Monday, November 10, 2008

Painting The Well

Charcoal sketch from photo of the well

Laying out foam core. I added modeling paste to the top of the well border pieces. Now it is drying.

12 by 12 canvas support. Painting the well. My idea is to paint or draw the well in several different forms.

Here is the actual well, which I have shown before. This photo I took several days ago. If it is warm enough I am thinking of going out there to sketch on site. It is under the trees and rather shadowy and cool though.

"The face of the well is on the surface; it is such a pure and surprising presence. Yet the biography of the well is hidden under eternities of mountain and clay. Similarly, within you, the well is an infinite source. The waters are coming from far away. Yet as long as you are on this earth, this well will never run dry. The flow of thought, feeling, image and word will always continue." from Exploring Our Hunger to Belong by John O'Donohue pg14

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a lovely idea, to do many versions of the well. You have a good start here :-).

soulbrush said...

see, this is why i am 'hooked' on you! such fantabulously interesting ideas, and imagination and art and stuff. hugs and wfs to you while you sit at the well.

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

This is an interesting subject matter. It will be fun to see all the different things you come up with. Is there a hole there still or is it covered up and safe if you step into it?
So glad you got your Foxfire figured out.

Tess Kincaid said...

I would love to hear more about this beautiful old well! I can see why it is such a lovely inspiration.

Andrea and Kim said...

Suki, I am so glad you are doing this. What a perfect inspiration for you and in my mind I can see you enjoying this process a lot. It really looks like you are off to a grand start to be sure! I love this idea of a bas relief right on your canvas!

This is going to be so exciting to watch unfold!

Claudia said...

A well has always been - and is - a sort of holy place, especially for the Celts...It is a really great idea, Suki, to make a piece of art (or several) from that. I think that our creative source is a sort of well, too. So it is much more than a "nice" theme for an art project, it is a metaphor for creating in general.

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

Suki, A great beginning. One of the benefits of foam core is the adding on and taking away factor. The quote was beautiful and is so inspiring to this work and to think you actually have this old, old well to visit and gather reaction, color and depth...best days ahead.
Happy you are finding kindred spirits there in the woods.

Claudia said...

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I l o v e the grain ornament you bought and I like the idea of putting some "eating", "reading" etc. informations on your blog!
Have a good and creative day!

marianne said...

Yes I recognize this well from before. How nice you try to do it in several forms. I`m always stuck in my things, you seem to be able to do almost anything! I admire you for that!

sukipoet said...

Thanks Annie.

Soulbrush, thanks so much. You make me chuckle. You too have interesting ideas and imagination and art and stuff. Hugs back at you.

Cris, The well is still open so that I could fall in I suppose. I dont know how deep it is. I told my bro about the open well and he just shrugged.

Willow, I dont really know anything about the well. It sits in the woods but as my bro said probably was in the open field back when this was an active dairy farm. The well is on the side of the property where the dairy barns were. There is also some piping out there and an old tank or tub kind of thing. There is another well behind the property that i have never seen. My mom says a neighbor has right of way passage through the fields to access this well however I am sure that by now noone could drink out of that water nor would want to.

Hey Kim, thanks for your enthusiasm and feedback. The bas relief is actually on the foam core. The canvas version is flat. They look somewhat alike and I am wondering if i can break through the literal well into something else more metaphorical or symbolic.

sukipoet said...

claudia thanks for your well said reflections. :) The well as source of creativity appeals to me and hopefully won't inhibit me with heavy meanings. Not me exactly but my creating this series. Thanks too for your comments on my little sidebar section.

Thanks Blue Sky Dreaming, it is wonderful to be able to go out and peer at the real well and see what I think and feel. I must go gather pine needles as right now it is afloat in needles and i might use actual pine needles in the foam core piece.

Natalya Khorover Aikens said...

oh wow, very cool... can't wait to see all versions!

Lynn Cohen said...

I am entranced by all the different ways you are capturing this well. You sure do take your projects to the inth degree! I imagine this as a way to really get into it on many levels. Almost to become one with the well.

That said, I have to chuckle as my first thought too was of safety.
I hope now one is hiking the area that might come upon it unsuspectingly. Oops! Please no.

Suki, I opened my ETSY shop this weekend, and invite you to come look. TextileArtByLynn@etsy.com
When you have a free minute of course! ;-)

sukipoet said...

Thanks Natalya.

Lynn I'll check out yr shop post haste. I hope no one falls in either. I am not sure that this is a dug out well. It may just be a place where a spring comes up and spurts water.

Andrea and Kim said...

Ohhh, Suki! I love your thinking. I am sorry I can't remember the artist, but one time when I was at the Tate we saw some really great canvases the artist has torn. Okay, so I liked them a lot, but my children did not. So I think you can really have a go at that idea. Also don't forget those "indented canvases" which might provide some very interesting choices for you, too.

I have to say I am really excited to watch what you do with this...they are looking great so far!

Teri said...

Wow Suki, what a fabulously creative thing you are doing here! Wow, I am speechless.

Umā said...

fascinating and inspiring!

sukipoet said...

Kim I have to laugh. Language is so interesting. What it sets off. I lvoe reading about this artist that tore the canvas, like torn jeans, eh? But when I said break through I meant kinda like a visionary break through. But you have now set me on more concrete ground. Maybe actually breaking thru the canvas would be interesting.

Did I write to you that i had see some of those indented canvases put to use by an artist at an art gallery. She left the larger frame white and inside the indented area had sort of dioramas. But they might work well for the well too.

Thanks for all the great ideas, Kim.

Teri, I hope you are not speechless for long!!! Thanks for your enthusiasm.

M. Heart thank you so much. Gee, my head is swelling. I dont know if I can live up to my own ambitions. well, ....(tee hee) onward.

~Babs said...

Onward is right!
Loved seeing all this work in progress,,,the build up of the foam core is fascinating,,,as is the idea of pine needles.

The Well.
So many thoughts from that,,,,endless possibilities.
And don't you love looking at it, and thinking about the history it might contain?

Dianne said...

Suki, I have just found your blog via Kim's and just love your wonderfully creative postings! You are an inspiration!

human being said...

great works... i have always loved the concept of well... both its real existance and its metaphorical nature...

human being said...

BTW, the world according to you is very intersting...
:)

sukipoet said...

Babs, well I got the foam core idea from Blue Sky Dreaming's blog. She uses it quite a bit and makes beautiful pieces. You know Babs, I DO love looking at that well. It feels so ancient to me and classical somehow and filled with mystical meanings. I feel so drawn to it.

Dianne, thanks for stopping by. Well, I think it's Kim and all my other blog readers who are inspiring. Hope we inspire each other back and forth. I will come visit you soon.

human being: I know that well is going to reveal something to me. The world according to suki is quite fun to do, though sort of mundane. Like who really cares what I'm eating. :)

Mary Richmond said...

this is very cool. i love the inspiration, the picture, the real well and the interpretations of the well.

well done.

sorry, couldn't resist!

sukipoet said...

Thanks Mary. In college my boyfriend, whenever I said "Well..." would say, "That's a deep subject."