
Here's a couple of canvases I've started. This is the first stage of what I do. Basically I pick colors, sometimes they pick themselves. Then I just start laying paint down. I'm never sure exactly where it's going to go. Sometimes I have a preconceived notion, like "leafy" or "dark" but it's never very cerebral. It's kind of like letting my id just go crazy. Sometimes it's really peaceful, sometimes it's intense. It seems like the paint and the canvas and my emotions just come together in a very primal way.

So this one is a storm to me. I plan to paint some happy little fishies ignoring the storm down on the bottom.

This last canvas is actually something I tried to paint, as in, I want to paint a bird and a hill. It sucked. It was kind of painful actually. The only thing I liked about it was the snake, so I let him live and the rest of it got annihilated. I'm planning on using painted paper cutouts with this one.
Here's a cool movie about this amazingly neat guy creating junk art in the south. His house is absolutely amazing, and the best part is that he built it all by hand out of junk. It was really inspiring to me.
I love your process! I have been working more intuitively, letting the piece guide me and it is such an amazing experience ... although painful as well! Now when I have something that I dislike, I am better able to relax and let it proceed as it wants and almost always it is more interesting and rich than anything I could have planned. It is when I like something that I think "oh no!" as I worry about "ruining" it.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the fish in under the storm ... that pieces looks really juicy! And the first one ... like a ancient symbol or character ... love it all!
xo Lis
Stopping by and loving your art! Thanks for visiting my site! -Maleka
ReplyDeleteMelissa, love feel of your blog! It is like I just stopped by your home and studio. I mostly art in collage {digital as well as papers/random elements} and know the feeling of never knowing what is going on ... Simply being in the flow of the elements is liberating.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I actually like the last canvas. Rich color and reminds me of being in a thicket near mountains ...
The bird one with the snake at the bottom looks like a blue dragon flying through a storm over the sea to me. You can see his light underbelly, and a dark rider on his back.
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