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February 3, 2009
Inspiration The idea that inspiration flows down the arm, through the fingers into the brush and somehow the right color lands in the right place is a colorful notion, but only partially true. The impassioned artist in a trance-state is a myth. In my world, painting is intensely focused meditation. Sometimes it is the carefully deliberate application of know principals, and at other times it is risking an audacious series of brushstrokes just to see what might happen. It is stepping back to consider. Paint seldom lands exactly where I imagine it will. There is nearly always some variance, either slight or startlingly foreign. Accidental happenings can be even better than my intention. Stopping often to consider, I can choose to allow them to remain or to make changes – scraping off, painting over or adjusting other parts of my composition accordingly. To the degree that I can, I try not to over-access my progress, but allow the painting to become its own thing. I don’t know whether I am the creator, a vehicle for The Muse, or if I work in partnership with The Divine. I do know that painting is indeed magic. I am often surprised and delighted by what emerges from the chaos of what must seem to a novice like child's scribbling. I often paint with "intentional carelessness." Someone wrote in our gallery guestbook, "It blends imperfection with absurdity while flowing as one with nature." I take that as a high compliment. George Allen Durkee This blog may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever without permission from George Allen Durkee
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