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Painting...Moves and Motivation
Blue Moon, Oil, 12x12
The thing about painting, and pretty much everything else we do, is that we tend to find a track, method or process and stay that course until something motivates us to move in a new or different direction. That movement and motivation has been challenging me as I switched gears from traveling here and there to paint “En Plein Air”, attending painting festivals and workshops.
Suddenly, like everyone else, everywhere, 2020 caused me to radically change in lots of ways. My painting adventures came to an abrupt halt. What?? Am I going to embrace staying inside and become more of a studio painter? Well, yes, I guess I will.
First Rodeo, Oil, 12x12
One of the most exciting things I’ve been exploring is what I think of as “cloud painting.” Most of us have looked at cloud formations and visualized images of dogs, people and all sorts of other things. I love to begin by putting down paint in a very random, spontaneous way. Then, I prop up the painted surface and look at it from every direction until something begins to appear. When that happens, I start “cloud painting.”
Daydream, Oil, 12x12
Look closely at the first of each pair of images and see how the subject starts revealing itself. When I see that begin to happen I just paint, scrape and paint some more until something emerges. It just feels magical.
Aberration, Oil, 16x20
So, I have taken advantage of many opportunities to examine new ideas, techniques, processes and slow down my pace to learn, grow and evolve as a painter. I am having so much fun pushing paint around with squeegees, chopsticks, and chunky hardware store brushes. I’ve added new mediums, new subjects and have discovered, on the rare occasion when I have been outdoors to paint, that all the crazy experimenting has helped me be better at “seeing,” and “grabbing” with paint, the thing that inspired me in the first place.
I hope you enjoy seeing some of my new process and checking out my updated website here at www.pammarkham.com. Please sign up for notifications and I hope to see you out and about really soon! I sure do miss you!
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