Something new

I'm hot on the trail of a new painting to post - be back soon.

clarity

The painting is complete. Every object or element has been treated with all the care and attention that I now possess. And since I am pleased with the outcome I can release it.

Are you being thought?

I can only effectively comment on the painting from this point until it is completed! So here’s something to think about in the meantime: are we thinking or are we being thought?

The meditative or quiet mind, free from shouting, sensations or sentiments notices we do not originate ninety-nine percent of our thoughts, but rather follow them about helter-skelter, now happy, now sad, now frightened, now arrogant. I must say that very few people on the face of the earth, including me, are the masters of their fate by being the masters of their minds. The master thinker discards all negative thoughts and chooses only thoughts that serve him or her in love, abundance and joy. Therefore, some people’s lives are creatively active and successful while some are confused, disordered and reactive!

Clarity.

I’m moving to the central figure and developing her and the foreground butterflies. This stage is by no means the finished product. Once again I always paint in conscious stages never forcing a completion in one area but bringing the painting alone as a whole.

Clarity

I’m working the left side of the painting (see November 8); the ship, the girl with the guitar, and the butterfly girl. At this point in the painting I’m working rather quickly, putting down color, separating light from dark with warm and cool values often blurring one into another. Before the painting is finished I usually will paint each object including the background three times. This is not formula but I’m always challenging each aspect of the painting to produce a more vivid experience.

After establishing the main character I usually start from left to right developing other elements in the painting. I will work the background color schemes to best pop-out the significant objects. Now the beginner usually panics and tries to finish the painting quickly. There are always problems of coordination when dealing with a variety of objects but the mature artist has a highly developed faith that with the right quality of attention to each component in the painting the whole painting will eventually evolve harmoniously.

O.K. I’ll start showing the evolution of this painting as best I can. This painting is centered around the idea that at the center of our being is perfect balance, beauty, power and poise. To prepare a painting I settle upon the main point of interest. Here the female meditator is the point of power that makes this painting or idea go. I start by drawing the figure upon a gessoed panel, I will also draw in other elements and when the composition seems to feel right I will “fix it” on the board and put a thin coat of burnt umber cut with liquin over the whole board. When the board is dry I start painting into the main figure.

Not Yet

Well after a commercial break the game is afoot. The new painting is going well, now if my mind would stop torturing me with duties, obligations, and pictures of the terrible state of the world I would be able to step out of the war-zone and find the peace I need in order to complete this painting.

I have plans for a new blog in which I’m going to photograph the various stages and
decisions involved in my latest painting. I’m excited about this because as a viewer
myself, I never quite know how the final painting will look. But right now I’m committed to a different project. I’ve been invited to write the introduction for an article for my son, The Great Chet - [www.chetzar.com] to be published in the U.K. magazine called Dangerous Ink. So don’t turn that dial I’ll be back after the next commercial.

Chi

Only a mind free from the movement of sorrow and fear can decide or act with effiency, this is the dynamic mind. This mind works by integrity, meaning no real feelings of separation from the moment’s total event. Only this mind on fire with light, can be with, or be the thing, it sees and feels. The melodramatic mind is based upon the memory’s resentments and slights. But in pure identity no footprints of this melodramatic mind can be found. The flame of pure identity is the enormous quality of timeless attention.