Thursday, April 28, 2011

More Content, Less Fluff

A friend of mine, who is an excellent writer and on top of all things in the artistic world, has advised me to write more about my process rather than mere statements of facts about painting. He's probably right. I could write pages about what I was thinking, what problems arose in a particular design, etc. I will try hard to move into these areas he has suggested, but it's not without a downside. The internet is a large, open, free for all, and I have also been advised to never write anything that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the New York Times. A balance will be hard to maintain. I don't know how many others will be interested in what was floating around in my head while I was painting...a bit ego oriented, I think. Again another balancing problem. Maybe some feedback on how I'm doing would be good. In the meantime, I reshot some photos of  my work because I wasn't happy with the original ones. The three above are from paintings I did for 10-10-10. I had photos I had taken in Maryland and in Europe to use as my reference. The waiter in white was from Switzerland, I believe.

It's hard to capture photos of people without them knowing you are zoning in on them. Once they realize they are being watched or photographed, their posture changes and a slightly unnatural tenseness seems to overtake them. I have to be sneaky and pretend that I am snapping things behind them or other interests. I love painting people doing ordinary things and being able to translate our human existance into something, well, that is just...more. These paintings are each 12x24 and sold together for 675. plus shipping.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great job Laura! I agree about how awkward it can be photographing people when you are out but it makes for a great painting...leaves you to use your imagination. Are you going to the demonstration at London Square tomorrow?