ArtView May 2015 | Page 50

Awakening – revisiting Gosford (1d) An artist friend once said to me, that it‟s important to put the photograph away at a certain point. I get where he was coming from. The photograph can serve as a great starting point, yet to be to overly tied to it will only enforce limits and boundaries on the painting. I started another Gosford Afternoon two years ago, yet as I progressed it simply wasn‟t working, so I put the canvas away. Until, just a few weeks ago, when I was looking through my canvases and I decided that it was time to visit Gosford again. I pulled the canvas out and looked at it. I didn‟t ponder or spend any time thinking. I didn‟t look at the original photo, drawing or previous paintings. I just did what I recall one of my favorite artists, Lloyd Rees, saying, and I „attacked the canvas‟. I knew that I had to take a risk and push outside of my comfort zone. At this time I am pret ty happy with how Awakening – revisiting Gosford turned out (1d) Is it the painting of the century? That doesn‟t matter. It only matters that I pushed and took it further.