A wise man, Henry David Thoreau, once said, “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify”. Sometimes, mostly, less is more. I found that to be true in the creation of this artwork.
A subtle graduation of color and tone, the water becomes sky. Paint the boat unto the sky and reflect it into the water, put a person on the boat, & paint a red flag. Add alittle drip & splatter magic and presto, a boat in a vast seascape becomes a statement of individuality, longing and transcendance.
Everything we do is a self-portrait and autobiographical. When we choose to create, in the arts, it becomes ever more true. Whether by novel, poem, music, dance, photo, film, sculpture or a painting, what’s conveyed is a piece of our inner selves.
This poem I wrote and published many years ago. It expresses my feelings on the arts & the self expressed, perhap’s lost.
All Not Lost
Death unknown, be weary to all, no more painting
Painted, colorless palette on ubiquitous void,
Of enigmatic space, oblique, unessential too
The ballad, song, sung out of key, un-enunciated AUM,
Two stepping tango out of step, no rhythm vibrancy
Choreographed in dance, on film, reel spins round
Cut lights, edit camera, action chop, Stop
Punctuation, splice comma, grammatical error
Novel that it be, illiterate poetics, free, strumming
Pick a prophetic chord, an instrument
Without tune, tuned piano reason, string plucking
Finger, nails, ripping, the quintessential
Thing, destroyed in political fire bomb, tearing
A flood, drowning…dro---owning puppet, be proud
Black and white photo, emersed, endlessly foreboding
Master, oils of color, last breath, an operatic note,
Stuggling ballet crescendos, a water muse on film
Based on a novel, poetic lyrics, flute concerto, all lost
Forgotten, all is art, I have created worlds, not defined,
Elite in being, suffered oneness of mind, universe..God.
~Richard R Sperry
(At Waters Edge - copyright 1995)
Deep Ocean Sea, 14x11, Acrylic on Canvas, Sold in Private Collection (2012)
As always, your comments are welcome.
