THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 28th JANUARY 2021: DAY 305

On my easel No 19. Working title: "A Sign of Life."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm

'On my easel' is a series of posts that I am adding to the Self-Isolation Residency Blog which will consider a current painting which is within days or sometimes hours of completion. This isn't quite the same as 'work in progress' as many of the pieces under consideration in this category may actually be complete already. These are generally going to be works which I am reflecting on for one reason or another and it is these needs for reflection which are preventing me from 'accepting' the work as complete.'

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 28th January 2021.
Part 18: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion. Describe what you actually see?.'

Illusions of what? Is all painting surrealism? Have painters always subconsciously been tapping into their subconscious?

Although it can be argued  that many paintings attempt to portray the ‘real’ world as accurately as the artist is skilled to do, it can also be argued that the artist will always attempt to improve upon reality; if painting is just a record of life that a photograph will do just as well. If this desire to improve, be it conscious or subconscious, exists where does it abide? Surely the answer must be in the imagination, for we must imagine something before we can create it.
 
To be continued…