P297 Fossil Brain

P297 Fossil Brain
12x9" oil on cloth mounted on panel
Private collection

June 22, 2003: While cleaning up in the studio, I found an small unfinished Paleozoic series sketch on cloth mounted on a board, and decided to finish it. The painting has the number and title P297, Fossil Brain. It is really just a visage with some cephalopod growths, one of those small simple pictures with a single message. The small works, if they are to have large enough characters and objects to be strong, can only have a single idea, sometimes only a single image. I always feel as if they should be strung together, like a necklace or patchwork, to show the path of my ideas.

June 25, 2003: After supper, I worked on P297, finishing the face. It is a curious combination of Venetian red, turquoise and flesh, with touches of yellow-green. My thoughts curl at a snails pace, and my creature smiles painfully.

Paleozoic Series