What do you do when a patron commissions something special to have autographed at the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cooperstown, NY? You produce a ball and glove painting so that the enshrined player(s) can sign an almost finished painting of a ball. Once signed, I’ll finish up the painting which has been left bare in the large area of the ball between the stitches and wording.
I’m well on my way through my next piece entitled “the cello player.” This is a hybrid work of an encaustic pen-stroke piece grafted onto a separate, brushed encaustic paint background.
Sometimes your piece takes over and insists on a new direction. I was deep into Full Sail when I stepped back and in addition to valuable feedback decided I was forcing this piece down the wrong path. Therefore, I’ve renamed this work Waterspout and will proceed with that concept in mind. You can still see the shadow of the sailboat I just removed, and will blot out, and I’ve blocked in the white border to give you a better feel for the final piece.
It takes a bit more imagination and faith to see it in its raw form.
It’s always satisfying to finish a painting but it’s fun to mull over new subjects for the next piece. I have a large backlog of paintings I want to work on and had already started developing and laying out two new ones tentatively entitled childhood and fossil. But as often is the case I step back. I realize that I’ve had lots of interest over the past several months in one of my earlier pieces, yellow sail, which is no longer available. I’ve now decided to create a companion piece based on that one called full sail. Like yellow sail, full sail will be a hybrid of traditional encaustic painting and my personal take on the medium. So I now find myself staring at a prepped, blank surface awaiting me to engage.
The next painting entitled bee and flower is progressing well and should be finished very soon. Here’s a close-up detail. The bee’s body measures about 1 inch x ½ inch so its only slightly larger than life size.
christopher green studio 