From Studio Notes, February 2006

◄  #6, February 2006 
February 26, 2006. Oakland.
Night.
Yes, I will never let go, Baby.
Your weakness unto death, and my promise “‘til death do us part.”

This painting will show the foundation of our tower. The steps are simple:

1. Build the space (the “atmosphere”).
2. Construct the tower (reveal its base and strength to rise).
3. “I will not let you go, I will not let you go.”
4. From here below, show there above. (If you do that, there’s no turning back.)

I began by carving a small diamond for the star—but it was immediately  too big and misshapen. Spray the dark, horizontal haze over it, and try again… but use two drops Hansa Yellow Light worked with the finger into a circle beside the hollow where I had carved the star. When I looked afterward, I saw an empty ashy reliquary in the shape of a heart in the hollow of where the star had been. We pass away, these remain, what we built below and the sun above, what we built to show the way and the sun to drive us on.

5. It shows my male will and the power to achieve it.

Painter’s note: Yes, it proves that the image is embedded in the process of its making—the facture of the paint is essential to the realization of the work.