Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The Cold Storyteller - in progress

I've neglected my water pieces for awhile and really need to concentrate on them again.  It was one of my goals this year, to produce a body of work in water.  Since the beginning of the year I've produced probably half the pieces with water as a subject that I should have.  Not a body of work, so I need to buckle down and concentrate instead of getting sidetracked down rabbit holes.

Of course there will always be other subject matter, but to become really proficient, repetitive work has to take place until water almost forms itself without a lot of thought from me.

This is the first few layers of a new piece, 11" x 14" in oils.  The surface of water can be so rich in movement and colour and texture.  There is so much symbolism in a painting of just water, with no reference to land or person or plant.

My daily work deals with death and life and water is a strong element in both.  I know it intimately in many ways and see many things in a water surface.  Water is a cold storyteller, and holds a hundred thousand stories, not all of them pleasant.

4 comments:

suzanneberry said...

a wonderful start and a powerful post! i'm looking forward to seeing this completed!

Hedera said...

Your thoughts are always interesting Jeanette and this promises to be something very special...

Best wishes for the season. :)

Jeanette Jobson said...

I hope the vision in my head comes out on canvas Suz. Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you Hedera, I hope your holidays will be lovely. Right now, I'm fighting with getting just the right base down on canvas and starting to work some detail into the surface. Wish me luck!

Vita said...

I just learned about Yemaya, an African goddess of the ocean. Her story consists of warm and cold water.
:)