Just uploaded a bunch of still life paintings, the obsessive focus of July and August, right after I swore off old master copies, something that had been going on for thirty years. I did those to learn and kept at it out of habit but finally, FINALLY I just couldn't care less about how other artists did it. I did figure out I like fussy, but my own fussy. There is one copy in this pile, a partridge and pear by Chardin to see if I could figure out how he seemed to do such lovely compositions. Can't say it worked all that well, but it's a sweet little painting. Eventually I noticed a rather odd thing happening with these, if I had something on my mind the random objects I chose to paint that day would have clues about the answer, as if they were dream images. It happened more than once. Older paintings have previously unnoticed messages too. In fact, going back forty years, all the paintings I could find that seemed a bit odd at the time could be put end to end and made a story, of me and my wandering around in the wilderness trying to find out about life, the universe and everything.. This final painting, with the empty tea cup, the candle, the very fussy teapot the meditating clay mask and the complicated lace under it all said "wait, the situation is complex, the tea will come in time".So I'm waiting, still trying to peek under the door.
I've looked up Symbolist paintng to see if this is what I was doing and I don't think so, they seem to have had something specific to say and conveyed it in common symbolic images. I never think of my objects as symbols for anything except a pretty thing that I'm drawn to, and later it turns out there was some other meaning. One crazy example is olives, which I have always liked for their nutty aspect of being green and having a red pimento filling. I've been making olive images forever, and now it turns out that it is probably my own little olive self in there, and I had no idea.
I've looked up Symbolist paintng to see if this is what I was doing and I don't think so, they seem to have had something specific to say and conveyed it in common symbolic images. I never think of my objects as symbols for anything except a pretty thing that I'm drawn to, and later it turns out there was some other meaning. One crazy example is olives, which I have always liked for their nutty aspect of being green and having a red pimento filling. I've been making olive images forever, and now it turns out that it is probably my own little olive self in there, and I had no idea.