Week 4 (Part 3 of the Trilogy) Day -To -Day Painting Meeting Change with an Open Heart
Painting has to get back to its original goal, examining the inner lives of human beings. Pierre Bonnard
The topic of this trilogy of blogs has been my day - to - day painting during my convalescence and how I used my memories of Bonnard's work in that painting to abbreviate the feelings of frustration as I spent the summer indoors on my couch.
Not everyone fractures a pelvis, but everyone experiences frustrations, we will all be touched by sorrows, disappointments and pain. The only control we can have is found in how we respond, in a willingness to work with what we have, rather than mourning what didn't work out as we had planned.
Just today, I received a call from someone who was delighted with these blogs. During our conversation, she mentioned that she once did a watercolor that reminded her of Bonnard. She followed up that statement by saying I haven't even picked up a pencil in a long time. When I encouraged her to do so as a means of addressing her own sadness, she replied " Oh no, I would be too ashamed, I am out of practice!" I reject that. I don't always like my work. I try to not judge, because often I am too close and I need some time before I can objectively judge. But no artist likes every piece they produce. Well, none of the artists I know anyway. So, I say, do the work. You like it, you don't like it? No matter, do another. For this piece, I looked back over the pieces I had been doing and I tried to simplify and abstract. The basic shapes, filled with color and brushstrokes are of importance here.,
Imagination is merely the exploitation of our memory. Pierre Bonnard
I have enjoyed working on this series, this homage to Bonnard. I have thought, at times, I can work on this forever, and yet I now come to the last piece I did in the series, I strayed very far away from the master, as I played with my recollection of his composition and idiosyncratic use of color. In this piece, I included more patterning. The checkerboard print of the table cloth is mirrored in the color blocks on the wall and door. This one, perhaps most of all of my pieces, demonstrates the glow and heat of the day transitioning into shade in the interior. hot into cool.
Looking back at this work from July, I remember pain and frustration and the peace I was able to achieve. I am writing at the end of October, the blazing heat has been replaced with cool temperatures and I can walk now, unaided. I am reminded that nothing in our lives is permanent. Looking at these works that emphasize the transitory light and the the long gone domestic life of Bonnard I am thinking that the metaphor for the transitory nature of life is so obvious it is almost overlooked. Forgetting for the moment, about what you expected or wanted, I urge you to build your own happiness! What choice can you make today, to respond to the situation you find yourself in ?