One Turn Deserves Another

I turned all my canvases to the wall (as per the advice of Joan Mitchell). I took out a fresh canvas and went at it. I was tempted to peak a few times but I resisted.  Magenta, Indian Yellow, Light Green, etc., all going on the canvas. Lots of breaks, lots of hours, just following pure instinct. I tried hard not to think about much. Just went into the “no brain zone.”

When I was done, at first, I was disappointed because I felt like I had created another one that was too similar to the last few. But then, I flipped over the one that I thought I had repeated. It was similar, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t trying to be a copy of a previous painting. The new one stood on it’s own. I had inched along the path of progress even if it was just a bit.

Joan was right. She might have been a quite difficult but she certainly knew what she was talking about when it came to painting. I somehow felt a little bit close to her despite her being gone for 20 years.

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