Riding down a hill on my bike was one of the most exhilarating moments for me as a kid. Coupled with that experience was pedaling to the top of said hill. So for every glide down a hill, there was effort in proportion to the joy. I loved the long hills the most, so in time I came to appreciate the seemingly endless and ever so slow pedaling to the upper most point. This memory came to mind recently as I had begun to pop my truck into neutral while descending hills. Disengaging the gas and avoiding the brake, the truck was subject to me steering and gravity drawing us downward. The idling of the engine is nearly unnoticeable at this point as the resonance of the vehicle is predominately wheels to road. So you are just rolling. I get a sense that piloting a glider is similar to this experience in that once you are aloft, it is a vessel moving through an atmosphere. You simply must keep yourself safe while subject to the gravity of the situation and land without creating any damage. And enjoy the time you have until then.
For me, kicking off the artistic process is akin to these experiences. Effort and time get me to a starting point, and then you glide. Random doodles often find their way to quizzical consideration. Playful iterations in the sketchbook are reinforced by chance encounters with cracks in the sidewalk. A hankering to put this little idea in the spotlight leads to organizing the studio, finding the right playlist, building a substrate, and making the first mark. And quickly recalling plans often have to change. The joy of the process is often found in the redirections and tangents. Knowing parameters and accounting for unforeseen circumstances, factoring mood and such, allows me to relish the force which draws me through the exhilarating experience of creating an object.
This winter I built three 48”x64” panels to further explore some sketches of vertical, triangulated motifs. They are completed now and can be seen here. A new series of watercolors has begun which continues this process using the accumulation of marks. More on that soon.
Take care.