10” x 8” acrylic on gessoed watercolor paper, without mat or frame, $100.00 In the FWCAC show.Figurative themes interest me. Put a figure in your painting and that becomes the center of interest. Ideas for paintings are generated by life, a photo, an image or pulled from your imagination and then allowing yourself to be creative. “Paint something you’ve never seen before” is a Robert Burridge quote. Break some rules. It takes courage to take a pristine piece of expensive watercolor paper and throw a “blob” of acrylic gesso in the center and spread it out – that’s a huge rule breaker. (More on gesso in today’s Burridge newsletter.) There are many rules on how to handle a piece of watercolor paper with traditional methods. But if you break some rules and splash on color, look for interesting shapes and images, scratch into the surface and let the painting evolve sometimes you’ll find some magic. What appeared to me was a figure in flight, an exit. Each person will have their own interpretation. One week ago today, June 21, 2007, I was in Tampa General having numerous Sestamibi scans for a possible surgery. At the end of a very long morning, Dr. James Norman came to the foot of my bed and said “Goodbye. Are we still friends?” I was disappointed that I couldn’t be helped but so glad to be out in the Tampa sunshine looking for a cup of coffee - A celebration, a rethinking, a bump in the road, an Exit.
