Process and Composition Painting:The Oval Wrestler Portrait

"Juanito as Mil Mascara" Oil, Egg Tempera, Gold Leaf on panel, 2012

I have hundreds of images and ideas ready and waiting to be painted, but it’s often the surface that peaks my interest first. I visit lumber yards, frame, and thrift shops looking for material that speaks to me. I look for materials like shaped panels, old table tops, chairs, or vintage frames. “Rusty gold” is the term I have heard used, which for me means wood or metal with some character and the potential to become a ” Art.”

Oval Print portrait found at Thrift Shop

At least, this is what gets the wheels rolling for me. I then take it into the studio and sand it, break it, glue it, cut it, or whatever my instincts request I do to it. Sometimes its what my wife calls “Work for work’s sake.” That is, if the process calls for me to get my hands dirty before I can get to painting then that’s what I do.

People who call themselves artists are often asked the question “What’s your work about?” That’s not a question I try to define as it might dilute what someone else feels about my work. What I do like to talk about is process.

In the past I was guided by images and making painted pictures. Today although I am still inspired by images, they are fused together with the  physicality of object making.

 

Potential.