On occasion a painting says something about itself, about the technique. Here, the elements of the painting, the mountain, the buildings, the foliage, even the horizon, follows a grid pattern. The branches of the plants snake along the path of the grid, the flowers and fruit are placed on corners. I did this quite intentionally... the idea came from one of my notebook doodles, it was a reflection on the doodleism style, which involves a careful outline that is then coloured in. Here, the raw, wild nature (inspired greatly by memories of Ile de la Reunion...see St. Denis, view from la Montagne) is constrained by an artificial grid. I am making a statement on the past paintings I have done in the doodleism style... that doodleism is basically glorified paint-by-numbers.
Like graph paper, a precisely measured grid was created with paint and a ruler. I then overlaid the colour washes, relying on the colouration of the ile de la reunion paitings. This painting represents a bit of a turning point in the doodleism style (even though it itself is not really an example of it).... at this point I was rather tired of the 'paint by numbers' feel of the doodleism style, it was increasingly difficult to stay inspired throughout a whole painting. The title says it all... 'Creative, but can't Escape'.. means 'my creative ideas are stuck in a bunch of outlines, screaming to get free!.'. The next doodleism painting, nearly done, is a direct answer to this problem. I should also note that we moved recently to a new place in the plateau, each time I have moved my art has taken a turn.
22x15" cold press, 2012
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