Cindy J Sullivan

Boy with Hawk and Pond paintings by Cindy J Sullivan

Ideas change, they grow, they evolve, they die out and if they are unresolved, they can come back again. That is what happened while painting. My attention reverted back to an unresolved series of work that I was previously working on, but set aside because I wasn’t sure what to do next.

The other day I sat down at my worktable, pulled out some painted paper scraps I had been playing with and just let my mind quiet itself while arranging the paper. Before I knew it, I had about 10 studies to be explored.

I think that was the lesson from painting these fractured images - to quiet my mind. Painting your own variation of a master’s work is good practice to not only explore new ideas and learn different ways to solve visual problems, but to not think so much about “what it means” and to just let your mind be quiet so you can enjoy the moment and work without being critical or over intellectualizing.

I think creativity is eagerly waiting for us in the pause, the moment between moments. It’s good to understand art history and how cultures approach creative expression, but when it comes right down to it, it’s between the artist and the moment.

This painting is in progress, I’m about 2/3 done and have work to do on his face.

It is based on a print by Choensai Eishin (1789-1801). He was influenced by Utamaro and the lives of the young people of the era.

Hawking was a popular sport during Eishin’s time among the warriors and aristocrats and gradually became popular among the bourgeoisie and was a frequent theme of prints and drawing.

In the original print, the artist showed aubergines and Mount Fuji on the falconer’s robe (or haori). These, along with the falcon were symbols of good luck, peace and prosperity in the year to come.

Boy with Hawk by Cindy J. Sullivan based on the print Falconer by Choensai Eishin

Term Project - The Three Sitters by Cindy Sullivan

based on the print Three Famous Beauties by Kitagawa Utamaro

Deciding what to paint has never been an easy task. Narrowing down your ideas can be even more difficult, and when you start painting those ideas and finding out they were not quite what you wanted to paint, can be enough to make you put your brushes away, start the process over.

In my attempt to create a cohesive body of work, I’ve begun to paint 100 fractured versions of Japanese and other master prints and paintings (copyright free of course). My instructor, Jef Gunn, at PNCA (Pacific NW College of Art) who, upon seeing my term project said, “paint 100 of these and you will find something there”.

Why paint from these? Because I think the old masters have a lot to teach those who want to listen. Why fracture the originals? Because my goal isn’t to create a likeness, but to focus on the shapes, space and colors (hey, even Van Gogh and Picasso did this). To make up my own story of the painting and the people. Plus, I want to see what happens and maybe I really will find something there.