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Shallow Waters
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"Shallow Waters" - oil on canvas, 30 x 15 x .75 inches. (click on the image to purchase)
When we go down to the lowest of the low tide lines and look down into the shallow waters, there’s all the excitement of discovering a new world. Once you have entered such a world, its fascination grows and somehow you find your mind has gained a new dimension, a new perspective — and always thereafter you find yourself remember[ing] the beauty and strangeness and wonder of that world — a world that is as real, as much a part of the universe, as our own. - RACHEL CARSON
Scuba boots.
Wetsuit pants.
Fanny pack, waterproof phone pouch.
Now you're ready to go rockhounding in the Pacific Ocean as the tides roll in and out, without losing toes or limbs to the freezing water. We go for the low tide and the shallow water, but the ocean here doesn't really like to be pigeon-holed as "cooperative." Sneaker waves, sudden surges, unexpected surf - just as you reach for that egg-sized agate beneath the water. Oy!
Wetsuit pants.
Fanny pack, waterproof phone pouch.
Now you're ready to go rockhounding in the Pacific Ocean as the tides roll in and out, without losing toes or limbs to the freezing water. We go for the low tide and the shallow water, but the ocean here doesn't really like to be pigeon-holed as "cooperative." Sneaker waves, sudden surges, unexpected surf - just as you reach for that egg-sized agate beneath the water. Oy!
But there is something otherworldly about standing in that unrelenting surf and trying to see and feel what is beneath you. On our last adventure, the rocks and beach were covered in jellyfish parts - glistening, undulating, sparkling like the agates we were hunting. I poked a lot of parts - making sure they weren't treasures. I grabbed a lot of parts rolling in the waves. There was mist, fog, frigid wind and an angry ocean that day. The two of us, standing in that madness, filling our packs with the largest agates we have yet seen, all alone on that endless, moody beach - a new dimension of beauty and strangeness and wonder.
Did I rest my face on a large fish? No, I did not. But I would have if I could have. :)
Did I rest my face on a large fish? No, I did not. But I would have if I could have. :)
About the art: the AI bot and I have had a wildly good time trying to make mermaids. It doesn't get mermaids well, nor centaurs nor griffins. There are all manner of weirdly wrong results. But sometimes you get a sweet moment between a lady and a fish, like this one. Painted alla prima in two stages: the underpainting and initial sketch in the first go, and the subsequent layers all in a second go after letting the first one dry thoroughly. The inspiration image had a very limited color palette, with background and characters barely distinguishable from one another. I tried to maintain the integrity of that effect, while also pulling both lady and fish forward with some sculpting highlights. The final touches were the dripping paint from mouth of the fish and the highlight in the surface below the lady. Again, the temptation to go back in and overly define everything was hard to resist, but I wanted to keep the pale, fleshy, wateriness of the piece intact. So I walked away.
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You are the wizard of restraint.
"Shallow Waters" stopped me in my tracks.
Mesmerized me.
You totally maintained the integrity of that very-limited-color-palette-with-background-and-characters-barely-distinguishable-from-one-another effect. .
TOTALLY.
I love where AI used by you as a jumping off point for ideas takes you and brings us the viewer. You have found away to harness AI in the best way then sing with your own voice. You have no idea how inspirational your Monday blog posts are. Personally they push me on to pick up that brush and strive to keep simplifying and finding my language which I think is in the edge of abstract just off of low tide. Every week I roll up my pants and venture a bit deeper into the swamp both metaphorically and physically.
And whoa! Thank YOU for this wonderful feedback! Art is a lonely, solitary pursuit, and so is blog-writing. To know that these words, written in contemplative solitude, reach across and strike a chord with another being is just so very heart-warming and validating.
I am rolling your language description around on my tongue "in the edge of abstract just off low tide" - oh man oh MAN! Shouldn't this be your tag line on your website and social media? Brilliant!
I bounce between wanting to be outside normal and normal brilliantly executed without being twee or sweet. Mostly I think of myself as being in a state of aquiring the skills needed to be who I will be as a painter. When I can take everyday and make it special through light and color I’ll be starting to crack that egg open. In the meantime I teach, I work and I grow. Lather rinse repeat.
What fun to look for rocks in the ocean. I've been a rock hound since I was young. I've never been in the ocean before, but what and adventure that would be to explore! It would definitely be a new world! I love that you can live this adventure! What pure joy!
And yay to a fellow rock hound! Remind me next time a package is coming your way to pop some ocean agates in there. We can't have enough sparkly rock treasures, right?