Not without intrinsic significance that i just managed to create a new painting against seeming odds and have the means to share it. Not just any old painting either, but one that is satisfactory and has a good feeling about it, a sensitive benevolent vibe.
The pneumonia in March i spoke of two posts previously completely sabotaged my creative flow, and until a few days ago in the first week of September i was without inspiration, motivation, or meaning, and unable to create or innovate much of anything for six months and even that doesn't describe it.
As with any activity, painting requires a certain level of energy to even begin, and i haven't exactly got my energy back yet, tending to rest a lot. So i still wonder at having painted this: 'Tides and Skies', 20" by 16", in just three afternoons, thinking it would last longer to give me something to do.
With a need to verify that i hadn't irrevocably lost touch with the creative spark, which is how it felt, and for want of a visual concept that wasn't just arbitrary or predictable. Difficult to adequately explain that, as it's a subtle point. Not just anything will do. It's plain to see what isn't 'it' but hard to imagine what is, and equally hard to describe why.
Serendipitously though, and not a month before time with the near total overcast of the so-called 'Cloud of Unknowing', a miniscule glimpse of an idea engaged my attention. Iconic like an archetype, a certain soft blend of tinted colour, a horizontal drift of streamline spatial arrangement nothing too complex. Being but a photo on a youtube video clip i was listening to which clicked as possible foundation for further improvisation and source of inspiration.
Best not to focus only on what the image depicts it's simply a vehicle for feeling. Better to silently feel through the eyes in a receptive way. Feel the taste of colour as you would savour a flavour or flow with music, receptive without grasping or projecting, sensitive to the subtle texture of feeling.
I hint at all this only because it's of the essence and perhaps too elusive to be caught or taught. Who can find exact words for qualities and if they exist who would recognize them as such?
Perhaps that's one good reason to paint. ~
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Martin Rainbowmaker
