Mike 2019 with an almost 30 yr. old painting made in the 1990s.
Acrylic and oilstick on canvas
Experience interesting visual things while on lake in fog after all night fishing trip. Objects floating in water....forms dissolving and appearing in light, fog and water. Eyes straining to determine what is water, objects, land, sky. Near and far become indistinguishable. I am sitting in woods early morning in dark as colors shift and appear as sun comes up. Begin to perceive ambient colors in certain light situations. Working on a construction job in grocery store at night using blue snap line and am amazed at vibration of blue chalk on a brown board in fluorescent light. Decide to make some paintings using snap line.
Influenced by Robert Irwin's "Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees" (title alone is thought provoking). Gist of book is that artists must PAY ATTENTION and be OPEN to visual and other stimuli. Encouraging people to look beyond traditional art forms and move toward experiences as basis for art.
Begin to investigate other options for recreating/creating optical phenomena using hardware store items rather than artist paints. Make first screen works (moire patterns) and reflected light type works using fluorescent spray paint. Start making fluorescent small stripe paintings and also make large encaustic works investigating sheen (matte and shiny) using graphite and charcoal.
Purposely avoid using color or forms or titles that recall nature or are "lyrical". Want something straightforward, workmanlike.
-written in early 1990s
