“Mother In Law Tongue”
Oil/panel
30” x 22”
2025
This piece was created by painting over a painting I created a few months ago. I never considered it complete. And as such I never photographed it and put it on the site here.
But now it is, so here it is.
People often ask how I know if a painting is done or not. Of course it’s a visual evaluation of sorts. But as I get older I have come to identify a feeling that is my signal that a work of art is finished. I’m not sure if this feeling is any stronger than before or if I am just better at acknowledging it. It is a feeling of warmth that starts in my chest and spreads outward. I assume there is an actual hormonal release of some kind like when you see an old friend for the first time in a long time, or take a bite of something really delicious.
It is this physical response that is most conclusive for me. The older I get the more I ignore other factors that are more cerebral. Part of this is as I suggested earlier, I am just getting more aware of these strong but subtle feelings. But also, as I have looked at paintings carefully now for over 40 years I have a better understanding of what matters over time. Things that I “think” are not good don’t matter at all compared to that physical response of warmth and well being.
This is one of those pieces. When I look at it now I have that feeling. Here’s hoping at least a few other people get some of that from it. But even if not a single other living person on this great planet gets it, I’m still not changing a thing.
“Pattaya Night”
Oil/panel
24” x 24”
2025
These photos are of the same painting. The one on the left is what it looked like when I first thought it was finished. But something was bothering me about it. I couldn’t figure it out for a few days. But at some point I realized what else was needed. The photo on the right is the finished piece with the few additional changes.
If you stare at them long enough you will eventually see the differences. But I’ll help you out a little. The most notable difference is the blue and white horizontal strip across most of the piece from the left. I decided it was too energetic….too striped. So I put a wash of light blue over it. The same cerelian blue I used in the rest of the piece. This also created a square almost in the very center of the piece which also serves as an anchor or still spot. I left it striped.
Then, with the same brush I moved it over the rough parts of the dark areas and let the relatively dry paint on my brush scrape off a little on a few high points. This gave the dark areas a little more vibrancy in varied amounts. In all, it took about 2 minutes
Then, at last, I had that feeling in my chest that the piece was done. As I have written for other paintings on this website, the way I know a piece is done is that I get a feeling of warmth in my chest when I look at it. That feeling is probably some kind of hormonal release when I attain a level of deep satisfaction. I’m not a scientist but the feeling is palpable and I have learned to listen to it. Sometimes my head will tell me the painting is too this or too that. But if the feeling is there I stop.
I do various kinds of remodeling work including plumbing and carpentry. I can not consider the work done when I have a good feeling. I still need to check if the water pipes leak under pressure and the wall is plumb. But with art there are no such concerns. Instead, your head is filled with junk that often whispers the wrong things. “This piece is not as good as your last one”. Or, “my friend is not going to like this.” “What will my customers think?” I don’t listen to that crap anymore. I wait to see if my chest gets that warm feeling. And if so, I stop.
