"The Old Flesher Farm"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

Again, I wanted to work with more paint and looseness. I noticed yesterday how doing this makes me put a different focus on the painting. If I am being tighter with my strokes, I find myself paying attention to the objects themselves primarily and the whole is secondary. When I am using broader strokes, the opposite happens. It's like the tighter the painting, the more specific everything is and the looser the painting is, the more "general"--if that makes sense! I find it very hard to give up the urge to "correct" something in order to make it look more realistic. It's almost like a need to prove that I can achieve realism! Stopping short of that more realistic portrayal (as I try to let the painting be more about the brushstrokes, composition and color than it is about the specifics presented) is, for me, a good exercise in letting go, allowing a little slack in the reins. . .Having said all that, the subject is a precious one for me: it is down the road a half mile from the farm I grew up on which is still about my favorite place ever.

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