Friday, August 31, 2007

Mining the archives . . .

Going back through an older portfolio of paintings from nearly two years ago, I ran across a few that I'm willing to allow into the light of day for public consumption. When I look at these older works I see a hand that wasn't nearly as steady and a use of color that certainly wasn't as complex . . . although I've settled into a pattern of using a limited palette that's not too showy or bright. This painting is of my neighborhood subway stop, looking across the tracks to the just visible tile sign indicating the station name. I liked this view because of the geometry of the tracks, barriers and pipes, broken by the diagonal red stripes of the walls that divide local from express and downtown from uptown tracks.

When I see some of these earlier paintings I often wonder if I should return to those subjects and approach them anew, with two more years of experience on which to build. Certainly food for thought as I go through all of my images in anticipation of a group show in which I'm participating in November.

2 comments:

One Wink at a Time said...

Oh, Brian, a show! I'm so excited for you. I'll be anxiously awaiting my invite.
I'm not sure if I'm imagining it or not but I believe I can see a difference in your painting (then and now.) Heaven knows I've spent enough time admiring your work, I should be able to tell. I think it would be truly interesting to see your interp of this same scene now.

One Wink at a Time said...

Oh my, you've started reading Dooce. We'll never see you again. She'll swallow you up. Did you just find her recently?
If you don't mind, I like that my blog is listed just above hers... She's a celebrity of sorts, you know.
All kidding aside, I think you'll love her. She writes almost as well as you.