Comments on: Form follows format

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:38:58 +0000

Steve and Bruce:

The element of time – I look forward to your posts and comments.

By: Birgit Zipser

Birgit Zipser — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:25:13 +0000

Steve and Bruce.

It is interesting for me to study the presentation of slopes shown here, first using light and dark and then, additionally, using color.

I appreciate that I could magnify the paintings to see the details.

I am trying to illustrate a sand dune, sloping towards water. What you showed here will help me.

By: Bruce Marsh

Bruce Marsh — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:11:52 +0000

Steve;
The scroll is very beautiful, and also looks to be quite accurate in terms of the topography. villages, rivers, etc. The misty atmosphere glues everything together, both near and far spaces and what seem to be jumps in time. It’s done with such care, and plays the multitudes of tiny dark figures against the subtle gradations of color in a fashion which brings music to mind.

I’ll be interested in the ways you find to deal with time. I certainly am thinking about it, but as I get out and paint I go through a lot of resistance to change. My interest in maintaining some measure of objective description is a hindrance. I’ve thought of trying some major change in materials and process…like jumping into some journal like things, perhaps with drawing, using image and text.

By: Steve Durbin

Steve Durbin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:39:44 +0000

Bruce, I hadn't originally been thinking about the element of time, but it was strongly suggested to me by the panoramic format. That's might be a narrative time, rather than a chronological time. It was often both with Chinese scrolls, such as the Kangxi Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour. Click on View Entire Scroll to unroll it, just as I watched the mountain ranges passing by on returning from a trip yesterday. I've also been thinking about a way to incorporate experience over time. Hopefully I'll be able to gather examples soon for a future post.

By: Bruce Marsh

Bruce Marsh — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:32:13 +0000

I’m very flattered that you included these paintings of mine in the discussion. There’s also a remarkable coincidence in your comment regarding a story line and chapters in the work. I have long thought about the problem of making the onsite work somehow relate to the experience of being there.I’ve known that I’m not interested in making it seem that I’m recording a moment..a photo like record of light and weather. I don’t want to convince you that I’ve magically recorded a image of 10:17 AM, June 1, 2009. So it dawned on me to think about the problem in terms of a written journal; how would I record the passage of a morning, or a day, at a place? So I’m beginning to very consciously take that tack, and to look for the means to make that evident. When this dawned on me, in March, I titled the next painting “Dudley Journal”…(we were at the Dudley Farm). This opens a range of possibilities…referencing the changing light, shifts in view, etc. So far I’ve been just putting a toe or two in the water.
I also am way overdue in updating my website…much of the work of the past 6 months is not posted.
Thanks again, Steve.