In preparation for applying for future shows I spent part of my evening sorting through older images of paintings and artwork from my past. These moments tonight have helped me to draw some parallels from the past to present day, helping me gain a new perspective of how I have improved as an artist.
Although, I still feel a very strong connection to my artwork from the past. I have to admit, there are moments that I sit back and think to myself “What was I thinking?” Did I really use that shade of green… and not this one or why is that eye lower than the other one? These are thing that I never saw while I was actually working on the piece. Then there are those rare moments when I look at a painting and I think WOW, I really did created that… that is kind of cool….
Having the distance of time between the art and myself helps me to view my work differently. This proves to me that over time a person’s perspective can change and evolve.
One of the paintings that I really liked is something I did almost two years ago. It was my first attempts of a study of nature. Pine cones seemed to be on the ground everywhere I walked, and since my inspiration is often based on things I find in nature. I thought this would be appropriate to use as the subject matter of a painting. This painting is tiny 6in x 6in. which is very different that the scale that I normally work with and because of that was one of the most difficult pieces that I have ever done.
Study of Nature, oil on canvas, 6in x 6in
So this was a good study because I learned many thing things while working on this. I learned that I would much rather work with small brushes then with larger ones, even while working on a much larger canvas, because I really enjoy the connection of the tiny movements of the brush on the canvas. I also learned that sometimes our eyes fill in the blanks and often we claim to see things that are not really there. I learned how to work with light and use shadows to help me see the pine cone as it really were.
This was to be part of a series that I wanted to create one painting per week… but my timing was not good and I could not commit to seeing this develop completely.
Maybe seeing this piece again has inspired me to revisit that idea again. Being able to view things with a new perspective can be a really great experience!