PROCESS: One Painting - Seven Years of Change

In 2006 I painted a series of landscapes as seen from the kayak. I loved the reflections, low point of view and constantly shifting profile of the land seen from this position. I was out early and observed this island as the sun was rising. The light was soft, but the sky was dramatic.

I dragged this challenging painting through many stages in which I lost the light and color, strengthened the structure of the land, reintroduced the color, but lost the painterly quality of the previous surfaces. Eventually, I decided that I preferred the earlier stages of this painting, especially the first and third. The painting sat untouched for several years.

In 2008 I decided to move forward with an idea that I had been considering to superimpose text about issues of environment and climate over the surface of the painting by painting words into the image. Although the words created interesting spatial and surface qualities, I was not satisfied with their integration with the rest of the image.

I returned to the painting last summer (2012) with additional layers, reworking and attempting to resolve surfaces, strengthen forms, and unify the sky with the land. The prominent text was eventually subdued.

I reworked the painting again last month (April 2013), layering across the serene landscape handwritten text expressing my questions about the environment. Below is its present and final state. Many visual qualities that prompted the original painting were altered when the concept changed. Such is the process of painting.  

"Questions I Ask", 40x30, oil on canvas, 2013.

I delivered this and a group of other paintings to George Marshall Store in York, Maine. They will be exhibited in Silent Spring, The Enduring Legacy from June 8 until July 14.