Pepper Painting

I’m SO behind on maintaining current posts. Thought I’d add another post about my oil paintings.

This one is shares some obvious elements – part of a series, eh? It’s a double square, 20×40″. It also shares the journalistic/conversational text the others offer. Materials and media … etc, so ok.

I think I elsewhere mentioned Ed Weston. So interesting to read his “Daybooks”, especially (for me) “California”. He was so determined to do artwork (photography, in his case) that was so refined-down to it’s purest, simplest, content/subject … unfettered by emotion, style, etc.. So interesting to read his thoughts … which pepper to shoot, what driftwood image keeps out of it’s own way, yet tells the story …

And, this piece hearkens. back to the very original pieces … see https://otcarts.com/2024/08/28/first-20x40s/, in that it re-stated the three elements of “Goodness”, “Crisis”, and “Redemption” … which are so exceptionally important to my art. Very profound search (and accomplishment – he created “pure” images, to be sure), and in some ways achieving aspects of “Goodness” or other times “Crisis” very well … similar to a contemporary, Steinbeck … but more monogamous – the two didn’t mix much with Weston … Steinbeck often held them both very well.

At any rate, this piece brings me to that conversation, obviously with a different perspective than Weston and Steinbeck, but needing and enjoying the search for that triune set of elements, that acknowledgement of that fulfillment … with proper humility and wonderment.