Stepping Back From "Windowpanes" To Do Research That Will Bring More Elements To The Painting

Having books in my home is a necessity. I am speaking of many books. Some friends have asked why I don’t give my books away or donate them to a charity after I read them. I have done that at times and then re-purchased them here and there to return them to my bookshelves as each time I walk past them there is a slight echo or reverberation of their story; a story that became part of me once I read it. 

A few days ago while shopping at my local thrift store I found a paperback copy of "A Tale For A Time Being," by Ruth Ozeki, one of my favorite authors. I read the book when I taught and lived in the Village of Wainwright, a Coastal Arctic Alaska village. I gifted it to a Reading Specialist who flew in for a couple of days to work with teachers. When I saw this thrift store copy, I literally picked it up and kissed the cover. It sits next to me now as I type. Being a bibliophile, I also love libraries.

 

Today (I am on Spring Break from teaching) I packed my leather messenger bag and headed for the library at the University of Fairbanks where I am a registered post-graduate student. I have a joy for being on the campus as I celebrate the academic community. My grandfather Ralph Slocum worked as the head of admissions at Rutgers in New Jersey for many years. It was he, as well as my grandmother Evelyn, who cultivated a love for books and reflective thinking within me beginning at a very young age.

My grandmother Evelyn Slocum. My great-grandfather Benjamin Aymar is in the background.

My grandfather Ralph Slocum.

Their presence is near me when I walk long hallways, enter classrooms or needle my way through the stacks of a vast library on an expansive campus like UAF. 

The motivating reason why I went to the library at UAF is because I have decided to slow down, actually stop, working on my new painting Windowpanes as I want each pane, or as many as possible, to be in itself a painting. This is my new artistic challenge.

I actually favor my painting Puzzle below (there is a hag stone sitting on the watercolor paper in the upper left corner). It was the first time I painted a grid painting using art tape. I think it’s beautiful. I won't be dishonest or shy about my affection for my artwork. There is just so much that’s right. Now, I am asking myself what can be taken away, not the salmon, and what can be added with more detail. 

© SSD

Too, I want to paint more diversity in lichen and sea life.  Sounds like much! Yet, I see all of it already in my mind. That is why I borrowed the book below, as well as two others on seaweed.

My other artistic challenge is to develop more complex narratives in regards to what is happening in those windowpanes. Large halibut, I mean 300-500 pound halibut, eat salmon, clams, octopus and more. So an octopus might sway through one pane or the tail of a salmon swish through another with the halibut in the center taking up several panes while moving quickly towards a tentacle to chew.

Before I start working again on Windowpanes I need to know how to draw all those new elements and details. I need to cut templates and move them around to create an ocean scene. I am asking myself to grow as an artist because then my art flourishes. The pile of books below is only one pile of three that I checked out and brought home! Art is engaging, thrilling, captivating, exasperating, demanding, rewarding and so much a part of my life. Let the reading and sketching begin.  ©

 

 

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