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I believe, great paintings contain mystery. They don't tell the whole story, or give away the ending. They provoke thought and opinion, stir emotions, evoke ideas, spark curiosity.

More than getting good at their craft, I believe artists ought to strive for this mystery, to share a vision without making it obvious, otherwise the work becomes unstimulating. Our minds enjoy puzzles, to solve and figure things out. We like to share our views about what we think about a thing in contrast to what another sees and thinks. This is what I believe humans do.

One way mystery is created is by obscuring details when painting with haste and bravado. This is how I like to paint. Slow and steady and I muck it all up with too much detail and information. Then it's boring. Beautifully rendered copies of photos are mundane. They lack mystery though they impress with the artists' ability to make an exact replica. To that end, I don't like photorealism, though I like hyper-realism and photo manipulated images when there's mystery in the work. A beautifully rendered representational realist painting done from life with abstraction, imagination, or complex with symbolim is fraught with mystery ensnaring the viewer into its enticing narrative.

For the last 6 months, I've been lacking in ideas due to exigent responsibilities and unexpected challenges. I haven't found anything inspiring or there isn't enough time to dedicate to making art with mystery in them, so I have been experimenting with abstracts while waiting for something to happen...

Yesterday an old time friend inquired about a painting I did of him 12 years ago because he was interested in purchasing it. As I suspected, I discarded the painting during yet again another move 3 years ago, but I looked for it, just in case. What I did find instead, is a stack of beautiful figurative paintings and drawings I did 15 years ago when I used to spend most of my time at my work. I struck me as I noticed how I was advancing significantly as an artist at that time and had a clearer vision of my direction. I can only imagine what would or could be had I kept on this path and not allowed the demands of life to eat away the hours I seemed to have to dedicate to my art.

I can try to allot and carve out time, but with all the best intentions and assertions, I suffer from the inability to make this happen. A woman I met when I took her painting workshop has realized this entirely. After years of taking care of the home, her husband retiring and the kids leaving home, she made an agreement with them and her friends and is now dedicating her life to her art. Without this agreement things would fall apart, causing mayhem all around her and people going uncared for would disrupt her creative flow. She is making beautiful work imbued with mystery.

The thing for me is to find a way to make the best work I can, in the place I am, with the time I have. Among the work I found during my search, were life drawings which I greatly enjoy doing. I love to draw and don't do it enough, so it occurred to me to create paintings from these simple quick (2 to 5 minutes) life drawings. I wish to find a way to tap into this deeply buried inner voice which has been lying dormant and frustrating me for some time. Using the skills I've gained from painting abstracts over the last two years, I may find a way to delve into my concealed imaginary world.

While I'm at it, I encourage you to look for mystery; you may find it in the most unexpected places.

Until later, be kind and be well.

Hugs,

Elsa

PS (I don't have any of the new mysterious figure paintings available to share just yet, but I do have these small 7 x 7" oil paintings done on Yupo, a synthetic 'paper' and mounted on 10 x 10 warm white birch panels. These are available at $300 each, unframed. Click here to view the full series)