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The Artists Almanac
January 2004
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January is the hinge
of the year.
Resolutions are only a
sterner name for plans, and this is the month for those.
As dark days and
weather limit our activities and force us inward, we turn to
thinking, reading, and our seed catalogs. Here our gardens grow
without weeds and we are given a respite from bugs, sweat, and
mowing the lawn. Obligations imposed by the sun don’t yet burden us;
even the early peas don’t go in until February.
With Christmas past,
the dark quiet forces us to introspection, Florida, or interior
work.
For the artist, it is
the month of the studio. Except for those hardy few who prefer gray
skies, monochromatic palettes, and snow, obligations to paint
outside are no more. Like playing golf in the rain, it can be done,
but the results are not worth it. Especially considering the
alternative.
For now comes the rich
harvest of ideas and motifs gleaned from a busy year. Reference
material is sorted and sketches are realized in living color.
Briefly, now, light comes within our control, and it is a good
season for portraits.
No more racing the
changing light, but the long winter night with steady illumination
in which to work a theme through to its resolution, or abandonment.
Then, when we least
expect it, we enter the zone in which a chance splotch brings out
the meaning of the thing.
At that moment, we,
like our ancient ancestors, know in this dark season one sure thing:
the weak sun which skims our southern horizon will return one day to
warm us and to grow the seeds we plant in January.
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