Bukowski Painting- Garden Path

William Bukowski

oil on linen      2008

Shadows on the Path

Certain paintings fall together faster and easier than others.  This was the last painting I started of the summer.  It isn't the last one I finished, but the last one I started.  Some outgrew me before I had finished on location.  I like the motif of the path because it literally takes you  into the painting and can sure metaphorically as a life.  At a certain point you go into the painting, but you can take an obscured right or a clear left.  Both are uncertain, but you will take one or the other.  You can linger with the light and flowers in the middle but at some point you have to keep going.  There is more to see if you go to the right and more flowers and a path through the trees....more light, more color, more brushstrokes....

Bukowski Painting- End of Summer

The garden is dying and school starts on Monday.

  It is sad to see summer end.  The garden is still on the crest of full bloom but starting to loose the blossoms.  The Sibley Park Garden is the best it has been in the four years that I have been painting it.  The variety and fullness and care has been outstanding.  I can't wait for 345 days until it is at it's peak again, so I have to consider the digital "sketches" I've taken as subject matter.  It does evoke the memory of the garden.  It is a poor substitute for standing in the sun on a random August morning racing with the rising sun to catch the effects of light on the greenery.  The sun always wins the race, but it is really fun to be in the running.

Bukowski Painting- Painting from LIfe II

So painting from life is an iffy proposition.  When you go out and take a deep breath and look out at the world, something has to move you.  You need to find the right combination of light and form that means something to you that you want to convey to someone else.  At first you are aware of factory smell, truck noise, bugs and heat.   hmmm....when does the inspiration kick in?   and then it hits you-

Is that inspiration or the sun in my eyes?

Bukowski Painting- Painting from LIfe

Does it really matter to "paint from life"?  It is kind of an archaic activity from a pre-technological age.  The romantic idea of the painter going out with the palette on his/her thumb and a straw hat and doing a Van Gogh or Monet.....

why?  what is the point?

It only matters in that it is a way for the artist to connect with light and space.  It is a way to convert feeling into brushstrokes and try to evoke the experience of seeing or being- right now, right here.

But, it isn't for everyone.  I wouldn't try it if I were you.  Stay in the studio, make stuff up, play with ideas and forms....leave the out side to the old fashioned and out of touch.  

Bukowski Painting- The Mural Progresses

Dutler's mural is really coming along.  It is my largest painting that I didn't paint.  Malia and Laura have done a great job of recreating my Sibley Park motif on cement block in direct sunlight.  

The space has been turned into an outdoor bar area and is still "in progress".  After spending so much time at the real park, the giant painting looks very inviting.  After a while, you don't notice the cement block lines.

The painting can be seen from 169 as you come into Mankato from the north.  You can stop in, see the mural and bowl a line.

Bukowski Painting- Panic painting!

The garden is dying, the light is changing and I have meetings all day long!  I am approaching the final days of painting of the summer.  I still have next week, but it is clearly the end.   It has been productive, but it all goes too fast.  The best garden painting was only for about 10 days in the beginning of August.  It is hard not to panic and try to go too fast.  I did document the best 10 days in a series of digital images that may inspire a larger more complex series.  But nothing beats standing outside in the park.

Bukowski Painting- A Rough Start

William Bukowski

Sibley Park

30" X 40"

Oil on Linen

So far I've decided to call this one "a rough start" at least so far.....  I am looking into a full garden with flowers changing and growing every day.  The light changes in minutes, it is hot with the sun shining right in my face.  It is extremely challenging.  Sometimes it is very annoying when this kind of painting is written off as out-dated and old fashioned.  The process is very alive.  It is not as easy as the end results would suggest.

I do feel privileged to be standing in a park staring at little brushstrokes blowing in the breeze. Sometimes the hardest thing is to be patient and let the painting paint itself.

Bukowski Painting- Hitting Your Stride

William Bukowski

Full Sun, Full Garden

2008     oil on linen

Finally the garden is peaking and I feel like I am hitting my stride with painting from life this summer.  My ideas have outstripped my canvas and paint supply.  Hopefully this will fuel some large works this fall.  The painting depicted is not finished, but so far I am happy with the quality of light and brushstrokes.  I think the next painting should be in the shade.  At least the heat and sun keep most of the bugs away.