A day of painting Hand of Destiny, an idea from years ago which I've painted, very roughly, twice before but was never happy with it.
It original idea was about information and entropic decay, holding on to something that is disintegrating. It had gold writing along the right edge, but I've never painted that version. The idea also seemed to be about new growth and destiny too. There is a definite element of time, the drips and decay of the past, but new shoots of the tree object. The composition itself seemed somehow odd, too simple. I have added a phoenix here, an echo of the tree. I wonder if I could or should paint the original idea too.
I've felt very tired when painting, I feel exhausted, and at every break keep wanting to sleep. I can reflect on a productive 2021 so far, with three album releases, Fictive, as well as some other software updated, and many paintings so far.
Scott Walker's The Drift arrived today. It's a good album, perhaps more easy on the ear than the similar Tilt. Both are heavily focused on words, the melodies are not pronounced or strong, and without the lyrics it would be difficult or impossible to discern the meanings and themes of the songs. These are almost like avant-garde operatic performances of wavering, almost monotone, vocal lines with sound effects every so often. There is drama in periods of silence and loud noise but this is so unexpected that it's not really a climax as such. Most of the words and phrases repeat often. The downbeat material, blackness, and monotone reminded by of David Lynch's Crazy Clown Time. I was also reminded of Francis Bacon's paintings, there is a lot of meat, bone, dirt, ugliness. There is intensity, intelligence, artistry, perhaps it lacks moments of beauty. Perhaps the source material isn't supposed to be beautiful, but, even ugly subjects should be, I think.
