Sunday, January 10, 2010

Painting and Spirituality

Unless you are painting ambiguous abstractions, all paintings are symbols, or a collection of symbols. In my work I have been trying to synthesize texture, rhythm and color into symbols of nature, to imbue a transcendent landscape with symbolic significance. It is my desire as my work progresses and my skills grow, that I begin to capture a calm sense of spirituality in the images, despite the heavy collage and calligraphic marks that are clear upon close examination. This focus on a transcendent symbolism and spirituality is of importance to me as an individual and artist.

Famous artists such as Mark Rothko devoted an entire body of work to capturing Spirituality. The famous monochrome painter Robert Ryman, when asked what a painting should communicate to the viewer stated “An experience of…enlightenment. An experience of delight and well being, and rightness.” While these artists focused on large color fields and the treatment of edges, they both grasped the fundamental experience of a painting as a spiritual symbol.

So why paint landscapes to symbolize spirituality? Properly captured, an idealized image can transport a viewer and reflect a calm, inner beauty that resides in all. Pictorially, the Tree has symbolized Nature with a capital “N,” strength, growth, ecological commitment, sometimes a barrier, and the obvious Christian symbolism. As an image, it can be manipulated to present mood, humor and intent, and therefore it provides a solid symbolic reference for a landscape.

I am not alone is seeking to portray a spirituality through my painting, and in the future I will highlight some of my favorite fellow artists who strive to paint the spiritual, whether abstract or concrete, realistic or through personal imagery.

The past month my spare time has been devoted to actually painting, so I have had little time for this journal. I completed 4 paintings and started 4 more, which gives me a sense of accomplishment. The four finished works were “Sentinels,” “Autumn 3,” “Spring Morning,” and “Storm Cloud,” all of which will be posted on the site as soon as possible. These recent works depict a broadening of the symbols to include new shapes and landscapes. I hope you enjoy them. Happy New Year!

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