rebecca coleman visual studies notebook

Pastel of house plant called a "Peace Lily." Among the Shadows at Home Life after life at nightfall in houses I have loved I see them now here at home where I walk in shadow through open doorways from room to room leaving the lights off as I always loved to do knowing beyond belief echoes of no sound from other times other ages how did I ever find my way to these rooms now these shadows one after the other through all the loud flashing days how could I have known the ancient love of these shadows with the lights on — W.S. Merwin. from The Moon before Morning

I was cleaning the stairwell that leads up to where I live this past weekend and noticed this moth on the windowsill. I wanted try doing a quick study using oil paint for the underpainting and pastel over that -- an approach I used last week. I chose a color scheme of pinks and grays to match the colors in the Fairfield Porter painting. It's domestic and yet the moth is like a pilgrim in many ways. I don't know where it came from, or why it landed there. Fairfield Porter, Sunset, Southhampton, 1967 Moth on windowsill, Berkeley, CA

I made this using oil paint as a base layer and then I let the paint dry and I used pastel on top of the paint. The reference is the set of photos (below) that I had taken last fall of a moth on a stainless steel countertop in the industrial kitchen of my co-op. I think that the phrase the "back and forth between these worlds of feeling and meaning" is what I am aiming for in the work that I am doing. The work that I do in my professional life is all about "meaning." This class is a space where I can try to convey pure "feeling," and yet I hope to also continue to refine my work so that it includes elements that are anchored by some elements which are more grounded in the real world.