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Thank you very much for your enthusiasm Ilaria, Michele and Alex. It is so much appreciated!
Ilaria, your comments about depth and mystery as being a strong part of my work are really valuable remarks, as I don't often think about them being major parts of my painting. But of course they are, and I think my need for those aspects keeps my paintings from becoming too finished and, thus, too, obvious. I am always hovering between ideas, never completely committing to one or another, as I think I am searching for meaning to things beyond my limited understanding. I already know what I know (I think) and am searching for something more that that. Or perhaps it is about the searching itself. Again, this is an example of not committing to one idea because of the question of which idea is more truthful than another. My work, I think, is about the possibility of something, of something becoming and not yet become.
I saw, just recently, Tim Burton's production of "Sweeney Todd". It had been acclaimed as a work of outstanding genius and even though it was very, very good, it was still just another film (or perhaps I should watch it again). The idea of its outstanding genius before actually seeing the film was so much more promising - the promise of a breakthrough to a creative nirvana. In the end Tim Burton was still Tim Burton, Johnny Depp was still Johnny Depp. I am not saying it isn't a great film, beautifully acted - it very definitely is, but the human mind imagining the sweeping feelings that might come with encountering the sublime unknown - the unformed impressions, impressions of impressions - that something spectacular to work towards, rather than the final thing itself. That's something I want to keep in my work. The idea of something becoming.
And, on film, with film being the most prominent form of visual communication these days, how can it not influence other forms of visual art. I had thought that Sophie Jodoin's work was to filmic, but why not? It's an honest admittance of a genuine influence.
Michele, thank-you for commenting on the skin tones. I am glad you find them successful. I love painting skin and was working, again, with tones in the different types and colours of skin of different parts of the body, and the body at different angles to the light.
Alex, thank-you very much for your lovely comments. The edges were painted by feeing the lights against the darks i.e understanding the quality of the light areas in their relation to the dark areas next to them. It is not that near in result to what I wanted to achieve - I was hoping for a clarity such as you find in Balthus' work - but the thing I did discover was that my attitude towards to paintings made a real difference to whether the edges worked or not. If I painted rationally and at an emotional distance from the painting, the the darks and the lights would just lie next to each other without doing anything, but if I painted my excitement of the light against the dark there was instantly a sense of solidity and space. It's very tiring - keeping your mind in that excited state - like running a marathon. It's nice to have the background to paint as a break.
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