Friday Fringe. . .

Arriving at the "outer border" of this holiday weekend, I'm tumbling, dickering with a week's worth of isolation and hard work.  It's been mostly silent but for the musical selections I've randomly chosen to fill the air and mind while painting my latest commission work.  That's right. . .I do very little "thinking" when painting, falling into the creative state of timelessness the minute the brush hits canvas.  Words that come to mind are devotion, intimacy, color, tone, expression, discipline, exercise, health, mind, poetry.   

"In dreams the truth is learned that all good works are done in the absence of a caress."

Leonard Cohen

There's something sacrilegious about talking about commission work.  When working so intimately with subject and client, it's important to hold the vision to a higher level, thus affording it all some state of grace.  Maybe that sounds a bit "too" lofty, but it's where my particular comfort lies. 

Thus my blogging has waned a bit as I've been happily suffused within the velvet boundary of commission work.  That's the ebb and flow of painting and the natural ebb and flow of life, isn't it?  All quite natural and pleasurable to navigate. . . 

"I've always held painting in high regard because paintings have got me through so many sinks of dishes and so many humiliating courting events."

My personal finagling of an original Leonard Cohen quote substituting the word painting for song!

There are a few things I do daily that don't suffer, and this is in the realm of true confessions. . .I "click" on the Animal Rescue site to fund food for rescued animals. . .and I look at the "Daily Puppy" for cuteness and to fill my heart with love and longing.  Boy, that's pretty revealing and there could be all sorts of conclusions made I'm sure. . .but it's really pretty simple. . .I'm a true animal lover, and as I'm sure you may have correctly assumed, I am petless at the moment.  

A quick oil sketch of Danny Dog. . .this expression is his anticipatory, questioning face, always with mouth open.  The intelligence and profound kookiness are both a special "Danny" trademark.  For the animal lovers, lest you get confused, Danny is alive and well living in Florida with his brother Ollie. . .they are with their "father" and "step-mother."  I raised Danny and Ollie for the first three years of their life. . .a total joy I might add. 

For me, the search in portraiture is to capture the unique individual expression that is stamped upon us all from the moment of birth.  And ironically and personally, I believe I have witnessed this more closely with my granddaughter rather than my own daughter!  You know, the whole "can't see the forest for the trees" sort of thing.  Being an observer versus caretaker opens all senses to the incredible combination of the energy spirit and the visual. 

Working from a distance and with photos only makes it all the more important to capture a likeness that's pleasing and unquestionable.  Hence, I will carry on with the charge of capturing children's expressions on canvas this Labor Day weekend with the hope that you will have a lovely holiday spent with those whose "expressions" resonate!