I've been working on a series of line paintings (similar to the aluminium works) for the past two years; based on a video again, but I struggled to find that ineffable something that a painting needs. Well I found it today - perhaps it was the gorgeous weather we're having here, perhaps it was the sound of crickets, or that my wife could look after little Emilie allowing me to 'get dirty' and not worry about having to change a nappy . . . whatever it was, I'm glad they're finished after 2 years of dabbling, wiping away and thinking they're finished whilst not being convinced that I could ever show them.
Today I basically glazed over a texture of lines (which I'd built up methodically over weeks, maybe fifty layers) and manipulated the drips. The fluid paint has now sunk into the textures which has emphasised the lines. As a result of the wet paint the surface seems to have great depth which will probably disappear when they dry; I'm reluctant to use a gloss varnish, so I'll do some experiments.
There is little I can do in the studio, that is, until I can move the paintings, which is good as I've got some reading to catch up on; I recently received in the post an M.Phil thesis written on the most active and shocking years of the camp, 1941-1942. Morbid, but interesting are photos of the incinerator (still standing but undiscovered by me) and tombs in the cemetary in the town of Rivesaltes. It looks like I'll be making another visit soon.
Images:
Jonathan Moss, 'Untitled (Working title: 'Argeles')', Oil, 2009. Photo: Jonathan Moss. Work in progress
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