Meet Me Tonight

In a few cases people have asked me about certain elements in my paintings. For example, with "in Touch" there is an abstract form in the bottom left that does not physically connect with the main subjects (the floating heads). In 'Meet me tonight' there is also a disjointed random object in the bottom right portion of the painting that does not seem to connect with the rest of the painting. The reason such things exist is that these painting started as just a blank piece of paper, and I did not have any notion of what to paint. I start (usually in a corner where it does not matter) with random doodles until some kind of idea forms in my head (and on the page). You may notice that nearly every painting I do has a white border around it. I used to paint right to the edge of the paper, but the people who frame the work complained that the mat would never fit properly. So I started leaving more space around the painting, and found that the edge of the painting could actually contribute to the overall composition. In this painting, notice that the edge of the sky is more loose and flows out almost off the paper, while the ground is a straight line. In this way, the elements gain some energy from their edges....the sky is more free and open while the ground is more solid and closed. 

 Meet Me Tonight, watercolour 22 x 15" cold press, 2006 (No. 1764)