I started on this one and I realize that I am telling or maybe showing the story backwards that is alright as you will be able to start seeing the progress as I bring this project to resolution, or the alternative ....drag it all out to the skeet range PULL!

So none of these were making my day so I going to take them apart and have fun.

The above photo is one of the five or so canvasses that were going nowhere.

So after two years of messing with the five that did not make it, I decided that I needed to finish this whole thing up as I was moving beyond where the old drawngs were, so I dragged all five of the canvasses outside and started a sort of deconstruction or a freeing up.

Working gesturally is hard to do larger than 1. you can see with your eye and 2. you can reach with your arm (and hand). This is where painting and dance collide. Making smaller work seems to be easier and I think that trying to make exspansive gestural work has always had inherent problems. Remember that a gesture is the conveyence of an emotion using a part of your body.

The Red Dress

The Red Dress started as a drawing of a seated figure from a chair or clothing advertisement. It was a black and white photo but I liked the pose and used it for a lot of drawings. I did a series of charcoals and then using the the same pose did some small gestural works 8X10 inches in guache using the same pose. One of the works was chosen as a commissioned painting 48X42 and I started five or six canvases because to make a larger work of a smaller gestural work is just asking for trouble.

Above is one of the smaller drawing/paintings on rag board and on top is the finished commission