Art & Inspiration Blog

In Water Mill, NY, there is a field one passes on a back road to the sea. Multimillion dollar homes are about a half a mile away, but the homes nearby have increased in value and are probably worth at least a million, although elsewhere they would be reckoned as average homes. The field is low enough that it is filled with sea a sea grass. Perhaps when the original farmers were here their cattle grazed on in the field.

Although the paintings have been compared to Impressionist paintings for the vibrancy and action of the strokes, in fact the works are created slowly, with letters piled upon letters and interwoven. In the Water Mill Sunset I experimented with also using the letters as glazes over other layers of letters.

My use of glazes of in this work was a breakthrough in the practice of Post Conceptual art for me. I have used this then new technique often in my work since then. That makes WATERMILL SUNSET a pivotal work and important work.

I was inventing the methodology for working with a letter for each stroke using acrylic paint, which is now known as Post Conceptual Art theory, including the branch of UnGraven Image. My own training was with oil paint and I was learning how to use acrylics more as the Old Masters had used oil. One day. When I have a large studio space, I would like to also use oils, but that would require space as I would need to leave each canvas or board to dry before I could begin the next layer. There are many, many layers.

During this time I was working at a short-term temporary day job to bridge the gap until my initial funding came through. I was working as fill-in for an Academy Award winning actor whom I greatly respect for his courage as a human being. This went on while his assistant was away, plus I was teaching him various computer programs, because I am a bit of a geek.

It was a job I enjoyed because the boss was such a dear, plus it was a kind of relaxing break from painting, which I continued to do once I returned home. I think it lasted six weeks until both my funding came through and the real assistant returned.

By then I was painting a new work where I would apply the glazing techniques I used in this artwork, plus I had also moved bravely to tackle a larger supports. As I have moved up in the size of paintings, my skill and courage has grown as much of each painting is created using the very smallest brushes available. I now have very large works also.

WATER MILL was a breakthrough painting in another way. The free flowing method that the grasses are painted with using the name of the Lord (yud-hey-vav-hey) was also a breakthrough moment.

Before this painting my strokes were usually far more ordered, in chains or precisely applied. The very way the grasses would blow in the late winter then early spring breeze inspired this. Although the Hamptons have a reputation for being green and lush, at this time, only evergreens are green in the late winter here. There are no leaves on the trees, no flowers and even the famous Hampton hedges are bare.

My area has a wild, even stark beauty in the winter that has a peaceful feel. There is an essential wild splendor here that I aimed to capture in WATERMILL SUNSET.

What do you think of it? Comments are welcome below.