Yes, it's been too long since my last post. As you're well aware, lots of things have been happening very fast in the big world since August. My own little world has been very active as well. There have been dozens of things I wanted to write about, but when I got the time to do it, they were already old news. Today is a little different. I've been doing a simple something in the studio that will be very productive going forward. I've been destroying old paintings.
I know: Shock! Horror! Why would I destroy paintings that I spent loads of time and effort on? Well, several reasons. The primary one is that I'm getting up there in years and I keep seeing people younger than me suddenly kicking the bucket. That's telling me that I need to at least plan for what will happen to my artworks, studio supplies, and equipment when I'm no longer around. My wife certainly doesn't want to have to take care of it. I've already started giving many of my better artworks away and (surprise) it can be really difficult to find someone or some organization to take them. And (surprise again) a lot of the artworks on the rack aren't that good and nobody would/should want them.
The other primary reason for destroying old paintings: recycling. Why go buy lots of new canvases when there are so many on the rack that will never be shown anywhere and will never find new homes? While I'm still working at placing my better works, the answer to the not-so-good paintings is to destroy them. For some paintings, that means stripping the old canvas off the stretcher bars and stapling a new one on. For others, it means just slamming a coat of white paint over top of the old artwork. And for a third group, it just means dumping it in the trash. That gives me either new canvases or panels to play with, or a bit more space on the rack. And nobody else has to worry about what to do with it if I'm gone.
Over the past two days, I've recovered five canvases and destroyed two. Lest you think that destruction is the only thing I'm doing, there are about 15 artworks (paintings and charcoal/pastels) that are set aside for various people/organizations.
Win-win, all the way around.
