"An involvement with painting can best be described on many levels,primarily as a means of self expression. With Abstract Expressionism the task becomes making yourself evident through an unconventional dialogue; one of forms, balances, rythms and textures. And occasionally (in my case) the use of color. This is all achieved through the application of paint on canvas.
There are no intentional references to any concrete phenomenon, nor is there any subject matter in the traditional or academic sense. In fact, it is the total absense of subject matter that is the most compelling aspect of Abstract Expressionism. To me, this represents total freedom and unlimited possibilities; possibilities that I feel I could never exhaust. I find myself drawn to this, primarily for the reason that I have not yet learned how to deal with (in artitstic terms) this sense of freedom.
When I find myself facing a blank canvas, my first and only impulse is to get some sort of image on it, I become overwhelmed with a desire to keep working until the canvas is resolved or complete. This can take weeks, months, or years in some cases. My tendency is to re-work the canvas many times, with the final image looking nothing like the original.
My working process begins with no preliminary studies (this is something I have tried many times, but with no success) but what can only be described as the most vague impressions of what I seek to achieve with each painting. I can only liken this to trying to recall the specifics of a certain dream several days later.I feel much more comfortable working on larger canvases, which are tacked to a wall, then stretched upon completion. I prefer the feel of unprimed canvas to that of primed canvas. I mainly use latex house paint for two reasons, first is they dry very fast. If I feel stuck on a certain area of the canvas, I will either apply a large sheet of white butcher paper to that particular area, thereby rendering it neutral again, or aim a floor fan at the painting to speed the drying process. The second reason for the use of latex paints is economical. I use very large quantities of paint.....in one months' time I might use 10 gallons of paint. When I get the impression the painting is finished, I will take them down and roll them up....where they will sit unmolested for several months. At this point I will unroll them, look at them again and if I still get the impression of a completed painting I will then stretch them. Sometimes there will be slight alterations and on many occasions, they will get completely reworked. I have spent up tp 3 years altering certain paintings until I feel that sense of completion.
Many people ask about my use of black and white, or more to the point, why don't I include color in them. In paintings going back twenty years or so, there was color.....but I never felt quite comfortable using color. I was always more interested in the composition of elements. Or non elements in my case. My earliest paintings (most of which no longer exsist) were extremely colorful, and in the following years the colors toned down to earthy shades and from there to almost neutral shades. Black and white slowly took over, and I find it very challenging and rewarding to limit myself to these two colors. To try and conjure up the same response I feel from painting and the same response from the viewer with black and white is difficult. But, I feel with color, the painting becomes more about the colors involved than the actual painting. Or more simply, you notice the color before the composition. Personally, I feel that in some cases, excessive use of color becomes to decorative.....which I seek to avoid at all costs in my work. I've never been interested in perfection or beauty as it pertains to painting.
I have no formal art background, training or anything of that kind. I became interested in painting in 1984 0r 85, and very soon after it was at the forefront of my thoughts almost continually. I've had limited exposure in terms of shows, a few in Houston (where I grew up) and 5 to 6 in Honolulu, where I lived for a couple of years. For me, painting has always been it's own reward. I'm my worst critic and greatest admirer. I've never really needed the validation of having someone else deem my paintings worthy of showing, and conversely, I could care less if someone chooses to critisize the hell out of them. I put as much of myself into each one that is possible.....and for me, thats where it begins and ends. I have paintings residing in Japan, Honolulu, Tennessee Houston, Austin ,Fort Worth, California and Florida."
Ron Meeks
Ron Meeks
