Part of the work I do as an artist is to make "portraits" or compositions out of paint color charts using the names of the commercial paints as part of the process. Sometimes when I am having a particularly difficult time focusing my art, I go to a hardware store and spend some time at a rack of paint strips reading paint titles and examining colors. I know that if I allow myself this little space of time I will be rewarded with some provocative connections. I can't explain why but I get a great mixed sense of peace and anticipation there. Using pre-existing, manufactured objects, as the "stuff" out of which I make art is a practice that for me goes back to graduate school in the 70's.
