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.  

Recalling Idle Sundays: Old Friends, Figures, and Flowers

Company by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 10" x 10" 

"We are still painfully underserved when it comes to days off." - Tom Hodgkinson

Sunday: A Day of Rest

I have always loved Sundays. Although I may have whined at times about being bored, the truth is that Sundays were different from every other day of the week because all of the stores were closed. All of the chores were squeezed into the other 6 days of the week – the grocery shopping, the store shopping, the oil change – and Sunday was reserved for reading the paper, going out fishing in the boat, going to the pond to ice skate in winter, going to the beach for a picnic in the summer, taking in a movie, and family dinners at 3 in the afternoon.  

So, I was not going to let Leslie Saeta's 30 Day Challenge become a work day for me. I decided to take it easy. I was thinking of taking the day off. But I had this floral hanging around that I had been working on and thought I might be able to finish it today.  As you might guess, two weeks ago this was a traditional floral, with no figure in it. I scrubbed it out and threw it on the floor by my painting table and let it sit there to remind me that I had a painting with potential waiting for the finish.  

Florals and Figures, Surprise, Oh My!

 

When I decided to tackle this little 10" x 10" square floral, I wondered about the switch from figures to florals. It seemed that I was on a roll with the figures these last few days, and the switch seemed odd. But I went with the hunch that it would be ok to switch mid-stream. Why not? But I was not expected to uncover a figure. And once I gave in to its presence in the painting, things started to fall into place.

I think the figure gives the painting a story. We can look at this painting simply as an old still life painting that has been uncovered on a wall, chipped and faded, a remnant of the past. Or we can look at the flowers in the vase and the figure in the background as symbols – players – in a narrative. The figure stands in the back, looking at the flowers.  And I began immediately to weave allegorical stories about their relationship to one another.  Daydreaming is what we do on Sundays.  

A Sunday Painting

"Company" stands as a reminder of the leisurely "do nothing" "work not" Sundays of yesteryear, when we would easily enjoy the company of family and friends, relaxing after a week of work and chores and business.  

Be A Rebel: Daydream

Idle Thoughts by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 10.25" x 8.25" 

"How the idle at heart suffer for their daydreaming. How cruel the bureaucrats, teachers, and usurers, who tell us our visions and fancies are a waste of time." - Tom Hodgkinson

Meeting the Challenge: On Being Idle, Day 6 

Today is day 6 of Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. At one point I wondered if I was going to paint at all today. I did my morning running routine - a 37 minute "ramble" in the rain through my neighborhood we call "the forest" for its trees and its creek. I kept thinking about yesterday's post "This is rambling! Pay attention!" Then I made breakfast and we settled into watching 2 episodes of "Homeland." Was I being idle? Yes. Idle so I could better consume an art form - acting, script writing, fiction. Even now I'm listening to a beautiful piece of music - Oblivion - as I create this bit of text.  When I finally decided to get to the painting, I turned on the music, and got to work. I should have timed it, because this painting really did emerge easily. But as I told another artist friend today, these paintings don't happen quickly. They go through a lot before they emerge. This painting had several incarnations before it was obliterated and became "Idle Thoughts." I might liken it to rehearsing a play for 7 weeks before the play finally appears on opening night. Ah, the creative process!

Idle Thoughts: Idle Conversation

I love the tilt of the head in the figure in green. What, I wonder, is he thinking? To my mind he is curious. Contemplative. Questioning.  He's almost looking at that figure sideways, a slight turn of the body under those robes. And when I look at the face on the giant figure I know that this is not a static meeting: the two figures are in communion with one another. That looming spirit is looking back, watching that robed figure with a knowing focus, and perhaps with a bit of amusement. He is another benevolent figure that appears in various guises in my paintings. I'm happy for that. 

It's a good thing these two figures don't have to run off to work at the mill. They can take their time and contemplate whatever the questions might be and pose possible answers. Or not. Maybe they are there to just think and observe.

  

I'm Really An Idle Daydreamer At Heart

So really, what is this all about? The paintings with the figures? The talk about being idle?  I'm "working on" not working. How is that for irony? This is all about having fun not having work. And I'm working on fully owning that I paint what I paint because that is what I paint and I enjoy it. I like to spend time wondering "why" I paint these things - and I like to daydream about where these paintings come from. 

How weird is it that this painting today was hidden in a painting that I cut in half yesterday and rubbed out with alcohol? And how weird is it that the painting fits perfectly with my theme of being idle so you can daydream and contemplate what it means to be in this world? How weird is it that the painting ends up being in sync with my theme? I do not plan ahead of time what I am going to paint and the painting. I look at the paper and look for the painting.  

I think maybe it is not weird at all. I think that it may just be what the creative process is all about.

Sidebar: All Joking About Composition Aside

"Sidebar" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 30" x 22" 

$1200

In The Center From The Beginning...

The center is the hottest spot on the canvas. That is, your eye is going to go there and stay there for a while. I often refer to it as the "hitting the audience over the head with a bat" spot. Might as well also shout, "Do you get it? Do you see? It is about these 3 figures!"

The "abstract start" for this painting was especially intriguing because the most luscious part of it was in the center of the paper, and warning flags plagued me throughout the process of carving out first one, then two, then three overlapping figures in the center of the painting. Despite the rule that says "don't put anything in the center of the paper," I just couldn't help myself. I had to do it.

Yes. This is the start!  Makes you wonder, doesn't it!

It is fine to warn about "the center" of the paper. It is a good guideline, but sometimes the center of the paper, just like the center of the stage, is not only ok, it can also be perfectly perfect. The "in your face" spot is the perfect spot for Dolly to take in the big showstopper "Hello Dolly." It's perfectly ok to put anything there you want to put there as long as you feel the subject warrants it.  

That doesn't mean though that I was not concerned about these figures being in the hot spot. I just decided to allow it and deal with the results later.

I also found myself once again dipping into my bag of "staging the scene" tidbits as I worked with the three central figures.  The differences in height, gesture, and costume are all elements of the unspoken narrative and character development inherent in dramatic text. The story is told and character is revealed not just with words but also with position, gesture, physique, and costume.

 And so, a story - however you want to spin it - begins to develop around those three figures.  One might think that it's all about them.  On the other hand, maybe it is not.  

The Key Distraction

Ok, yes, it would seem that this painting is all about the three authoritative figures, who stand together robed and in conference smack dab in the middle of the canvas.  But then there is the nondescript figure off to the left side of the paper that keeps pulling my eye over there.  Why is that figure there?

I will admit that I was concerned (at first) that I had a figure there. Once again, I couldn't help myself. That is, I liked and wanted that figure there despite the fact that I could hear the critics in my head saying "my eye keeps being pulled off to the left by this nondescript figure, clearly distant and not the obvious focus of the painting. It is a distraction." So I took it out.

Then I put it back in because the painting seemed to fall apart without it. But then I thought about the eye being pulled and so I took it out again. It was not until I thought about the importance of trusting my instincts - of acknowledging that I wanted that distraction there - that I was able to put it in and leave it in. The distraction was the key that unlocked the meaning of the painting and led to the title, "Sidebar." 

Acknowledge The Distraction: There's Always More To The Story 

Without the nondescript figure to the left, the image on the canvas offered only one melodramatic note - three figures in conference.  With the little figure to the left creating tension - pulling the eye back and forth - the image offers the possibilities of a larger, more complex, narrative. Who is that figure? What is the figure's interest in the action taking place between the three central figures? What is that figure's relationship to the three in robes? And if this were a play, who would the play be about? 

In my imagination the play would be about the figure that I keep having to look at, the figure whose presence I am not allowed to forget, even when there are three robed figures in the hot spot with a big moon-like circle marking their activity. The sweeping symbolic text swirling around all the figures suggests a cosmic narrative that lifts this image to something more allegorical than literal.

If I take anything away from the experience of making this painting it might be to have more courage when it comes to listening to my own voice.  And to look to my own history of creative expression before negating it.  Trust the muse that is leading you to do those things you think you are not supposed to be doing.  

A Question of Eminence

"Eminence Claire" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 22" x 30"

The title of this painting is a play on the phrase "éminence grise," the phrase literally means "grey eminence" and is a reference to one who wields power without holding an official position. The figures in this painting wield power. They are not shadowy figures, they are luminaries: two in the open, center stage, and one more distant figure with the strongest light shining on it.

This painting more than any other made me feel like I was directing a play when it dawned on me that I could play with the focus of this painting - and thereby tinker with the narrative - by dimming or raising the light on the figures.  I had three bits of action on the stage - each attempting to take focus - and I had to ask myself who or what is this painting about.  I felt very attached to the smaller solitary figure on the right - upstage and distant from the rest - suggesting to me that this figure had significant interest and influence in what was happening in the world of the painting.  The central figures have the focus: they are taller than the rest, closer than the rest, in the center, one is in a red cloak, the other a white cloak. Eminence! And then there was a pair of lovers on stage right (left side of the paper), exactly where lovers should be according to stage theory (if you believe in theory).  

So I decided to play with the light.  I put the lovers in the dark by layering a transparent wash over them. The story may indeed be all about them but right now we are not to focus on them. We are to know they are there, but they are not the focus at this moment: the figures in the center are the focus.  At first I thought the figure in the distance needed to be played down because it could take focus from the central figures.  But I liked the balance this figure offered to the composition. And maybe this figure that is observing the proceedings needs to tug at the viewer's attention. 

So I started to play with the light on this distant figure.  First dimming it with a wash, and then bringing it up by lifting the wash. I did this several times before I realized that I get to create the framework for the story the viewer will create while looking at this painting.  Illuminated and in the background, the smallest figure appears to be the one with the most power.  

"Eminence Claire" is getting its first public viewing in Florida, at the Melrose Bay Art Gallery in Melrose, FL, in my solo exhibit, "Degrees of Separation."

The Request: Seeking Inspiration

"The Request" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 22" x 30"

Accepting The Challenge: Seeking Inspiration

All right, I did take a week off from the challenge. I needed to breathe, and when I decided to come back to this I did actually feel a bit of that "Just DO it, Jim" kind of determination.  

One of the challenges in this challenge - as I've defined it for myself - is deciding which unfinished paintings to finish off.  The piece of paper I decided to work with is one that I have a long history with.  It is a full sheet of Arches Rough watercolor paper that I stained with orange and turquoise acrylic inks about 3 years ago.  I loved it so much - or maybe I loved its potential so much - that I wouldn't touch it.   Eventually I coated it with acrylic medium so I could preserve what was there, and would be able to return to it should I ever need to. I never needed to. I painted over this sheet of paper twice. It was an abstract landscape for a few days and then I somewhat mindlessly painted over it all completely - had a lot of fun and ended up with what you see here. And this is where my painting began today. 

I flipped it sideways and began to carve out my painting.

Finding Inspiration: First, Take A Deep Breath

inspiration (n.)

c.1300, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written, from Old French inspiracion "inhaling, breathing in; inspiration," from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative inspiratio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin inspirare "inspire, inflame, blow into," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). Literal sense "act of inhaling" attested in English from 1560s. Meaning "one who inspires others" is attested by 1867. - Online Etymology Dictionary

Breathe!  That's literally what "inspiration" means!  This serves as a reminder that when the restrictions seem overwhelming, breath. In-spire! How interesting that the painting I came back to the challenge with ended up reminding me of what it means to seek inspiration and where one might find it: in the multitude of those who have gone before us. Masters, philosophers, artisans, scholars, priests and sages and healers, they are always present, at the ready to inspire us with their marks and the thoughts they have left behind.  

The turning point for finishing the painting came when I decided to add the color to the cape in the central figure.  I thought I was taking a risk by adding the red and giving him such strong focus, but when I did that everything else in the painting - including all of the other figures - became an environment and set up the story.  That one decision made the difference.  Suddenly the purpose of all the other figures became clear, as did his. 

I love it when that happens!  

Creating Narrative Through Composition

"The Gathering" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Crescent Board, 12" x 20"

When Icons Aren't Enough

Some of these figures are beginning to feel like old friends. I've seen them before in my other paintings. Thus the title, "The Gathering."  

When I began this painting I imagined the figures were long-buried icons being uncovered.  I used various gel mediums, including crackle paste, to get the effects of ancient crumbling walls and plaster. This is the painting I started with - the one of the 30 that I said I was going to "finish" in this 30 day challenge.  

So when I picked the painting up again I began to work on fleshing out the figures.  I added combinations of metallic gold and bronze and quinacridone gold. 

Eventually I found that having the figures on the wall as adornment simply wasn't enough to satisfy me. I wanted to put the figures into an environment in order to create narrative.  I wondered if the original artist put them in an environment.  I thought: "Well when the artist painted this on the ancient wall did he have them in a scene or were they just icons on a gilt wall?"  

Yes, I know that sounds a bit crazy, but remember I was "a theatre person" for a good number of decades. Stanislavsky rules! Creating characters and back history and putting yourself in the situation of the character are second nature to theatre people. Still, sometimes it's important for me to remember that I really am the painter of my paintings!  I'm the decider.

The Environment and Narrative

The environment does not have to be literal. It can be figurative - simple - abstract space.  Where the figures are placed in that space and how they are positioned is what creates story. 

I put figures in an environment in order to create narrative, and as you can see, I also take figures out to help the story along. Taking out one figure created a large space between the first figure and the second, adding weight to both.  

 

Although we don't have a lot of details, a story is there for the telling.  You can imagine that the figure on the left is benevolent, judging by the tilt of the head, and by its being positioned on the left side of the paper. There seems to be a conversation of sorts going on between the two figures on the right. But it is the central figure who is the strongest - that is, the central figure takes the most focus. Although it would seem that all of the figures are engaged in their own activity, it is the figure who is closest to the viewer, closest to the center, and with his full back to us who catches our attention - because of where he is and how he is positioned in the space in relationship to the other figures.  With his back to us he generates additional wonder and mystery.  

PS. I had a few good laughs at myself while writing this blog post. I had not really thought about how I slip into theatrical modes of thinking when I paint. Stanislavsky would be proud of my liberal use of "what if."  

Honor the Creative Spirit

 "Honor" by Jim Carpenter, Acrylic on Paper, 9 1/2" x 6 1/2"

Painting #4 in my day 7 of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge.

When I looked at the finish my first thought was "this is about honor." So I titled it "Honor" and see it as a logical sequence in a line of titles: Seek, Pause, Endure, and now Honor.  I always make an effort not to box a painting in with a title because I want the viewers to be free to create their own story from what they see.  In that sense visual art is collaborative.

As I look at the painting now I see that I pulled the composition out of my theatre bag.  I really didn't think about it at all when I was in the midst of the creative process.  But, I spent decades directing plays and exploring story-telling by moving people from one place to another in a big empty space, and so I shouldn't be surprised to see that experience informing me now.  They say, "Paint what you know" and I say, "If you paint intuitively, you have no choice but to paint what you know.  You cannot do otherwise.  In fact, you may discover what you know by simply painting from the heart."

I've said previously that I believe in "not knowing" and perhaps that is why I view my paintings as vehicles for informing me about the stories that really matter to me and would remain untold were I not to paint.

I sometimes will look at a painting long after I'm done and I say, "Oh, so that's what matters to me!"

Do you find yourself creating meaning when you look at the figures in this painting?  What is going on in the scene?  I'd love to hear your stories.