And They Lived Happily Ever After

Thursday, August 27, 2009

And They Lived Happily Ever After

This was a welcome to the blog posting, but since most, if any reader, will likely come by it by reading backwards -- for who knows how long -- I thought I might as well make it the end of my blog. Hopefully in time I will learn to write backwards -- tossing out casual references to subjects and comments I have yet to write -- so as to fit the format. Failing that, I will -- and no doubt, have -- make (or made?) sure that every post is self-contained and can be read backwards and forwards. Confused? Welcome to the rabbit's hole.

Here is the original text of this post:

I've borrowed a Rudyard Kipling title for this blog for no particular reason other than my hope that it will be an accurate description of what it contains. I don't as a rule paint on the weekends, so I will probably confining my posting to the five weekdays – with luck.

I quit my day job six years ago to be a painter. I had been painting in watercolors in my spare time for years and felt that if I was ever to do anything in the line of painting, the time had come. Being neither old enough nor rich enough to retire, I set out to paint pictures to sell. I am over that now.

First, I'm now old enough to retire.

Second, though I have sold several hundred over the past six years, the fact is that painting as a business requires an artist to paint paintings that sell. I don't want to paint paintings that sell. I want to paint paintings. So while I have nothing against selling my paintings, feel free to inquire if you are interested in any, selling paintings is not a what my painting or this blog is about.

Lastly, I'm still not rich enough to retire, but I'm old enough not to care.

I hope you will find (or, have found...) some paintings you will like in this blog. A more complete collection of my work can be found at: http://litka.deviantart.com/gallery/

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What I'm Up To

I think artist’s statements are largely needless. Paintings speak for themselves. And yet, here I am set to rattle on about my approach to painting. Now, if you're of the same opinion as I claim to be, skip this and enjoy the paintings, but if you want a hint as to what I’m trying to do, here’s the words.

I approach painting via two different roads that arrive at the same place. The first is that I paint only “studies” or sketches. Back in the day artists painted quick studies to get the colors and features down to use as a guide to paint a finished studio painting. Funny thing is of the paintings I’ve seen together with their studies, I’ve always preferred the loose and spontaneous studies over the stiff and polished finished painting. For that reason I’ve chosen to paint only studies.

My second approach to painting is inspired by a quote from the writer, Raymond Chandler: “I guess maybe there are two types of writers, writers who write stories and writers who write writing.” He considered himself of one of the latter, as do I which is to say; writers who’s words are entertaining in and of themselves, independent of the story. Perhaps painters could be divided the same way: Painters who paint pictures and painters who paint paintings. While I don’t consider one type superior to the other, I aim to be a painter of paintings. I want to paint paintings that capture a moment, inspire or recall a memory or mood, but which, viewed longer or closer, or with one's glasses on, prove to be clearly paintings: paint brushed into shapes on a surface. That these mere shapes can create an impression they’re something else, for a moment, or at a distance is the independent interest I would like my paintings to possess, not because they realistically reproduce branches, or water or what ever, but because they don’t. What I don't want to paint is places or post card scenes, even though landscape are the medium which I use for my painting.

The Day's Work - Paintings of C. Litka

Thursday, August 27, 2009