Dots and Dashes



Tree Meditation 2, 16" X 20", , inquire here for print
Clickable for a blow-up

   This is a current effort involving my continued revisiting of an earlier idea.  If one reduces what one sees to simple dots and dashes and just follows natural rhythms, the scene emerges by itself, without any stress.  They remain fresh as long as one is judicious in the amount of information recorded--these can turn into mud pies quick--less is more.  Even so they take forever, which is the whole point if one is to grow fins, and swim in the cosmic sea.  Alright I was judicious, and stopped at what I thought was the right spot--while there was still something worth sharing.   

For years these seemed to be incomplete to me.  I tried coloring them in many different ways.  Then they just become something else and dissappear.  I tried thicker marks--eh.  I think I'm ready to accept them as complete works even though they are just drawings.  The technique originated as a very quick way to block in a composition for a painting.  If the painting is done soon enough one is able to remember detail with fairly good accuracy for studio painting. 

Now I've come to using these as excuses to stare at something for hours on end--meditations.  It doesn't take long for thinking to be short circuited and for time to vanish--which feels healthy. Anyone can do it with a little practice.  I've found that it's not even necessarty to stick to external scenes or to feel constrained in any way.  Just fill up the surface with tiny marks, and off you go into the cosmos--very cool experience.  Like the old Zen guy might say, "Just float, no why".  I bet he didn't have an ipod.  I did this piece with Arturo Sandoval going.  Damn. 

Wm