GROWING...EVOLVING...

A challenge for every artist is keeping his or her work fresh and interesting. It is easy to stay within the comfort zone of familiarity, especially if the work has received critical and/or commercial success. There are no formulas or rules that one can turn to for guidance. Only with an honest self assessment of the work will the artist recognize the need to begin to push the boundaries of the comfort zone. This does not mean every piece of work must be different or ground breaking. On the contrary, there is a valuable learning experience in doing a series or body of work where small but significant nuances can be learned from each piece, in spite of the similarities. It is only after these lessons or advances cease that the work runs the risk of becoming tired and stale.

For the past 2 months I have been working with clay drawings, enjoying the fun and excitement they have generated, in part, bringing me back to my roots...whimsical, urban landscapes. They are still teaching me something, and I am not ready to move away from them but am aware that it is time I begin pushing at the boundaries, exploring how they can evolve and still retain their freshness. In retrospect I’ve already been doing this, adding more color, using acrylic paints for highlights, and exploring expanded compositions. To date the process has been rather simple and straight forward...I’m not sure how, but I suspect that will soon change.

Here is the first clay drawing I did about 2 months ago:



This piece was completed about 4 weeks ago:



The most recent clay drawing:



Older than the others...clay drawing...10x12

There is always something to look forward to in the studio...old and new!