A calm Spring. It is all we can hope for isn't it? Winter has taken a toll on us in the USA, but also terrible things happened globally - the tragedy in Japan, the flood in Australia.
As though that were not bad enough, the economy continues to tank and more and more people find it difficult to make a living. Every week I hear about someone being layed off. The stress level is beyond imagining.
My God, the times we live in! How does one keep it together?
Art.
Beauty.
We can experience these for no cost. Their generous spirit feeds hungry souls wore out by an overworked world and a furious Gaia. They embody what is eternal and reflect the master of the universe himself.
Early Spring brought a new energy to me. I produced a new painting, Relique of a Sunken Day. It is a large canvas, 4.5 x 6 feet, historic pigments and oil. The pigments used in this painting are realgar (Pompei red, a deep orange color used often Pompein wall paintings), indigo, stack white, cinnabar, carbon black, lead-tin yellow, azurite and lapis lazuli. The medium used was a heat bodied walnut oil made by Jame C. Groves. I also used my own production of HB walnut oil.
The congealing effect of Grove's HB oil imparts unique qualities into the oil paint enabling unusual freedom in the handling of paint akin to using a resin, however no resin is present, furthermore, it's qualities surpass stand oil's limitations. After years of research, I have found Mr. Grove's formulas to be of the best quality and performance and more successful than any historical formula that I have tried. Oil paint becomes workable in such a way as to achieve paint strokes as Rembrandt and others achieved, that could not otherwise be done in oil. I made a similar formula years ago using copal. I strongly recommend his product. Here is a link to his historic mediums:
http://www.jamescgroves.com/mediums.htm
Relique set me on a new path. I am continuing this theme with new work.
As the vernal equinox approaches, be kind to yourself. Take notice of the new light. Let it energize you. You'll be surprised what you can do...
