#124 "Remember", acrylic on board, 24" x 18"

It's another Artfest creation! I think I forgot to mention that these paintings were started by painting with our hands. Jesse had huge pump bottles of acrylic medium body paints. The first few layers of paint are applied with our hands. All the formal elements of art are being employed at all times: thick/thin, dark/light, warm/cool, large/small etc. So once the first smear of paint is on the canvas we need to stay engaged with the piece, always asking ourselves if we like the way it is looking and is there balance and does it feel right. "If you don't like it get rid of it!". We keep working until we feel pleased with what is there. Then next layers are done with brushes, oil pastels, big black pencil or whatever will help us say what we want to say. We look at the hand painted surface and begin to find what is there.....like looking at cloud formations. We save what we like by painting around it. Paint out what we don't like. Always engaged. Always present to the piece. Just the way any art is made. I don't feel this piece is quite finished. I see areas that want to be changed. I will keep working on it. I have two more that need much more work. They will show up here later. Meanwhile, yesterday when I went back to work on a Langley street scene that I had on my easel before Artfest I felt much more fearless, much more certain, much more engaged. I'm still high from Artfest! Hope it lasts a long, long time. The Ray for the Day (fittingly) is "Remember".