When the paintings came back from Toronto, I could see very quickly what needed to be done with them. They were paintings that had looked very good to me when I shipped them off. And some still looked good, a few anyway. But on the whole, I could see how much I have learned over the few years since they were first painted (mostly they are from 2004).
Generally, I have been intensifying the color. Adding accents and even working on the fields. A few years ago a friend had said when people want a red painting, they want a red painting. In other words, I’m being more clear about what colors I’m using. One way has been to paint brighter colors over the black lines which were so prominent in that period of my work. But this morning, to my surprise, I found I needed to reintroduce the black lines that I had taken out of a pale yellow painting, make new ones. There is no magic formula; it’s constant learning, a constant need to be alert, listen to what the painting is saying. Painting: a constant education.
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