Woke up this morning to find this image … been working a lot on it, and went to bed exhausted, forgetting the work I’d done until seeing it in the kitchen. (Yes, moved into the kitchen to paint … who knows… I just love to paint in the kitchen!)
I'm going entirely on feel at this point. That’s definitely a double-edged sword. I have a feeling for what I want, but no exact plan …. so the trick is to get so deep into the zone that there is no worry, no fear, no self-doubt … and for me to outrun those rascals, I have to go very, very deep. If it works, you’re a genius, and if not, something WAY south of that.
But we go there anyway, don’t we? As Camus says, “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer … no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger — something better, pushing right back. Let the situation be as cold as winter but the [fire] lies within you.”
With this painting, pushing myself to a new place … well, life feels pretty weird. I remember dreaming like crazy all night, and at some point I woke up to record a 'profound thought' from dreamland: “this level … with all the clutter … it’s just potato chips … a quick hit of hitness … it’s not joy or fascination or interest or discovery …. it’s hitness. the potato chip jolt of potatochipness. A stop in and of itself on the path to the next perch . and the next … and the next“
No editing ... that's exactly what I wrote in the middle of the night .... brought over to us from a forgotten dream. Hmmmmm. Not quite sure what to say … I guess it has a certain realityness to it … OK, back to work now.
