I told a friend that this year I've slowed my internal pace down to create a few larger studio pieces, from quick plein air studies.  She responded that yes, she did think my work had "matured" !!  It's a tad funny, considering that I've been painting for nearly 50 years, now.... 

So I began to wonder, is a relatively quiet painting considered more "mature" ?  Or is it deep space that we believe is maturity~~ because of that long distance perspective?   The painting above is full of motion and complexity, and it's rather close up.  It's the deep truth of my present moment. But does that make it less "mature" ?   I don't think so.

Good work does take time, but do we have to pretend it didn't, for the art to be "good"?  Or must I pretend it took me hours and hours?  I don't believe that I need to tell a viewer how long a painting took to make;  that focus completely misses the point, and yet it's nearly always the one question people are curious about when they see me painting outside on site!  "How long has that taken you?" 

Many folks don't really appreciate  the maturity it takes to be aware and in control of a moving, complex scene.  A painter is like an orchestra conductor, especially in the final stages of a painting.  So perhaps a large piece is akin to a symphony.  Plein air paintings feel more like jazz improvisation. They're done in one take, under a couple of hours of weather & light conditions.

I have chosen to do plein air landscapes, and to avoid still lifes, because I prefer finding that point of concentration within motion~  on my feet the way an athlete thinks.    Life is ever changing, and since dealing with this can be a real challenge to finding inner calm, I've worked on this, studying and practicing nearly all my life. In my twenties, several difficult losses left me in need of deep healing.  I found that doing mindful bodywork was essential to healing--exercise, Tai Chi and Qi Gong and yet the truth embedded in building those positive synapses is momentary. I tap into those circuits when I paint, if I am mindful and the quality of my attention is good.  There is no substitute for the art that follows hands-on engagement with a task.  

If you ask me how long a piece took, I'm likely to say "a lifetime"