why i paint what i paint #22

This 24" x 24" oil on canvas is a painting of my painting partner and me...painting.  I am very happy with the fragmented, unfinished nature of the image.  I am stunned over and over, how much more 'realistically' this way of mark-making conveys the truth of a thing, story,  person than the very crisp, realistic, finished work.  I think it has something to do with the 'river-ish' nature of our lives.  The minute we step in to the water...THAT water has moved on.

Works In Progress #1.

Ken O'Connell came to my house and did a travel sketchbook workshop. It was so freeing for all the guilty, stuck, half-empty sketchbook owners. He encouraged us to NOT view our sketchbooks as precious objects but more as experimental labs, recordings of food we eat, places we go, people we meet.