresh-from-hibernation bear smelled what we were cooking at dusk and came down from the hillside to confront us and our hastily hung food and cookware. The bear was persistent in finding somethng to eat and it got very scary as we were completely alone with the bear and it was beginning to grow dark. Chris kept reminding me that we were in the bear's territory and the bear knew how to navigate the terrain much better than we did. This reminder didn't make me feel any less scared. Chris managed to scare off the bear and once it was fully dark we both hesitantly entered our flimsy tent to try and sleep. Of course there wasn't much sleeping to be had, especially when the bear came back and actually walked around the tent sniffing and grunting in a final desperate hunt for anything with a food-like scent...
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Tuesday 6/5/1990 - Collection of the Artist
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Tuesday 6/5/1990 - Collection of the Artist
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Tuesday 6/5/1990 - Private Collection
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Tuesday 6/8/1990 - Collection of the Artist
This painting continues the concerns I wrote about Painting 059 The Artist Reviewing His Latest regarding its simplicity and ease of execution. With Painting 066 Illiterate the lack of paint and the abundance of open white space definitely bothered me, at first. Again I wondered if it was a valid painting. Again I didn't know if I could allow myself to get away with the audacity of leaving so much open space. "I can't stop here," I thought, "it rails against everything I've done up to this very moment!" But I liked what it was without anything else being added. It was already perfect and dare I say, finished. And like Painting 059, I look at this painting today and still feel a little uneasy about it. Which I suppose is what gives it such power, at least for me.
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Tuesday 6/14/1990 - Collection of the Artist
Broken Canvas No. 9
Acrylic on canvas, cotton and wood - 36 in. x 30 in.
Tuesday 3/12/1991 - Collection of the Artist
This Broken Canvas was interesting because it was the first truly symmetrical composition I created, and may be the only symmetrical painting out of all 300 I made! Because of the symmetry, creating the composition was much easier than with every other Broken Canvas, as I had fewer choices I had to make about what to paint and where to paint it.
The mixing together of a two-dimensional flat painted picture with three-dimensional painted sculptural pieces creates a tension that fights the viewer's eyes as well as their interpretation of what the painting is about. Being abstract may also create even more tension than if it were representational. This Broken Canvas thereby may exist unto itself, apart from traditional painting definitions, and stand alone as an entirely new definition of what a painting can be.
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 12 in. x 9 in.
Sunday 7/15/90 - Collection of the Artist
Like a lot of my paintings, this so-called portrait did not start out as a portrait but instead evolved into a portrait, of sorts. Adding the eye, the bridge of the nose and lips quickly made it into a face with a head-like shape around it and then I saw Daniel my brother in there. I didn't plan on his arrival nor did I argue with his identification once it was made. I had no objection but was rather pleased that he showed up so unexpectedly. I didn't make any changes or adjustments once he appeared and so was happy when he looked out at me from the painting and quietly let me know he was finished.
Acrylic on watercolor paper - 9 in. x 12 in.
Sunday 7/15/1990 - Private Collection
All of the paintings made thus far on 12 in. x 9 in. (or 9 in. x 12 in.) watercolor paper were completed without any corrections or re-painting. I was able to start each painting with simple random brushstrokes and then add areas of solid colors and lines to create the final compositions you see herein. These are all paintings that I did not think about prior to making them, nor did I try to make them into something other than what I originally started with - a few brushstrokes and my imagination. I'm rather proud of what developed in each of them, given I didn't allow myself to re-paint or correct any potential mistakes. Sort of like making a drawing in pencil without ever erasing, and without any kind of pressure or expectation of their outcome. I don't recall even considering that I might make a mistake, which obviously made creating them much easier and more fun.
