Art for arts sake

There is nothing as exciting or as daunting as a blank piece of paper.

After a dry patch with my paintings I've been dragging myself back to my studio and in particular to have a few stabs at 'Texan' the picture on the right. The inspiration is - as ever - a gig I went to. I saw the singer/songwriter setting up before the gig and a blue spotlight caught him against the deep red of the background just for a few minutes. It was a fleeting moment where his croached body was caught in a startling light and sharp colours. I walked up to the stage and took a few photos, then he ambled off stage and the moment was gone.

The photos I got from moment were really exciting and I knew they'd provide a launch pad for a new round of work. The problem is I'm slightly impatient and I'm used to my paintings being very immediate. I did think that these paintings would be settled with bold strokes, but the way it's played out is that they all need more consideration and work.

Ahhhhhh but I don't wanna! I wanna get onto the next shinny thing!

Well Darren you've got to work on these, they're worth doing. Mindfulness!

So yes, painting, painting and starting again. I've got three paintings based around this fleeting moment. I've decided to reach for the stars and paint a large six foot version, and the odd thing is that it feels more like modelling with clay than painting. It feels like I'm actually reaching into the image and shaping it with my fingers and hands rather than painting it. 

All good, but I haven't had a huge amount of time to get to my studio recently because of actual paid work, but the ambition is there, and the paintings are pulling me back and I'm finding that doing this is more important now than ever.