"There is something else to be said about this immediate, spontaneous way of working, and that is this: in such moments one is playing at the game of creation. And if we are to believe the ancients, creation is play."

Henry Miller
from Paint as You Like and Die Happy

"Painting, I said, takes place outside science and any sure and exact knowledge.

It is a kind of immersion in substances, a wonder and delight in their unexpected shapes and feels. When nothing much is known about the world, everything is possible, and painters watch their paints very closely to see what they will do."

James Elkins
from What Painting Is

Process

Beginning is the most difficult step. Staring at a blank canvas. You have to trick yourself into making the first move.I do this by looking at the work of other artists. I am building a good collection of art books and I go to galleries and museums whenever I can.

When I look at a painting and see a particular colour or a gesture, or a way of applying the paint that surprises me by its beauty of form or its juxtaposition with other elements in the work, I imagine I could try that too.

I often come back to the studio bursting with enthusiasm, wanting to try out something I"ve just seen. That’s the trick that gets me to pick up the brush and dab a few colours on the palette.

The next phase is usually frustration. The "idea" I had that seemed like such a good one is proving difficult to translate onto the canvas. But if I persevere through the feelings of self-doubt and the attempt to force my ideas to become reality , if I can let go and trust the materials in front of me, something shifts and I find myself in another state, with no ideas, no plan and no worries.

Instead there is a sense of adventure and the joy of discovery. I do not know anymore what I am trying to do. Colours appear miraculously. Things flow with no idea of where they are coming from. When I stand back and look at the painting as it is developing, I am surprised at what is unfolding. It does not resemble what I set out to do. It only resembles itself. It has life.

I can work for hours this way and feel energized at the end of the session.

When this happens, and the more I paint the easier it becomes, I feel the work is a success.

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Copyright 2003 - 2006. Diane Lefroy. All rights reserved.