Grids

THE GRID and WHY I USE IT

The grid, by its very nature, unifies disparate parts. When speaking I interrupt myself, so for me, working with the grid comes naturally.

In the grid there is an element of ‘play’; it can feel like a puzzle. Also, for one so confined to structure on a 2D surface, it has a sense of freedom. It is a way to release energy - move around more; keeps me going - getting ‘bigger,’ expanding in a new way. One of the first grids I painted is titled Improvisation. I just constructed it as I went along.

Howard Gardner, (Project Zero On Creativity), suggested taking a new seat. I told the instructor I wanted to ‘get off the track’ after working in the same process for so long a time. He said ‘most people want to get ON the track.’

As I was preparing the jpegs of this work I thought of something I never connected with in this way: my father’s jewelry store. In a statement about the Pawnshop series of paintings, I called the store my ‘art school.’ One reason is because the merchandise was displayed in grid formation: boxes of guitar strings, guitars nailed to the wall in rows, rings and watches displayed in trays in grid formation.

Yes, I do believe that ‘creativity’ springs from one’s early beginnings.