In elementary school we’d call for “do overs”, and only sometimes they were granted. In college we’d say “rewind”. Both were before the days of “undo”. It’s all a learning experience though, isn’t it? In organizing my inventory of paintings I once again had to do a brutally honest assessment about what could be in the gallery and what needed to just go away. Like everything though, its never that black and white. It’s always that gray middle ground that gives us fits. Such was the case with this thinning of the herd, as it were.
The paintings that brought on this dilemma were part of a series I had done of the White Mountains. I kept going back and forth as to their quality, which of course means they are not meeting the standard but for some reason they are still in contention. So, I decided to take my knives to them, my palette knives that is. When I moved to painting with knives my work took a big shift. Maybe that’s just what these paintings needed, to go under the knife. I had done had posting on the expedition to start the series (http://atomic-temporary-128433656.wpcomstaging.com/blog/2009/05/written-on-the-wind/)
I started with a painting I had named “Founding Fathers”, Mounts Jefferson and Adams when looking from Mount Washington. Yes, boys and girls, this is the “Presidential Range” of New Hampshire. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is where George Washington and crew are carved into the face of the mountain. Here in New Hampshire, we get a little funny about people getting the two mixed up, but I digress. It’s especially painful to kick large paintings to the curb, so I started my surgical procedure with the largest.
Before
After
Feeling like that was a success, I decided to have a go at another in the series that I was hesitant about. Part of why I think I wanted to “make these work” was the colors. The pictures were taken on Memorial Day weekend and it was just fascinating to see the change in foliage as we drove up the auto road to Mount Washington. Down below the greens of Spring were all around. At the top, life was struggling to return.
Before
After
Now, I need to return to preparations for the opening of Color Notes Art Gallery. It was nice to spend some time at my easel but those are turning into stolen moments now. I will be having my opening Memorial Day Weekend, May 25, 26, and 27.