"Ocean Motion" 2013 20x60"
oil on gallery wrapped canvas
I had barely started this painting when the title, "Ocean Motion", came to mind. I was dancing my palette knife across the 20x60" canvas in great swoops and swooshes of colors reminiscent of the sea, so it's quite a fitting title.
My dilemma, when doing an abstract, is to keep it simple. Keep the idea flowing but not get caught up in representation. The title could have sunk the whole painting if I hadn't stopped when I ran out of ideas and left the painting to wait for 4 more days while I thought about it and thought about it. There were, I'll admit, lots of hand wringing, hair rending moments when I thought I might just have to call in reinforcements for guidance. But, in the end, I tricked myself into getting back to it by saying, "I'll just work on this one spot of green that's bugging me".
I know, if you're wondering what my process is, just writing that last little bit isn't going to help you understand how I was able to come to a finish. It actually was a matter of painting too much of something that didn't jibe with the rest of the painting, because the strokes were short and choppy, then coming back in with my palette knife and mixing them all together. Finally, to include elements of sea foam, I brought in the mixes of white at the bottom and declared it done. Still need to sign it.
