Back to the gel medium and lightweight spackle for this one. There's no denying, this mixture is really my favorite for texturing. I applied the media after studying Kaethe Kollwitz's work, in particular, "The Carmagnole (Dance around the Guillotine)." Her composition shows a city scape with common folk dancing in the street in front of the guillotine. What made me connect with this particular piece of hers? The current events being driven by those in power in Washington D.C. (around the time of a certain controversial hearing conducted by a senate committee).
Once the media dried, however, I couldn't connect with what I had created. I couldn't tell what I was trying to communicate. So I turned the canvas 180 degrees and decided to paint it as if the thing were burning down. I did come to think of it as a gated structure being burned, with the fire starting in the streets. And I wondered about the toxicity of the smoke--that structure above the flames--sometimes it looks like a lioness, sometimes a gargoyle, sometimes Beethoven's head.
This painting has been finished for about 5 months, and it's still one of my favorites. Usually, my favorite is the one I'm working on now...
