Frances Dodd
Pueblo West, Colorado
719-547-0165
fran@francesdoddart.com
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Frances Dodd |
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Looking at a blank canvas or sheet of pastel paper on my easel sometimes feels as though I’m about to like jump into the deep end of the pool. There was a time in my career that I knew what the completed painting would look like and I could clearly visualize it. Now I never know where the painting will take me. I allow it to take on a life of its own and I open myself to the adventure and the journey. Working from a black and white photo allows me to explore exciting color choices.
I’ve learned to be less concerned about the outcome of the painting and now look for the discovery that might take place. I love the process of the painting, the joy of pushing paint or pastel around, developing lush color relationships and dramatic values. What initially attracts me to a subject are its shapes and values. I try to get beyond painting “things” and concentrate on “painting the painting”.
Painting en plein air is a special joy; there is no experience quite like it. However, I need to
occasionally turn my back to the subject so that I’m not tempted to become too literal in my representation of it. There’s such an overabundance of material, I need to edit and focus into the essence of what I see, not the details. I want to be aware of a sense of play as I paint and to know that I’m not in total control – and don’t want to be!While doing demos for my classes, my students are sometimes bewildered by the swiftness in which I paint and the spontaneous choices and changes I make. In most cases, the finished piece has only a minimal resemblance to what I was working from. I want to instill in them, and in me, that we’re not painting the photo – but creating art. I want to present an imaginative interpretation of the subject, my own personal vision, rather than a literal rendering.
I love that the journey continues. I continue to grow and my passion for painting never ebbs. The learning never ends, the destination is always before me and I never, ever “get there”!
Quoting Matisse, “I re-present the subject as shaped by my own vision and emotions.”