You Must Destroy to Create.
(That’s spoken with an monotone eastern European accent.)
There has been talk of the individual approach to process and time management this week on the blog. It was addressed in a post from Tuesday.
Lately I’ve really been busted trying to manage my time in the studio. Its a drag with a capital g.
I work in a variety of ways. My monotypes, due to the nature of the medium, are produced rather quickly, in a matter of hours or less. Sometimes a painting will take but a relatively short time depending on the energy, the conceptual circumstances and how efficiently my subconscious is doing the thinking.
Other times, a piece or pieces will go through the whole “create and destroy and create” exercise and may take weeks or months to be realized. Here is an example of a painting I started a few weeks ago which has -and will – go through a metamorphosis as a dialogue of sorts. The conversation is all an adventure and will go through so many changes I may not quite know where it will end. The piece was started as a part of an ongoing series of paintings connected to the idea of the “purdah” and its related symbology and meanings.
I started it as a straight figure, but I unfortunately don’t have documentation from that first stage. Then I furiously worked into it.
a stage from a few weeks ago:
It wasn’t working for me; it was at a narrative and formal stage I wasn’t satisfied with. so I continued.
and another stage
Here it is staring at me now:
I wanted to push the form, the abstraction and the marks somewhere else. I’ll sit with this a little. it might be finished; I’ll keep you updated. Cause I know you care.




November 19, 2009 at 10:48 am
It’s interesting to see that someone of your talent and level of experience sometimes struggles to reach your destination, too.
November 19, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Yeah, well, I think everyone does. Making art is hard work.
November 19, 2009 at 2:38 pm
i’m imagining Andre Codrescu’s voice as i read this post. no idea why.
November 19, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Interesting…
This progression touches heavily on the factor of whether the “process” or the “product” is the more important issue for the artist.
November 19, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Yes, for some the end is more important than the means. That doesn’t compute for me. The process is always where the excitement is and when its finished, eh. On to the next.
November 19, 2009 at 2:45 pm
November 19, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I like Codrescu. But my voice is much deeper.
November 20, 2009 at 10:01 pm
which is why they call you Tiny Tim, right?
What I like best about this painting in all it’s states is the density. It has some serious weight to it.
November 22, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Thanks, G-mat!