Through The Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass

I gotta wonder about myself when I paint these abstracts. Somehow that red thing on the left makes me think of a portal into alternate universe. Or maybe it's my subconscious looking into Mars the red planet.

See more flights of fancy in my Abstract Gallery

Walker

Mare's Tail

Horse Tail

Who can say why we do the things we do? I certainly have no idea why I love to paint abstracts. That's not entirely true. I love the freedom of expression, the raw creativity and I love playing with color.

After "trying" to paint Roble Rey I felt the need to be free.

I love to name my paitings but it can be kind of challenging when I paint something like this abstract. After some pondering I came up with Horse Tail. I'll leave it to you to try and figure out as to why.

Walker

Roble Rey

Roble Rey

This is the first time I've actually tried to paint something that already exists.

In 2008 I was on a photo shoot in California. Whilst there I made a stop in Gilroy. Forever looking for places to walk I discovered Harvey Bear Ranch. My beloved partner Lakota Sunrise was still with me. Oh, how I miss my boy!

Anyway, it was nearing sunset when I saw the silhouette of a dead oak tree standing on a ridge. I love dead trees so I set up and shot it. The above painting is my feeble attempt to paint my photograph ROBLE REY.

Walker

Geometric Oops!

Geometric Oops

For some reason I took it into my head I wanted to do some geometric designs. Horses have been on my mind a lot lately so I thought about a saddle blanket. Western saddle blankets have some awesome geometric designs.

About half way through I realized the error of my ways. If I'd wanted something to resemble a saddle blanket or maybe even a place mat I would have had to paint the designs on the horizontal not the vertical. LOL! A lesson learned for next time.

I also learned it is darned hard to paint straight lines free hand. Honestly, I don't know how people do it. After the first line up at the top it occurred to me that taping the lines would help. But, the other designs, egads! Indians painting on cave walls did better.

Even though this kind of painting vexes me no end I should probably make myself do it every now and again. It requires discipline and patience. When it comes to my painting I prefer the flourish to flourish.   

As usual this painting is just my latest mistake. And, as usual, I love it! Heaven help me I love color!

For more of my painting boo boos click here.

Walker

Lagoon

Lagoon

 

I had quite a hard time coming up with a name for this puppy. The best I could come up with was Lagoon.

The Jennifer Lopez song, Where Are You Going To, comes to mind as regards this painting. I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Had I had a clue I might have done some things differently. But, there you go!

Someone asked the other day what kind of painting I do. I really had no idea what to say. I prefer any kind of painting that does not involve realism. I greatly appreciate the skill and training that goes into these types of paintings. And, whilst I often find them beautiful I do not find them mentally stimulating. I like art that challenges the imagination and gets the viewer involved in thinking and wondering. I also love giving voice to my inner child aka my primitives. So, what kind of painter am I? In a word I guess I'd have to say "Wayward?"

Walker

Stormy Weather

Stormy Weather

I have always loved this song, "Stormy Weather" made famous by the great singer Ethel Waters at the Cotton Club in New York in 1933. It was before my time but some things are timeless and that song is one of those things.

It played over and over in my head as I painted this.

And, here we go again, into the horizon.

Other examples:

http://followingmyart.blogspot.com/2018/01/where-are-you-going-to.html
http://followingmyart.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-source.html
http://followingmyart.blogspot.com/2017/01/cosmic-sunrise.html

Walker

Where Are You Going To?

Where Are You Going To?

I notice I'm painting a lot of pictures that have a lot of horizon in them. Makes me wonder if I am subconsciously thinking about adventuring into the unknown. I am beginning my seventieth year today. That certainly feels like venturing into the unknown.

Walker

Power of the Pyramid

Blackfeet Country

Over on the other side of the Rockies, east of here, is the Blackfeet reservation. It's is by turns a gawd awful place and a place of unimaginable beauty. I love to go over in the spring to hunt for and photograph the new born foals that dot the landscape. I also like to fantasize about those long lost days when man and animals lived here in natural balance. I can imagine the braves racing like the wind across the plains on their painted ponies. The vision literally brings tears to my eyes.

The painting is, once again, just my musing. I would classify it as one of my primitive efforts. The Rocky Mountain Front looks nothing like these mountains and I made no effort to paint authentic Blackfeet teepees. I believe in the power of pyramids. I think indians felt that power and designed the teepees to tap into it. The green grass and lupine are just will o the wisp.

I know this painting looks child like and that professional painters would puke over it's childishness. By I really like it. It's the child in me that cries out to be set free. Does everything have to be perfect? Can't just doing what feel's fun and whimsical be worthwhile? Stupid question. Of course it can. No one needs to like my drek but me.

I enjoy looking at this painting and dreaming of my next trip to St. Mary in the spring. And, as always, I just love the colors. I am a color junkie. I am a color junkie!

Walker

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas

I was raised with the old bromide "Waste not. Want not". Believe me that one has stuck in my head to the point of sometimes my being a cheapskate. Also, I suppose, my Scot ancestry didn't help.

When I paint a picture there is generally paint leftover. Getting paint back in the tube is kind of like trying to un-ring a bell. I just can't bear to waste the paint. So, I take the opportunity to really let fly and try to create something with just the paint I have left.

Upon finishing WHEAT FIELDS & WILDFLOWERS, as usual, I had paint that needed using. Hydrangeas is what that paint wanted to be.

Don't waste paint! Cuz what you may really wasting is your innate creativity.  It's a wonderful opportunity to be free and be bold without fretting about the outcome.

Walker

Wheat Fields & Wildflowers

Wheat Fields & Wildflowers

I took a spring, summer and fall hiatus from painting. Not entirely, I painted a few rocks which was quite fun.

Now I am hunkered down, once again, for the winter and my thoughts return to painting on canvas. I put up my paint brushes because I felt painting was an indoor activity and I really prefer outdoor activities, when the weather permits and the days are long.

I am very much a fan of the impressionist style of painting and feel, even with my photography THE LIBERATED PHOTOGRAPHER one of my most influential muses is Claude Monet. So right out of the chute I tried my hand at my idea of an impressionist painting. In case you've forgotten I have no idea how to paint. I'm just making it up as I go along.

The subject matter is one near and dear to my heart, Montana. The Montana landscape is so beautiful any time of year. It being winter, the summer landscape popped into my head and voila this is what appeared on my canvas. Wheat fields and wildflowers are Montana in the summer. LOL! My color addiction is quite apparent n'est pas?

Speaking of not knowing how to paint, I have become convinced more than ever I made the right decision when I decided not to seek out art classes to learn. There is no doubt in my mind if I had done so it would have killed any chance of my pursuing the art. I would not have been unable to do what the teacher wanted and then in total frustration would have given up, convinced I had no possibility of being able to paint. What a shame that would have been.

The truth is, I REALLY like this painting. I love looking at it. It warms me to think I created it. It matters not if any one else likes it. I did not paint it for anyone else. My life would have been less enriched if I had never painted it. I am so grateful to have this painting.

I mention this for the benefit of anyone who would like to try painting but is afraid they have no talent and like me are unteachable. Just do it. Follow your heart. Follow your art. Nothing truly special and unique was ever created following the herd.

Walker