Photo of Eiko and Koma dancing



I have not posted for a while. I am searching for a deeper level of content in my work, though I am not sure I can do it. I saw Eiko and Koma "dancing" at Skirball and I am amazed how they can convey strong emotion, artistic design, vulnerability and power. I would like to say the power is in their movement, which I cannot capture in a painting, but there is some of it in their still photos. You can see others at eikoandkoma.org.



Photo by David Fullard



They move very slowly, which gives you time to savor and fills me with expectancy about where they're going next, like watching a spring compress. Sometimes they feel like monks roaming the earth, or ghostly souls. At Skirball they moved through a foot of water in the very large lily pond, in the dark, with scant lighting refecting from water onto the wall behind, and a recording of crickets. Oh, I wish my painting could be so enveloping and a complete environment!



Long shadows



Setting Sun at O'Melvany Park 9x12 oil on board



I wondeer why we humans and artists love the golden hour, but not so much the golden years? There are technical attractions to the setting sunlight---long shadows make dramatic lines, and colors are warm and inviting. Backlighting is reminiscent of a dramatic stage, so the scene seems more important, designed for our enjoyment. Whatever ambitions we set in the morning are easing, whatever happened with the day is sufficient. Hopefully the same relaxation colors the golden years as well.

I was focusing on simplified shapes and varied greens at O'Melveny Park. There was a steady stream of hikers and dog walkers on the path and a lovely breeze.

Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo Sunlight 8x10 oil on board

One of my favorite art bloggers and artists is Qiang Huang at http://qiang-huang.blogspot.com/ , partly because he's so cheerful and sincere in his struggles. But reading about his working style makes me aware of how unusual it is for me to finish a painting in one day. It's partly that I rarely find a landscape with a perfect composition and have had a hard time making one with still life. (Maybe the problem is the word "still"! I realize it sounds dead to me, but Qiang's are not dead! or check out http://carolmarine.blogspot.com/ ) I always have to alter the empasis in my landscapes to makea pleasing composition and it takes me hours or days to see what's needed, to give up the prettiness in some areas so they don't distract from the main attraction. For you non artists, any area with a strong light/dark contrast or bright color will first grab attention, also small detailed shapes and wiggly lines. It doesn't matter if "that's how it really looked."  It's easier for me to sacrifice what was really there when I'm no longer looking at it and I've had a few hours or days to enjoy the magic of having captured it.

This ocean scene was nearly finished on the spot, but later I changed the large shapes of the rocks to simplify them, exaggerate the diagonals, not distract from the water. Now that I look at it there are too many masses the same size, see what I mean?