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 MOON FLOWER CANYON PAINTING II

Yesterday, I went down the East side of the Colorado River, on Kane Creek Rd out of Moab to Moonflower Canyon. Time: 8:30 AM. A 20x24 gallery-wrap stretched canvas with a Capital Orange ground. Kick in on a vertical bluff punctuated by yellow Princess Bloom, surrounded by tall cottonwoods. The day's painting saga in two Parts:  Part 1.  HOW I painted , what weird combos showed up, and then more importantly,  Part 2.  WHY I painted it that way.  OK ..

Part 1. CALLIGRAPHY

Yesterday I discovered what I'll call the "One-Stroke Double". (Love dat "first kiss of discovery" ! Thank you, Linda. I still remember it well.)   OK, what I found?  With a synthetic, "one-stroke" Flat (the Winsor Newton Flat 985 Series, the Winsor Newton "Artists Acrylic" Flat Series, the Utrecht 230-231 Series, and/or the Cotman 666 Series), I lay down a broad, one-stroke of Lighter Value, and then come in on top of that stroke with a more-narrow one-stroke of same-color but Darker Value. For example, in the foreground to affect dappled Shadow, the "one-stroke" method,   I lay down a 3/4"-1.0" wide "under-strip" of light Cerulean Blue (cB, Value 6 (V6)) , let it tack up a bit, then on top of and inside the 1.0" Understoke, I lay on a more narrow, one-stroke 1/4"-1/2" of dark Pthalo Blue (pB, Value 3(V3)). Same drill with the interspersed, dappled foreground sunlight: Darker color strip overlayed on Light color: cYd + nY (Value 5)  over iY + cYl + tW (Value 8). Same drill in the Greens (G) of trees: lighter, broad UnderStroke like pale, grey (yG, Value 5), then a darker, narrow Overstroke (iK + oY at Value 3). The two associate colors in these "blocks" are "pulling-and-pushing" with one another. Next painting, I'm going to try the One-Stroke Double but this time employing a Temperature Change, rather than a Value Change. Say a high Temperature (T9), Transparent pyrolene Red (V7) under a low Temperature, Opaque terra rosa or indian Oxide Red (iR), (V7). There are many combinations to experiment, see what happens. Like a simple Temperature (T) Change, a warm-cool, One-Stroke-Double. Or, a simple "Opaque-overlaying-a Transparent" Energy. . Polarities "jump"! It's part of calligraphy & color, The One-Stroke "Double", it adds energy: It's "emotional"; it's "vibrant" and it doesn't look contrived (not another of my failed "realist" attempts to "copy" nature). Pleasure: it's a personal thing, but for me overall, VIBRANCY matters & consistently "works". In general, "Vibrancy" might be generated more by changing Value, whereas ENERGY might be generated by COLOR interplay. (See the Fauvists: Derain, Matisse, etc.). For strong Value-Change generating Energy, as with  Black-White GLARE blowing out shape, color and object,  Google Dan Shaw's work… always  vibrant!. Again, for Light/Dark high-contrast areas-creating-vibrancy, Google Rembrandt's portraits.

Part 2. GOLD FEVER

And now onward to more importantly "WHY TO PAINT" : to generate that Energy and Vibration that makes things (including yourself )"move". For me, it's more than OK, it's important,  to sacrifice "Objectivity" to  "Energy" and "Vibrancy". Energy and Vibrancy are what "humans" are about! I'm pleasure-driven and well, there's more juice in expression than in oppression, (like being dictated to by a photograph or exacting technique, etc).. Again it's a personal choice thing; every painter has his/her own pleasure- meter. Do you have the faith to follow what gives you your most profound pleasure? Onward. In yesterday's  painting, rather than accurately depicting the "Object" itself, I chose to attempt to show the "Emotion" and "Vibrancy" surrounding the Object, that is, the "Object-Context", which moves and shifts! This approach I call  "pure painting", or, "spontaneous painting" wherein the painter kicks off, first motivated by the object (the scene or whatever), and then proceeds to paint "what shows up", what's "suggested", what gets him/her excited, pulled-in.  "Abstraction" is "interpretation" and thus must involve the substance of the artist him/her self; this stuff will end up in the work-in-process; it's there to be "manipulated", which makes it "art". This personal, changing "emotional field" which now includes the artist, is all  part of the Context of the scene. Regarding "Context", most of the time, we unconsciously "see" and "define" objects based on their context. Context defines the Object without our knowing it. To demonstrate this unconscious process, yesterday I attempted (and failed again) to paint at least some of the Context. Why? well, rather than underscore yet another "objectification" of our world, I chose to show our changeable human interpretation, an "emotional expression", that which make us "human", and I like being human!! Interpretation invites inspiration and inspired painting is a GODLIKE FEEL-GOOD! Think of "Color", sweet color, as Emotion; and two colors, one kissing the other, as Energy! "Human" energy! "Surprise: bright blue, against bright orange, bingo! you exist!" Descartes said, "Cogito ergo sum" ( I think therefore I exist). I say, "I feel and am constantly surprised, therefore, I exist in motion!" OK I fail! Hooray! Better a colossal failure than a mediocre success!  We humans love to be human:  to err is human! and if you follow up on your errors, you find something divine.  "The road to wisdom is paved with excess." - Blake. "Paradise is the road itself, pot-holed, belly-up over and over with crazy, colossal mistakes." (I said that.) If you never try anything, you'll never err, never be human, never be yourself, never be positively surprised, "stunned", bowled-back, invited-in un-judged, entranced, hypnotized, "stuck with lightening". Why? Because we "transform-by-surprise"!! pleasant surprise, and big-hug, enveloping acceptance. A mistake is just something you haven't worked on with your imagination. Pray for a big mistake: Lazarus didn't make no  mistakes.  He was dead. But then, an artist showed up, a God-like figure,  and "Surprise" boing, ol' Laz wakes up, walks out of his cave, and "feels good" (quote the artist James Brown). "Art" ipso-fact allows us to "experience" something "not-thought-of", not-within-the-present-consciousness's-purview. In this state, we are NOT "dictated to" by the past, or by an ideology or doctrine: we can ignore old programming, etc. Like it or not, suddenly "art": a unique feeling suddenly upon us, something which also "unites us". We can't deny it, can't ignore it;  that warm welcome, "hot" even, so amazingly pleasant, that Big Bang surprise: "I'm in love!" boing! And being-surprised is that godlike, feel-good, empowered state; we are suddenly MORE than we were, or "thought" we were, or ever thought we could be! We grow: we can do more, experience more, share more, risk more…  This sharing, communing, being part of something "larger", causes us to relax in a Big way, be braver than ever, less fearful, shot with confidence; it confirms our real "human" qualities . Whoa, "brave"? OK, what kinda "brave?  Know the difference, between "stupid" and "brave": like stupid, cowardly mistakes:  booze, allowing oneself to remain "naïve", neglecting your Destiny, self-violence by default, getting overpowered, raped (emotionally, physically, psychologically) allowing our self to be exploited, then trying to hide, escape, join some coocoo, fear-driven religion or the Republican Party, think of yourself as a hero by being blown up in a war or shot in a gang fight, believing in some delusional magic-thinking program rather than following one's own internal, profound compass of personal, direct experience… All of the above "mistakes" produce a "de-humanized" "self", a big problem, a walking time-bomb.   OK my view: When we humans "experience" something personal 101% , we "are" the experience; there's no separation, there's "communion". Think super-positive, first-kiss experience (Thanks again, Linda!). Think: "mutual orgasm with the partner of your dreams, a "person", not-a-sex-object, but a person ", … in that complex, there's no question of "alienation", or isolation. And with good art, especially the making-of-good-art,  we thoroughly enjoy the "connector", the bridge uniting two countries. Direct, positive, and personal  … super-affirming : art! …that "rush",  which underscores our "personhood", ends that foggy existential angst.  Yeah! In this honey-moon, love-struck state of "non-separation", we lumbering humans change, transcend the singular old "self" into a "free(r) us"! Together, we elect to become a bigger person. That's why from the dawn of human civilization 2 million years ago, man has created art. Humans learn with art. Art is evolutionary,  always something "communal", and communities form around art. With other's good artwork, and with their own art, individuals can "restart" and transform;  it's a profound pleasure: one wherein we can become the person we always knew we were: complete, confident, fulfilled, empowered, blessed, contributing, accepted-101%, … and completely open, able to employ our deeper intelligence. As a bonus, we no longer have to "fake-it", pretend, perform, play-the-"PleaseLikeMe" game, "I just wanna be popular!" game . With the art-experience, you no longer can be manipulated into compliance and conformance: baited by the ol' shame or glory pitch by Authority-Figures and Dopey-Peer-Groups-promising-"prestige". Modern art? Yes! No more fear of "excommunication"! It's a marvelous "Surprise!", discovery, seeing-things-from-an-unexpected-view. Good art is a "means of production" and not a "product". Good art, emotionally complex, emotionally contagious, is a  humble little miracle: "Surprise!" … being Lazarus walking out of his cave into the day! Surprise-Surprise! .Living in the that old cave was a bad story stuck on replay, know-by-experience that "life-can-return"; the world we thought was humdrum, pointless, and "stuck" can "move" again…  Good art doesn't sleep, it moves and generously takes us along with it; it's emotionally contagious; it's life, a complex of relationships, contrasts, communions, balance, tensions,… all working with and against each other in a field of emotion, sensuality and inspiration… a lovers' tug-of-war (remember?). Good art gently teaches us by moving example, and by its example, we receive permission to accept our complexity and to take risks.  Find out that we can do more than just "survive"; that in fact we can "evolve", (aka "resurrect").  Good art allows us to wake up, come out, try wild things in a safe space, be clarified via risk, by expression, and be able to enjoy the world in all its confusions. … Art like a permission-giving, wonderful  grandmother, lets us come out of Lazarus' cave, lets us run around, refuse to sit down if we don't want to sit down, refuse to be silent at the dinner table, refuse intimidation, and above all, refuse to go to bed on time…  What? Go back into that stinking, mummy-grey sleep? Never! Viva Kandinsky!