The Day's Work - Paintings of C. Litka: May 2015

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Magenta Floral

Magenta Floral 24x12" 60x30cm acrylic on hardboard

Coming up blank for landscapes, so I think I'll try my had at more decorative art and use some paints I haven't had much use for in my landscape pieces.

Monday, May 18, 2015

I've started a new blog for my written works. It can be found here:
http://clitkabooks.blogspot.com/

I've self-published one science fiction novel, and have two more novels written that I will publish as well over the next six months. A Summer in Amber is available now (for FREE) at your favorite ebook seller. (It is only free on Amazon in the US store, but a mobi edition for kindles can be downloaded at the Smashwords site for free here:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/537938

Coming the summer 2015, an old fashioned science fiction rocket ship adventure: Planets of Call Stay tuned for more information.

I write for fun. I've no intention of making a career of it. I'm too old for careers. Self-publishing them is for me simply the end of a long project. It's the 21st century, and while the promised flying cars have failed to materialize, I can at least publish my writings rather than trying to sell them to one of perhaps a hundred editors. (For better or worse.)

Most Recent Paintings

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard Lane Between the Hedgerows

18x24" 45x60cm acrylic on hardboard Sunset in the Valley

18x24" 45x60cm acrylic on hardboard Rural Landscape

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard Prairie Creek Line

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

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Magenta Floral

Monday, May 18, 2015

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