Vision

"Vision" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 9"x9"

Day 12 Painting #9 in the Painting Challenge

What coincidences can I dream up today to go with this painting?  It's painting #9 and it's 9" square, an oddball for that, but I plan to mount this on a 10" square canvas.  The painting seems to be true to the theme that is unfolding itself. Each painting seems to be a piece of some greater whole.  

The central figure is one that simply appeared in the paper as I lifted the paint. Well, not so much "simply" as "after much searching, backtracking, lifting, painting, lifting, painting, lifting."  

I'm very much interested in the decision making process.  When do I finally say "this is it" and leave it be?  I was tempted to go at it again, but sensed that it was my own fear of taking a risk that was pushing me not to accept this painting as it is right now.  I like this figure in the center of the painting and the figures that fill in the right and left of the painting. Some one needs to be seeing the figure in the center, and the figures on stage right and stage left serve that purpose.  They are sufficiently solid and by contrast give that illuminated figure in the center a "not really there but really there" character.  

The word "vision" seems appropriate for the title.  It can mean the ability to see, which is served by the characters on the right and left. And it can mean the object being seen, the character in the center of the painting. It can also suggest things of the imagination, things one dreams about, and can carry connotations of the supernatural, the spiritual, and the mystical, all of which are possibilities regarding the illuminated figure.