Thursday, September 26, 2013

"Returning to Zero"


Dreams, 1976

I think I am "returning to zero" to quote Robert Redford...
Matthew Rothschild:
"Q: You have this concept that you call "returning to zero." What does that mean?
Redford:
To refresh yourself, you stop and say, "OK, I'm going to take some time off and rethink, and pretend that I'm just starting out again and look at things freshly for the first time." It gives you a kind of energy. It's recharging, and it allows you to keep taking chances rather than getting safe with the ones you've taken."

Source: Matthew Rothschild. "Robert Redford Interview." The Progressive. 6/02/2009. pg. 35.

I remember what it felt like to paint "Dreams".  I was 16 and the song "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac had a huge influence on my work.  I was trying to paint my "crystal visions".  It was magical and I had a passion to "dive" into the canvas--to paint color.  

I want to feel all those feelings again and remove the debris in my mind--cluttered mounds of aesthetic criticism from years of exposure and attempt.  I paint as I have always painted--for me!  That sums it up.  I paint for me!

Storms, 2013

This new image is called "Storms".  I guess it sums up what I am feeling lately.  I am in the process of making some big life changes that will alter my destiny.  They say there comes a time when we choose in life as to whether or not we are going to be a "master" or "slave" of our destiny.  I am focused on neither at the moment.  And for the first time in many years, I am not thinking so much about destiny.  I am focusing on the present--"I am returning to zero"!
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