I am being held captive by Nabokov. My papers are pure, but my thoughts are of sin. Humbert is asking me what holds me in thrall? What is it about island puddles brim full of life? And oysters. Or thin slivers of light. One blade of grass, a footprint, a ripple. He's asking me, "So what?" And now, now I must find the color of night.
When there is bare minimum to paint...what is it about? A breath, a moment, a sigh of delight? Something that stops us in our tracks? Aesthetic bliss. On an island. Where the eye is unfettered and the heart can roam, and the wild parts are right out front. Here is the scary part: It becomes as much about me as it is about those island parts... and Humbert is asking me to get naked. Really naked. He kept me tossing and turning again last night.
It's those oysters and that sweet spot struggle and all those images I looked through yesterday. Hmph. Handmade paper arrived from Hiromi, I opened it this morning. Three luscious sheets for some bas-relief "screens". Those drawings are to be gentle, refined, almost pristine. That was/is the idea. But these other pieces, others on my list, I have to get primal with them. (It's that charcoal drawing ape I tell you.) I have to paint that delicate oyster, find the color of night, and dig deeper. Then deeper still. Tickle some mystery that's right at the core... of me and of you. That's where we'll meet.
Simple? As simple as being naked in public. Sheesh, but can't I have some sleep? That muse...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Purest of Paper, The Color of Night
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5 comments:
Janice,
I see a sliver of moon and a big black scar. Hmm.
Unrelated:
Check out npr.org —this morning they did a piece on post-Katrina N.O., concluding with a quick discussion of expats in Houston. Interesting.
Regards,
Kelly
Ooooh--just read Kelly's note--very cool! I'll have to check on that, too. You should write them! Those papers look beautiful. Tabula Rasa and all that, too. I can see the Kremer granulation goin' on in that moon sliver piece. Humbert is working his wonders, evidently!
Kelly-I see it too...
( thanks for the npr piece )
A brush with color- I hope so.. this is usually some of the private stuff...but that silly muse keeps pushing me further...:-)
And that paper is Tabula Rasa okay... I hope I do it justice.
Plays well with papers...
Wish I could say the same.
Same ole,,,same old paper here for 4-10 years....Hmmmm
These are for the drawings. But I have done watercolor on Somerset and print making papers, too, very successful series. Like a satin, matt finish. Hot press, more like hot press. But I am fairly consistent in preference for the watercolor big stuff.
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