The Edge of the Unknown

"The Edge of the Unknown" - acrylic on Yupo, 11 x 14.  Available here and at Artfinder.

"We cannot cling to any secure, habitual stance - either separateness or togetherness, dependence of independence, attachment or detachment.  Thus being genuinely present and intimate with another person forces is to live on the edge of the unknown. - JOHN WELWOOD, Journey of the Heart

I am trying not to cling.

The older I become, the more I see that all the habitual stances provide a false sense of stability, security, safety.  Whether those stances are thoughts, expectations, well-worn patterns or what-have-yous, they don't actually make anything more solid.

And so I am trying to wrap my thoughts around not wrapping my thoughts around anything. The world is a big ol' change machine, and the more comfortable I become with floating, the more peaceful (and happy) I will become.

Easier said than done, but the girl's got goals. 

The Edge of the Unknown

In the studio, a week of letting the paint dictate the art felt like a long exhale.  Wooooooosh.  Like this piece, which began with some watery layers on Yupo and then looking for the shapes within the paint.  Seeing the floating woman immediately, I smiled.  The art, it seems, wants to express my thoughts.

The color palette is swiped from a photograph.  The ethereal trees are carved into the paint, painted over with veils of transparent washes, then lightly and loosely (sort of) painted again with a chopstick dipped in titanium white.  The hard edged rectangles keep her from becoming unmoored within the painting.  She floats, but she won't float away.