“Perigee” was completed in 2010 on a support that I began working on in 2004. The image was made using 23 karat gold leaf (Dukaten) and a dose of cerulean blue that shimmer over a dark background.
The gold is easy to pick out in this close-up snapshot made by Ed Zimkus. Click the image to get even closer:
While not all paintings take me as long to complete as “Perigee,” the six years I spent with this canvas are not unusual. Not that I was working on the painting constantly for that time: I have many paintings in process in the studio at once. As I write this there are 11 works in progress within eyeshot. There are probably a few more tucked away in the racks.
This way of working allows me to vary the activity in the studio by moving from canvas to canvas as time and my daily capability allow. It also gives me the time I need to see the painting fully, and to understand when it has gained some life of it’s own.
