Shapes

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Today, I joined POPs at Woodside Store. I felt I had a breakthrough - I was able to see shapes, and not think about content or meaning. As Paul Valery said:

To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees.

I did a first wash with a lot of different colors - my medium wash - then added another layer of darks for shadows, and then calligraphy/details with darks. It was a quick sketch + painting - perhaps an hour and a quarter. I almost forgot to save the whites and started painting in the open doorway area before I realized it! Luckily, a tree saved the day.
I still need a lighter hand a la Charles Reid - maybe more whites, maybe more incomplete....the husband thinks this is still too pigmented. I am pleased with what happened in my head when I did this painting. Better results will follow if I continue that way of seeing.
In Buddhism's walking meditation, they also say to see without trying to interpret. Everything in life is linked. Art is linked to meditation in multiple ways, aside from the notion that art IS meditation.


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