It really has been interesting to see what people say about my wall these days.  New people coming through the studio building immediately ask: What? Why?  The regulars (mostly artists), come through and give moral support, like:  Go for it!  This is awesome! and I get it!

So what am I actually doing?  Why?  What is it?  And yes, I’m going for it.

This week I added on another layer.  I painted in shapes on top of the pattern, using a mixture of a blue and green paint.  You can see through the layers, but there are hard edges around the shapes to give them from.  These shapes are what formed when I drew out the paths of all the rivers I’ve lived near:  Potomac River, Rhine River, Carrasco Creek, Nile River, Adyar River, Rio Grande, and Clarion River.  Instead of drawing them as separate bodies of water, where they merged or overlapped, I let them connect to make one abstract body of water.  In turn there were spaces left that could mimic  “land spaces”.

So that’s what it is.  The why part is a little more difficult to explain. And I’m not sure I need to say why.  Is it a challenge?  Am I merging ideas of past and present? Is this some how a self portrait of a different kind?  We’ll find out.  There is an explanation somewhere, but I don’t think I need to share that at this point. I’d rather let the viewer decide for themselves and see where it takes them.  However, below, you ‘ll find some of the work I’ve done this past week.

The next step is collage.  I’ve already started at the bottom, and this week it will grow up and around.