Cave Paintings!

Starting a new series inspired by a short video i watched the other day.   There is a 500 m cave system not far from where we live, apparently it's the longest cave in Nova Scotia!   A truly remarkable video...looked so crazy and scary....way deep down in the plaster mines that are abundant here on Cape Breton Island.   At points the guys exploring had to crawl thro a space that was only about 2' high.....talk about claustrophobia!!!!  sure won't find me anywhere near the inside...but i got some great ideas for paintings!   I only spent about 30 minutes on this one....i seem to have the notion that i need to spend at least an hour on an image or it isn't 'done'!!!  where do those self imposed notions come from???   I also discovered something else today...something that i've been very aware of - i love doing these abstract images and seem to find the most juice here...but!!!!   there is a little voice in me that tells me i "Should" be honing my skills in the 'realism' world!!!  This will make a 'better' painter!   So i looked thro all my 'potential painting subjects' file and found an image i loved...from Cuba!!!  I set myself up to go at that image....after 10 minutes i felt tired, bored and just couldn't find any juice!   After a short break, up went this piece of paper, with gesso and ink under painting and with the idea of starting with a feeling of inside the cave, i took off !

the extra is where it began.

Rosapina paper, gesso ink and pastels.  14" x 20".