5 May 2011

 

Three smallies, or hors d'oeuvres

For about 10 years I have been making what I started out calling Palette Cleaners, because they began when I had excess acrylic paint at the end of a session and didn't want to waste it.  I invented designs on scraps of pine board I had on hand (intended for woodcuts some day).  I soon realized that these are teaching tools - for teaching myself about a lot of things; colour, value, and composition, as well as making me realize that although I say I can only paint from what is directly in front of me, these smallies graphically demonstrate this is a false belief.

I decided the term palette cleaner had pejorative connotations, and started calling them Smallies, but that didn't quite fit, either.  I now call them Hors d'Oeuvres, which means "outside of one's (regular) work", and this is what they are.  Cooks make hors d'oeuvres outside of their preparing the main meal; I make them outside of my current painting activity.  Thus they are outside the main work I am doing, and I find are leading me into broader ways of thinking about what I do. 

This avenue of discovery has accelerated since I began more intensive and more frequent drawing at the beginning of this year.  Above are three that I began a few weeks ago, using up acrylic paint, and finished yesterday, adding both colours from a new palette of acrylic paint and also some new colours which I wanted.