Painters Block – A New Beginning

I have been trying to come to grips with what I might best describe as “painters block’.  For me “painter’s block” has been more like what I would imagine “writer’s block” might be. Namely, to come to a place where you are not able to express yourself the way that you would like and you have lost confidence in your creative abilities. I was working on a landscape painting that stumped me… literally stopped me in my tracks. No matter how hard I tried I could not achieve what I wanted to do.  The effect I wanted looked so easy to achieve and yet it was beyond my reach.   

Clearly, it is vitally important for any artist, writer, actor etc., to be constantly working in order to improve. It has taken me a while to get back into a groove. It has been a struggle, but I am pleased to have been able to recently complete a few paintings of photos taken by my wife, Liz, during our many exciting trips. 

The first is of a Chinese cormorant fisherman and the second of an indigenous Indian woman with child in Peru. The cormorant fishermen use cormorants to dive down and catch fish. The cormorants are tethered to the fishermen and have a ring of some sort around their necks which prevents them from swallowing the fish. The fish can then be plucked out of the cormorants mouth by the fishermen. Also, In the latter painting of the woman and child you will notice unnaturally dark areas on their faces.  These dark areas are painted intentionally as they are either dirt or very dry skin. We are not sure which. The round cheeks are also not an exaggeration. Many of these indigenous Indians live in extremely harsh conditions some at altitudes of between 9,000 to 12,000 feet. 

The final painting is of a participant in our local Junkanoo festival.