What is Happening Now?

This art-making thing is never boring.Just when you think you're sure where you're going, something new appears and all bets are off.A few months ago, I was happily exploring red - building up layers, creating depth, playing with the best contrasting colours - and I thought I'd be on that path for some time. But then Spring arrived and with it some new boards, and as soon as I started to work on those boards, it became apparent that something else entirely was going to happen.   These colours are not my usual colours and I don't usually work as wet as this (although things have been slowly moving in that direction for a while).But putting on paint in this way and with these colours felt so good that I decided to just keep going.This idea of following what feels good is such a revelation. As artists we sometimes feel we should be doing what doesn't come naturally - we think the whole process should be a struggle. But I believe that our intuition already knows the kind of art that is living inside us, and I think it's up to us to let it out.So I don't think we should overthink. I don't think we should make this harder than it needs to be. I just think we need to get out of our own way and let the magic happen.This is a little bit frightening.When we set out on a journey, we normally know where we are heading.But with a painting, I don't think we need to. I think we only need to know what we want to do next and make that move.Then we need to feel into what comes after that and make that next move.And then the next. And then the next.Sooner or later, we will arrive somewhere, and here's the thing ... it will be somewhere better and more exciting than we could ever have imagined when we started out.At the moment, I have a pile of paintings at various stages of discovery ... some are further along than others but none are complete. Here are just a few of them...This one is 3 feet by 2 feet - an unusual size and shape for me. I like the light and luminescence in this one but I feel it's a little 'light' at the moment - I'd like more depth to the paint. This is 3 feet by 3 feet. which is the largest size I can reasonable work on in my studioIt feels like it has the opposite problem - it needs more light and subtle colour shifts as it's all a little bit too solid.I like the drama of this 2feet by 2 feet painting, but again it needs more subtlety.There are others, each offering different opportunities and challenges.I'm excited to see where they go :)