Now that I am painting a bit more, I find myself being pulled towards a change in the subject matter and destination in the paintings. I was realizing that when I made a rather abrupt shift a few years ago, it was in part driven by what I wanted to investigate, but also the sense that my earlier paintings were not….. here it comes….. “marketable” – at least not in these parts or wherever there were galleries that had taken on the work for brief periods of time. Hence, I have a lot of compelling, award-winning, critically acknowledged paintings that are still in my basement.
I think I got off-track – trying to anticipate what would be agreeable in certain venues- ie: health care/hospitality/ etc. Rather than just doing my true work. Sometimes they blended with one another- but I have often found myself in this odd territory between traditional landscape/representational painting and contemporary/non-objective/conceptual work. Perhaps this comes from my strong inclination to manufacture spatially convincing, believable worlds that are beautiful, fictional and technically challenging, and hopefully a bit unsettling or mysterious. Whatever it is, there is bound to be a shift in the work when you move, even if it’s just a couple miles to a studio at home. Once I am finished with the busyness of summer, and other commitments, I am looking forward to more consistent time, buried in the basement, seeing where all this will lead.
Oh yeah, and there’s a gallon or so of sauerkraut for Reuben sandwiches later!
erskinestudio.com 