Color and emotion are the major focus of starting a painting. I rarely pre-plan or have an idea in mind before I start. The action of the application determines along with color, the emotional thrust of the piece. Each painting is multi-textured with layer upon layer of pigment. As each piece evolves, I watch how the colors interact, creating, of course, new shades and tones through which shapes (images) begin to emerge. As I begin to see an image or images, an inner dialogue with the painting begins...subtle emotional responses to shapes and colors are internally noted...a word or phrase will come to mind...sometimes insistent...it is important than I continue on with this dialogue until the painting is finished...which could take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours and, if the image is "strong enough", I can continue with it for days....or else the image is sometimes lost.
I believe wholeheartedly that dream time, the collective unconscious, archetypes, the myths, serendipity, the happy accident are all part of an "inner landscape" that each of us share in. I get to peek in and pull out a picture of it. What I have found interesting from listening to other people respond to the images is that a painting that was done at a very bleak time in my personal life...an image that I felt reflected that...would be responded to by someone else as a very positive, even uplifting image. Therefore, opening my eyes (mind) to a broader way of experiencing that particular image.
Of course, starting a 'portrait' is another matter in that I am focused on someones image in particular...planning is required in order to capture likeness. However, I feel that with my training of honing my draftsmanship through capturing a 'likeness' quickly, I have 'stumbled' upon being able to ultimately capture a person's character or the 'soulful' part of them..which is something very few portrait artists can do. It's not all about 'realism'...it's about a feeling, a gesture, a turn of the head, a curl of the smile.....a quietness, an energeticness, something smooth, something hard edged..................................................
3/02/2009
The Heart's Secret Knowing
(c)2005 Ruth Hunter
I recently sold this painting at A.T. Hun Art Gallery this past Saturday to a very nice man who is a Chaplin in the Air Force. He had originally seen the painting in my downtown studio, Hunter/Kinkel Studios in City Market~Savannah, about 3 or 4 months ago. On return to Savannah, he decided to drop by the Studio and see if it was still there...and to his delight and surprise, it was still there...waiting for him. As we talked on the phone, he asked what inspired the image. I'm always a little nervy when trying to find words to explain where my images come from because it is often a surprise even to me upon looking at the finished work the day after it's completion.
I feel the head and the heart are connected in that much of our inner 'knowing' comes from our emotions and intuitions...not just learned experience. Without the faculty of passion, intuition, love and the vast array of emotion and feeling that go with it...the cold rationale of reason would leave us empty, or more empty...depending on how you look at it...within the realm of all the
learning that life requires of us.
I recently sold this painting at A.T. Hun Art Gallery this past Saturday to a very nice man who is a Chaplin in the Air Force. He had originally seen the painting in my downtown studio, Hunter/Kinkel Studios in City Market~Savannah, about 3 or 4 months ago. On return to Savannah, he decided to drop by the Studio and see if it was still there...and to his delight and surprise, it was still there...waiting for him. As we talked on the phone, he asked what inspired the image. I'm always a little nervy when trying to find words to explain where my images come from because it is often a surprise even to me upon looking at the finished work the day after it's completion.I feel the head and the heart are connected in that much of our inner 'knowing' comes from our emotions and intuitions...not just learned experience. Without the faculty of passion, intuition, love and the vast array of emotion and feeling that go with it...the cold rationale of reason would leave us empty, or more empty...depending on how you look at it...within the realm of all the
learning that life requires of us.
The head and the heart must work to together to nurture the soul.
One without the other would drive us to our own demise.
http://www.ruthhunterstudio.com/artwork/354743.html
Click on the link above to purchase a matted print of "The Heart's Secret Knowing"
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