On The Way To Waskesiu

On the Way To Waskesiu

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

On road trips with my family, inevitably my husband drives and I man the snacks, untangle ear phones, reach backpacks, find little things that get dropped and of course help pass the time with a rousing game of "eye spy". But when everyone is content and busy I have my camera in hand and I snap pictures of the passing scenery. They are never great pictures, but they are usually enough to remind me of the place, light, time of day and thing I found interesting. This painting comes from one such photo. It was from later in the afternoon when the atmosphere starts to cool down and the sun is disappearing in a hazy, quiet way rather than in a bold, knock-your-socks-off sunset kind of way. This is from a photo looking east, as we were driving north to the lake. I loved the marsh and how it reflected the sky. I knew when I took the photo that I wanted to crop the picture so that it looked like a blue stripe in the field.

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Yesterday I posted this quote on my Facebook Fan Page:

"... the seed for your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece."

~ from "Art & Fear: Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of ARTMAKING" 

by David Bayles & Ted Orland

I am reading this book for the second time- it has some great nuggets to mull over. This particular line and the paragraph that goes with it really got me thinking about the painting I have been working on... the one I lovingly refer to as "the monster". It didn't turn out as I pictured in my mind. I am happy with it, but it went down a different road. When I read this line it got me thinking about where "the monster" missed the mark as far as my original idea went. Once I figured this out I knew what I wanted to try. Today I painted two 10 x 10" canvases that address this idea. I feel satisfaction and excitement... and now a curiosity about what seed has been planted in these new paintings.