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cold wax + oil: new work


#1101 30x30" cold wax/oil on panel  © 2011 Janice Mason Steeves
This is my first painting of 2011.  The influence of Spain and my artist residency at Can Serrat seems to be appearing in my work unexpectedly.  Playing with colour so freely during the residency was inspirational and combined with my interest in layered, weathered and decaying surfaces, I'm heading toward a new body of work.

This non-objective work requires that I completely surrender to the process, not knowing from moment to moment where the work will take me.  It rides on the back of many years of painting but demands letting all of that go.  It is a demanding force, like "duende".  Angeles Arrien in her book, "The Second Half of Life", says that the 'igniting power of fire that comes from the depths of the human spirit, is known cross-culturally by different names: as duende in Spain's flamenco; verissimo in Italian opera; fado in Portugal; tango in Argentina; sandade in Latin America; and jazz in America.  All are forms of passion that hinge on the ability to hold the tension between discipline and soulful expression in creative form.

Edward Hirsh in writing about Federico Garcia Lorca says,  "Duende rises through the body.  It burns through the soles of a dancer's feet, or expands in the torso of a singer.  It courses through the blood and breaks through a poet's back like a pair of wings.  It smokes through lungs; it scorches the voice; it magnetizes the words.  It is risky and deathward leaning."
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  1. Susan BuretMarch 5, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    Beautiful. My eyes are led on a spirited dance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janice Mason SteevesMarch 6, 2011 at 6:41 PM

    Ahhhhhhhhh. Such a beautiful comment. Many thanks for that.

    ReplyDelete

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