What was I thinking yesterday when I wrote, regarding my new large-scale pieces, “This has been satisfying work”?!? That sounds lackluster and ambivalent. I need to recant that statement, and I would like to state… no… exclaim, “This is great!  This is amazing and wonderful! I love doing this!”

You can’t see the gleam in my eyes, and therein lies the weakness in blogging to communicate these things.

Honestly, I do feel that I have found something that resonates deeply with me, and I’m thankful for that. I like the scale of these pieces, I like working in mixed-media, I like the fact that I can work at a quick pace but continue to iterate, and modify, and work over. I like the materials I’m using (thin paint, rollers, very nubby/toothy canvas). This might be the most fun I’ve had in the studio in years. Or ever.

Not to say there’s not a struggle to bring the image to fruition. These pieces have just as hard of a time being born as any piece does. I grapple with each one, painting this over, emphasizing that, removing the other thing. Eventually it starts to coalesce into something that makes sense to me.

Here’s one titled Haven, 6′x9′.

Haven, Mixed-Media on unstretched canvas, 72"x108", 2012

And here’s a view of the studio, with three of these pieces up. Obviously the scale is important in these pieces, so this gives a better idea of scale. That middle one is not yet finished, but you’ll be sure to see it on this blog when it is.