A Freedom Morning After 72 Hour Commission
ronthroop (69)Pro Artist USA, 💬 Top Commenterin WORLD OF XPILAR • 3 days ago (edited)
freedogs.jpg
Two Small Free Dogs in the Park 2022. Acrylic on canvas board, 11 x 14"
In a recent post I wrote about the commission that pushed me to paint how I never wish to paint again. The end result was mine but it wasn’t me. It might have been me a few years ago when I was painting people for a show about Roy Lichtenstein, which is the style my patron sought when asking for a family portrait. She referenced some images of paintings I made of Roy and his colleagues and published in an exhibition book. I thought I could do it. I did do it, but not without daily frustration, worry and total lack of confidence.
It will hang in my dining room a few more days where I can touch it up in daylight before delivering it to her.
And then out of my life once and for all!
Nearly three weeks of holding back, of being careful, winter worries and doom and gloom, and then yesterday I painted three Ron Throops in as many hours. Finished in perfect hyperactive limitation. Morning meditation. Not a single mouth breath, and the rest of the day free to think, dream, sleep, eat.
My faults are many and talents mediocre. But it’s always me who has to live in here, every second, every hour. Today I like these paintings. Tomorrow I’ll be embarrassed of them, because something broke in my mind and keeps me clinging. This second I don’t ever want to paint again. I don’t want to write another word. I crave a morning kneading brioche, an afternoon walk to the frozen lake, and darkness set in cozy chair reading The Joy of Man’s Desiring, by Jean Giono.
It’s a novel about hack artists and farmers becoming human beings in Spring. I highly recommend it!
True, just a toothbrush. No other tool.
Don’t throw away your palettes! Make something sexy:)
Off to the yeast!
Ron