One of my favorite things about being an artist is watching my paintings develop. I have a vision of what I want to do and a feeling I want to convey that I can’t often put into words, but am aiming toward. I often feel my way toward the end effect. My latest painting of Jordan Pond, Mount Desert is 40 x 50. I love painting big and can’t wait to see where the painting will go. I often take pictures as I go to see my progress.
When I initially begin I need to feel how the scene will sit on the canvas. In this painting I was looking for the monumental feeling I had at the end of Jordan Pond viewing the Bubbles. I had Thomas Cole and Frederic Church’s views of Mount Desert in the back of my mind and wanted to show that those monumental scenes they painted on Mount Desert still exist in untouched beauty. One would not realize the Jordan Pond House is just up the hill serving hundreds tea on the lawn every afternoon.
I usually work from the top to the bottom in laying in the scene.
Once I began the water I needed to feel my way around the space organizing the rocks and beginning to weave the rocks and water so they felt interconnected.
The entire scene is basically in, but I was still feeling my way as to whether to show all the clouds reflected in the water. It is a delicate thing to be able to balance the scene.
My cloud reflections are in and I am working on seeing through the water.
Sometimes you need to sit with a painting and see how it feels and take the time to feel if it is complete. It is not like someone is on my shoulder saying "you are done!!" In this painting, it was several weeks until I felt there needed to be more clouds on the right. It is all about adjustments. The last bit of a painting is often when it begins to shine. It is always a good feeling!
