Douglas Witmer
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Thursday, August 03, 2006
studio view extravaganza
(click images to enlarge)
Hello from triple-digit-degree Philadelphia...this is the first summer in 11 years here that I have air conditioning. It's the only way I'm able to work. I need to keep busy. I'm about to announce two more exhibitions. Stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy this quick studio visit.
working title: Blue Canto, acrylic on canvas, 14 x 11 inches.
working title: Small Marquee, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches
3.8.06 
4 Comments:
It's good to see so much new work. The paint feels fluid- I might as well mean that literally, in that it's thin, but I really mean in the sense of how language usage might be called fluid- it flows, it's comfortable, it's under control but descriptive and expressive (competent and daring), and also fluid in that you are using paint with various properties: liquidy, overpainting, bleeding, opaque and transparent. Do I see scumbling or a kind of rubbing in the central bar of Blue Canto?
Then there is fluidity here in color- you are reaching out and hitting high notes. I'm curious about the red/pink hidden canvas on the far right of the studio view.
So, you're into some kind of flow here, or the heat has got to you and your resistance or filters or censorship or whatever has melted.
I'm wonder how much all of your quick drawing with markers is translating into this color and your working pace.
I wonder how the presence of two really young, relatively uninhibited artists in the house are influencing color and marking.
I wonder about the influence of having an abundance of surfaces ready to work on.
I wonder about the pace set by the agenda of some upcoming shows.
All good.
By 
Chris Ashley, at
8/04/2006
Hi Chris--
Thanks for your comments. Just some brief responses:
I'm glad you sense "relaxation" in the work. I know you know that I go to a lot of effort not to let the effort show. When I look at this image, I see quite the log jam.
Regarding the children: it has been informative to me to be able to observe first hand children looking at things. What I find is different than when I might imagine or try to take on a "child-like" attitude. I'm not sure how to describe the difference. But, whereas I might have been attracted to the idea of "thinking like a child" with my work, I'm less so now. Maybe the lesson I'm learning is that children (young children, anyway) are able not to think like anything/anyone but themselves. You probably have lots of thoughts on this from your teaching days.
The painting that is hidden from view is the one in the middle ofthis image, made in Maryland and untouched since then. I thought it was really good at the time, but now I'm likely going to abandon it. The yellow painting pictured in the MD studio view is currently being re-painted.
Blue Canto...yeah...I guess that's scumbling. It's really thin. I think of it as perhaps my most "John Zurier" painting to date
By Douglas Witmer, at
8/04/2006
Hi douglas,
Could you say a bit more about your statement"I go to a lot of effort not to let the effort show." Its so different from the way I work where I want to have my marks recorded the way they "fall".
richard
By richard kooyman, at
8/05/2006
I find simplification/distillation way more challenging a task than complication. I spend a lot of time fine tuning details that I believe many people in the end do not see at all...at least on the first viewing. You could ask, if they don't see it, then why does it matter? But that almost answers the question. I spend a lot of time crafting the details. If in the end they don't draw attention to themselves, then that's exactly why they are effective. They are THERE, after all, and I trust that if they weren't there, then the work would be something different.
That's one part of an answer to your question. The other part has to do with preparation. Maybe I should have started with this, because in my process, this part comes first and the crafting of many of the details later. Here's an area where, based on what I've seen of your work and our conversation at your studio a few weeks back, I think you and I have some similarity. When I talk about preparation, I'm talking about the preparation of the materials, yes, but also the preparation of the mind/body. We touched on it a little bit when we were talking about what I pick up on as an "Asian" quality to your work. It's the idea that one has worked, practiced, concentrated...that one is prepared for the painting moment(s). Like a musician who's awareness of their instrument is built on hours of practice, in this (performative, albeit private) moment of painting, one works in a way where the effort goes almost unnoticed. The energy expended builds on itself. You receive from the painting as much or more than you put into it. I think you touch on this when you characterize your marks as existing "where they fall" in contrast to "where you put them."
I doubt anyone could say they work like this all time. For me it's in short bursts. Sometimes I'm able to say to myself, "now is the painting moment" and begin. Other times I just find myself in it, however briefly. I live for more sustained experiences like this, which is why I guess I'm still painting.
Any thoughts?
By Douglas Witmer, at
8/10/2006