At long last, I completed this portrait of my fiancé holding a giant bundle of dried flowers! This painting is part two of a set – each work depicting one of us in the courtyard of the residence we stayed in on our first trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. This was such a fun project – we staged these poses, made sure the lighting was just perfect, and I worked from the photographs trying to blend realism with a brushy and colorful dynamic. The result is satisfying for me… The subtle smiles on our faces, the high contrast and depth drawing you into the scene, mixed with a somewhat more unreal use of color and focus – these all contribute to intriguing portraits in a style that is all my own. I became more adventurous with the color palette in this second piece, and I had to go back and saturate the first one more with burnt sienna, deep blues and greens, in order to make them come together more.
I began this piece at about about a year ago – I can’t believe it took me this long to finish it! Reflecting on 2019, I realize how little new art I had really made. I have a way of getting down on myself for this, feeling like I’m shortchanging myself if I don’t create new art prolifically. Instead of painting, I was working on the house, volunteering for a gallery, becoming obsessed with gardening and landscaping, spending time with friends and family, spending time with our new dog, playing Magic: The Gathering with my buddies, not to mention my busy job as a hospital nurse. With all of these interests, it’s easy for art to slip to the wayside.
I’m trying not to let it bother me… We can’t all be as prolific as we’d sometimes like. For one, I have found that I simply can’t force myself to paint just out of pure obligation to my identity as an artist. I have to have an idea I’m excited about, or it just doesn’t flow. In the meantime, I’m appreciating more that many of the things I do involve creativity, and there is an “art” or generative nature to just about everything I spend time on. I’m shifting my perspective, trying to re-frame the issue: how can I encourage the creative impulse flow through all the channels of my life instead of confining it to visual art?</p
One thing I’m focusing on in 2020 is actually finishing projects when I start them, instead of letting them drag on for a year. This way, when I do have the time and the inspiration for new pieces, I can hold onto that lightning and follow it all the way through, focusing on quality instead of quantity.
Despite taking me forever (almost two years altogether!), these portraits were really fun, and gave me an opportunity to practice figure and realism, areas I have not explored much. I’m getting ready to move on now to some exciting new territory, having promised some new abstract art for our walls.
Zach Taylor Art 