Honey Bottles

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. This odd set up was another thrift store find. According to the type on the bottles, each held one pound of Honey Acres pure honey. Sounds a little too close to Happy Acres for my taste. Anyway... Many artists out there in the ether post pictures of their process and many will show how they work on a piece in sections. For example, in a landscape piece they may paint the bridge in isolation, then the roads leading to the bridge, then the water flowing under, etc., etc. While I can respect that technique, me, myself and I paint in a somewhat different manner. I tend to dance all over a piece: painting here, there and everywhere. Everything in a painting is relative and focusing on a particular part brings the risk of preciousness and whacked values. The above subject matter with all its detail, its rickety wire rack throwing all the angles off, the overhead light source casting those freakily detailed shadows and so on, is loaded with precious, little evil traps. I noticed this going in and to avoid the plethora of traps, moved all over the piece while painting. If a section becomes too precious, I have to be prepared to destroy it to allow myself to move on and save a piece. Wow, that sounds a little dramatic for me. If I keep typing like that, the boys from Happy Acres are going to come and take me away.
Posted December 16, 2010
sold • private collection los angeles, ca