Accidental art?

I have canvases and watercolor paper lying around my house, because, just like keeping chocolate in the drawer, it’s good to have some on hand when those unexpected urges coincide witih some unexpected time on your hands.  Of course there are usually other important things to be done at said times, but I find the creative urge must be fed in order to do those other important things with a cheerful heart.

I have not had much time for artmaking of the visual kind lately, but I do have a stack of paintings I did for a class last term that I have not adequately appreciated, so in my few found moments of freedom, I decided to inspect them again and marvel at the serendipity when freedom meets color, intention and chance.

   
     But what do I find first when going to dig out my treasures?  An utterly spontaneous piece of art made by a sputtering candle.  Dave and I have a candleabra in our room and one of the dripping burgundy torches spattered on a tiny canvas below, catching the nasty hardening wax from hitting the floor and making a fun bit of abstract art.  I call this “Wounded Dandelion”.

Then I pull out my watercolor done on acrylic canvas: "Nod to the Nativity".  I love the play of dark and light, the remnant where I peeled off the masking but the color still seeped in to my 8 pointed cross-like star -- the star I have drawn above almost every nativity Christmas scene I have made since I was 8.  I can take very little credit for the way the color blends in watercolor, other than my risk to stick to only three base colors: red, green, and blue.  I can’t get over the foreboding darkness of the sky and how the star illuminates through by mere silhouette.  Don’t know why I like darkness in a Christmas painting - maybe it’s the contrast with the light, or the foreboding sadness of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.  Hmmm.

This next one is simply a close up and blue-ified section - kinda reminds me of Canadian provinces... I like the symetry of the channels of river blue between the masses.  Again - pure accident.


Now on this next closeup, I risked adding a bit of gold, but miracle of miracles, if you look close, there is a tiny creche and a woman bending over.  Do you see it?  I love that, and I can take no credit for it, other than giving myself permission to begin.  Because you see, that appeared after I peeled off more masking, if I remember correctly.








So my little stable ended up having a mother and child...

Now this next one is my attempt to copy a couple of wolves off of a plush blanket draped over a couch.  I loved the blue and the bits of orange, but the only way I knew how to get that furry blanket feel was to stipple/dap loads of paint a la George Seurat.  I love the intensity of the unmixed color, and from a distance, yeah, I kinda see the wolves.  Which reminds me of Martin Bell’s wonderful book “The Way of the Wolf” which happens to contain one of my favorite stories of all time: Barrington Bunny.

I particularly like this closeup because of the contrasting orange and dark blue - and suddenly it’s a new picture all together - some kind of hill with valleys, or a precipice looking over a lake, or perhaps a bull coming at me out of the frame...

This closeup captures the howl - the straining to lift one’s voice into the cold darkness and call to the Maker, or to a friend who has ears to hear.

This next piece is a sample of one of my first watercolor abstracts.  I love the long lines in the little cave-like space.  Reminds me of a man at a fire with the smoke rising.  Total happy accident, that.

This bigger scope makes me think of a weeping elephant.  Maybe some day I’ll go back and make it more so.  Again, no intention of creating anything other than playing with color and tilting the paper to see what the water would do...


These last three sections are just playing with color and perception and effects on iphoto editing.  But look what variety can come!

I love art.

So even if I don’t think I have time to paint something new, I can discover hidden art, spontaneous art, or accidental art and relish it.

That, and eating sea salt dark chocolate at the same time, makes for a truly profound experience.

Thanks for joining.