Once Upon A Time: The Perfect Start

 "Places" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 13.5" x 11" 

Once Upon A Time, Long Long Ago...

Five years ago I painted a start that I thought was the cat's meow! I loved it. But I didn't know what to do with it, and I was afraid I'd ruin it if I pushed ahead with it. So I put it in a folder and put it aside.  I would pull it out over the years hoping that I would see it and know where to go next with it. But that never happened. And when I looked at it today I had pretty much lost that loving feeling - that is, I still liked it but I thought it wasn't all that precious and it was time that I tried to do something with it or let it go. So, for Day 8 of the 30 Day Challenge I decided to finally do something with this 'ancient' start. 

Originally I wanted it to be a non-objective abstract, and that was one of the main reasons why it remained in the folder.  I know now how "non-objective" turns out for me - inevitably, save for a few rare occasions, an image begins to emerge and I'm off to carving out figures.  Why didn't I do that 5 years ago?  

Places: Story Time

I titled the painting "Places" because I get the sense that the figures are each from different stories - living in different environments - each with a tale to tell - but they are all in the same framework.  The title also alludes to theatre, an apt metaphor for story telling: when the stage manager gives the cue "Places!" the actors move to their "place" on stage to begin or to continue telling their story.  

It occurred to me only as I was preparing to write the blog post that this painting might be the cover of a great storybook - full of tales that resonate through the ages. If I decide to pursue that notion I will let you know. Maybe tomorrow!  

Here is the start I painted 5 years ago.  

The Metaphor

"Summer Blues" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 15" x 11"

Risk Taking Made Easy

I could write about how brave I was back in 2010 to risk such a free-for-all of color as I see in this painting. I was painting the hydrangea blossoms the way I really saw them - bursting with color and to my mind demanding more mid value color to surround them. It is a bold painting, that's for sure. Nothing subtle about it. Cadmium Red, Metallic Gold, Brilliant Blue.  Every now and then you really do need to let loose.  

But it really wasn't all that risky. How big is the risk if you never show the painting?

Timing Is Everything

Clearly this painting came before I got into the knack of rubbing out all of the color, but not long before.  "Summer Blues" is another transitional painting on the cusp of the floral painter slinking into the underground while the figure painter came out to take center stage.  You can tell by the signature, the use of the original stamp I made, and the introduction of metallic gold paint.  You'll see echoes of this painting in the new collection of florals I'm introducing in the near future. A single vase.  Impressions of flowers.  Low horizon suggested by just a line.  I expect with time these elements will morph into something new.

This was among the last "hydrangeas in a vase" images I painted - years earlier I produced a series of paintings based on the hydrangeas that grew in my cousin Richard's garden - shrubs that towered over me and produced huge blossoms ranging in color from deep blue to purple and some rusty orange where the petals began to die. To stand in front of those shrubs was to be bathed in rich color.  I must have taken a hundred photos of those flowers. None of them came close to satisfying me - they all fell short of my experience of the beauty in those flowers.

How do you capture or express the lived experience of being in the presence of the flowers? I think that is really what "Summer Blues" is all about.  This painting is my metaphor for what it is like for me to experience the beauty of flowers. 

It's Never Too Late To Risk It

"Summer Blues" had one outing into to the public - for a couple of hours. I did not have an opportunity to show it again, since I had stopped painting florals. And so now I am taking the risk by writing about it and by posting it on my blog - and tweeting it - and putting it on Pinterest - and on my website in a new gallery "Florals" where the painting is available for $185. [UPDATE 7/27/2014 Painting has now been sold.]