Field Notes

Field Notes No. 2, acrylic on cradled birch panel, 12 x 12 inches

“I could certainly never mirror nature. I would more like to
paint what it leaves with me.”
~Joan Mitchell~

Back in January I made an entry in my art journal that I wanted to work on something “small, steady, and focused” with my painting. When looking over my progress from the previous year I felt that I was all over the place, trying out processes in many different directions. Which was all good and certainly worthwhile, but I felt it time to step back and redirect my attention. And so, the idea of a new series came about that I call Field Notes.

Field Notes No. 8, acrylic on cradled birch panel, 12 x 12 inches

The title for this series, Field Notes, comes from notes recorded by researchers of an observation. They may be made on site, or from memory. I am using this series as a basis for understanding the landscape in an abstracted form, relying on emotion and memory rather than observation. I am interested in what the landscape leaves with me – the feeling I have for a place rather than a direct description.

Field Notes No. 7, acrylic on cradled birch panel, 12 x 12 inches

My perimeters for this Field Notes series is simply to maintain a 12-inch square format on panels, and to otherwise experiment with color relationships, texture, shape, and movement. I love painting on cradled birch panels, they are sturdy yet light weight, and allow for anything I want to throw at them, or scrape or sand off. The 12-inch format is one I find very comfortable to work within, it’s large enough to play yet small enough that each piece can be worked at a reasonable pace. This series is a direct extension of my sketchbook practice, which is the place I use to discover just exactly what it is that is my expression alone, without outside influence. So while size and process are the only constants, everything else with this series is open for experimentation. That's the "steadiness" I am seeking in this series.

Field Notes No. 1, acrylic on cradled birch panel, 12 x 12 inches

So here I am, midway through the year, and my resolve with this series remains the same. “Small, steady, and focused.” Each square panel is a new chance to explore, and I enjoy seeing their progression when viewed all together. I don’t know how they will continue to evolve as I proceed with the series, and I find that aspect really exciting. I am aware that conventional art marketing wisdom suggests that there should be a consistency in a body of work, particularly within a series, and that is usually very sound advice. But at this point that doesn’t concern me as consistency is not what this series is about. Rather, Field Notes is about my intuitive responses, to the way a day, season, or hour, feels in a place, and that is very seldom consistent. In this sense it represents an internal landscape as much, or perhaps more than, the external environment.

Field Notes No. 5, acrylic on cradled birch panel, 12 x 12 inches

“Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you. There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn’t have any beginning or any end. He didn’t mean it as a compliment, but it was.”
~Jackson Pollock~

As always, paintings shown here are available in my Etsy shop. Clicking on the photos above should take you right there.

*All images and content in this article is ©Ann Thompson Nemcosky.
Please do not reproduce in any way. Thank you. *