You forget that like yourself, Linda, I am a teacher - and questions are always welcome!
You are too kind with the "stretching yourself" sentiment. I feel, oftentimes, that I do not stretch myself enough. My being AWOL from here is due to the fact that I have been knee-deep in landscapes for months, leading up to a holiday show. I have to admit to myself that is what I do when it comes to my art career right now. This painting here is my stepping out a bit when the opportunity arose.
"Reasons For Drowning" is the title of the CD. My friend Phil is the leader of the band, dubbed Initial Ascent. He is also a composer of chant music, leading a Schola Cantorum at my local parish - which happens to be the archdiocese of Portland - the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. An impressive place for music, if not for other things. He is also the choir director and organist there, too. Basically, he is a 35 year old musical genius, and I am blessed to call him my good friend.
The image here is based upon the music within. It is dark and unctious (piano, oboe and violin), and incredibly complex. I am not ashamed to tell you that it goes over my head at times, yet I know it's brilliant. I was so fortunate to have sat in his studio, one on one, and listened to pieces of these movements as he completed them. He had already released some things locally, and I decided that his music needed to be packaged in something with some more thought behind it. I volunteered my services (I was paid in single malt scotch - a very expensive one. Very fair, in my book).
I discussed my visions with him of what I saw when listening to the music. He agreed with my landscape visions, as well as the palette I was seeing. However, he insisted on a nude. He wanted the female form for beauty's sake, and because of the innate sorrowful quality it can convey. I was ecstatic, for I really feel that the nude in the landscape is a huge vehicle in terms of my expression as an artist. I now hadlegitimate reason to explore this since "Caesura" from a few years ago.
This was a difficult piece from a technical startup point, as I wanted a winter sunset with the figure laying in shallow ocean water. The light is not wholly true, but I wanted a certain consistency that seemed believable. The model was studied indoors, and the landscape was separate. This was mostly due to light conditions, cold water and me without the correct photographic equipment. I relied on notes I took while walking amongst the rocks and sand of the Cape Elizabeth coastline at dusk in December.
The sky effect is based upon actual cloud forms that I witnessed, but a totally different palette. It is a much broader skyscape than such a tight format could hold, so it has a bit of a convex appearance. What was most important were the angel-wing shapes of the cirrus clouds, which I moved around to get the composition to really flow. Same with the white pine - which resides in the large cemetary near my house. My "cloud period" really paid off; I can get the effects I want without thinking about it now. Intensive study works!
I am a film buff, so despite my tender years (oh, please), "Deliverance" was seen several times in my youth. A friend introduced me to it to get me out of my Kurosawa phase.
Okay, that's enough outta me. You knew I would ramble, didn't you, Linda?
