On Painting Part Two

Image: Ken Kewley, Cherry Cheesecake with Pear, 2000, Oil on Panel, 8 x 10 inches

From an interview with Ken Kewley on Painting Perceptions Website

I tend to like paintings where the abstraction is strong. By this I mean that the paint, the colors and shapes, are distinct, like strong actors in a play. Going towards abstraction does not mean going away from representation. It is more like describing something real by other means than illustration. It is like describing an apple with your hands, forming the shape in the air with your hands, by enclosing an imaginary object with two hands. You do not try to make your hand look like an apple. Paint takes over the role of the hands and does not hide the fact that it is paint. Painting is talking with hands made permanent.

In painting you never do what you set out to do. Something else happens. If it always turns out right you are probably doing something wrong.

Do not try to make a picture of something. Make something.