Some days I envy painters who have the ability to preconceive their paintings. I knew a painter who would make a planning drawing for each painting and even label areas with descriptions of texture and colour. These were like road-maps to his paintings. Then he would attempt to translate the drawing into a painting, coping with all the problems that entailed along the way. I can’t do that.
Part of what keeps me painting is the adventure of it all. I go in without any road-map and without an exit strategy. I don’t make preliminary drawings. There are no dress rehearsals. Believe me when I say there are all kinds of problems with this approach. Sometimes paintings bog down for months or years. I build these things up in layers, creating a new layer with each painting session. They feel very earthy and organic to me. Some paintings need many sessions and many layers before a final image emerges.
This may sound strange but I liken these built-up, layered paintings to compost heaps.
The Source, 2013
In a recent tondo called The Source I had reached a point where the layers had become unmanageable. I had worked on this painting off and on for years and it wasn’t going anywhere. I felt the need to pull back some of the layers to create a refreshed painting surface. I went at it with a dremmel tool, using various cutting bits and sanding wheels to strip back layers of paint, exposing hints of ideas from an earlier stage of the painting. I didn’t know if this stripping back business was going to accomplish anything or not. I guess I had reached a cul de sac and needed to open things up again.
Once I opened up the surface, it seemed like the picture was painting itself. I completed the painting in a matter of hours. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
27th Street 
It seems to me that painting is very like fiction writing in that way. I too admire those who can plan a story out ahead of time, with timelines and characters. I start with a mental image and try to build a story around it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
That’s gorgeous
Thanks Rivets.
Organic. That’s the word I wanted. Just like compost. : )
LOVE this one. Don’t envy the planners… when I try to go that route, I am more likely to just quit when things don’t go the way I want them to and never return to the project. Seems your way of the winding road makes the best art, surprising, spontaneous. Not that the process doesn’t have its stresses (like when you feel it’s not going anywhere), but it’s more meaningful to overcome.
Thanks A. It’s like going on a road-trip knowing your destination is out there somewhere but your maps are out of date. When you finally find your way, the painting reflects the adventures you’ve gone on getting there.