musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
03.12.2012 ~ vermont before and after
I have a collection of disappointing paintings. These are paintings that I've created and which, for various reasons, didn't work out to my satisfaction. So they're in a stack on the floor of my studio, leaning against the wall, awaiting a new life.
Last week I was finishing up a couple of days of oil painting. The next day I would be leaving on a week-long trip, and I knew that the left-over colors I had mixed on my glass palette probably wouldn't last til my return (paint dries notoriously quickly in my sun-heated studio). So with the extra paint I decided to attack one of the reject paintings and see what would happen. I had no image in mind, let alone an end result — no intention of creating a landscape nor an abstraction. Rather, I just dove in with my paint-loaded palette knife and waited to see what emerged.
And then — in a matter of moments, really — the paint worked itself into a very satisfying scene!
Here's the before:  |
| stowe vermont winter, v — 6 x 6 inches — oil on panel — from the daily painting series— copyright Dawn Chandler 2010 – 2012 |
And here's the after:  |
| untitled vermont — 6 x 6 inches — oil on panel — from the daily painting series— copyright Dawn Chandler 2012 |
It's funny, the first version is a much more dynamic composition, with the zigzagging of the brush and fence-line and shadows of the hills. But the second version is more satisfying to me. Though the composition is hardly dynamic, the paint handling is. The first feels like a landscape observed from a distance, with somewhat studied brushstrokes; it feels cold and distant. The second feels like a place that has been experienced on a gut level; there's a feeling of immediacy in the all-over handling of the paint, and a real grounding of place. I especially love how we can see through the trees to flecks of snow further back in the woods.
If I were to change this new version, I might make the four dominant trees a little less symmetrical: right now there's two brown trees on the left and two white (birch?) trees on the right, all spaced evenly across the mid-ground and all more or less the same size. Boring? Yeah, kinda.... On the other hand, they sort of beg a narrative: Who are these two "couples" and what are they talking about? Just the thought of that makes me chuckle. A couple of details: 
Any preference?
03.05.2011 ~ santa fe ~ afternoon path
 |
| santa fe ~ afternoon path ~ oil on canvas ~ copyright dawn chandler 2011 |
On the west edge of the property is an old road that’s become washed out and overgrown. My dog and I like to walk it when the shadows are long, in the early morning or, as here, in the late afternoon.
This is my favorite of last year’s late autumn paintings. Over the years I’ve struggled with so much that is represented in this painting: the volume of trees in general, the color of evergreens in particular, the volume and color of sage, the color of shadows, just the right shade of blue for the sky. Yet here, The Muse seemed to be smiling and allowed me to capture them all better than usual — and almost effortlessly at that. The paint feels fresh, not belabored. Probably could have teased out a few more colors in those darkest shadows…but it works as is.
If only every painting session could come together so well!
03.02.2012 ~ dixon, new mexico ~ miya’s tree
 |
| miya’s tree ~ dixon, new mexico ~ oil on canvas ~ copyright dawn chandler 2012 |
As I write this I’m pausing every now and then to sip tea from a vessel formed from clay in the nimble hands of my friend Miya. Yes, Miya is a potter (check out her beautiful work here), and she lives in a cottage at the end of a dirt road in beautiful Dixon, New Mexico.
A couple of years ago I did a painting of Miya’s studio. If you were to stand in that painting, and turn around 180 degrees, this is the view you would see — only here it is October, rather than April. I’ve zoomed in on the distant landscape, bringing in closer the hills and that radiant, solitary cottonwood tree — Miya’s tree.
03.01.2012 ~ rio grande autumn
 |
||
| Rio Grande Autumn 01 ~ 2011 ~ 8 x 10 inches ~ oil on canvas ~ copyright Dawn Chandler 2011 |
Among the paintings being moved out are a several autumn scenes I painted late this past year and never got around to sharing here.. I had forgotten about them, and was rather charmed to find them again.
“PULL OVER!!”
Anyhow, I like the sketchiness of this — that it was done quickly, without deliberating too much. The main masses of colors were made, and then just a few smaller details merely suggested. I like, too, that I left some of the stained canvas exposed — those patches of rust bleeding through.
02.13.2012 ~ unplugged and quiet
 |
| the blank page of morning ~ copyright dawn chandler 2012 |
I’ve been keeping to myself lately….
drawing
to find out who you are.
 |
| february fog ~ copyright dawn chandler 2012 |