JIM CHARETTE-2007

Why August 2007?Well,August has been one hell of a month for me.I won't bore you with all of the details,as I have spoken about it at length elsewhere on the site but, I had to have some surgery done.Afterwards, I had to scale down the size of the paintings for the time being as,during the recovery period, I can't physically work on anything that might entail the raising of my left arm above my head for six weeks.So,I set myself up with a bunch of smaller canvases.I hadn't really worked on anything that small in a long time.Except for the collages I'd done not too long ago for an International Collage Exchange(posted elsewhere in the galleries).For the last couple of years I've been trying to find a way of bridging the gap between my drawings and my paintings.Not as easy as one might expect.At least not for me.To accomplish what I get when sketching in a mad frenzy of rapidly drawn shapes and line, that eventually form an image,with the sheer explosive release that is painting was near to impossible.I was in attack mode for both but the end results,however related,were still two different animals.But,as I sat down to begin the pieces you are about to see,something strange happened.I saw some of the drawings that I had left over from the collages and decided to try and experiment with them and do some mixed media work on my canvases.I know I'm not the first to do this but,it was a first for me.As I dropped that first cut up drawing on to that newly painted surface,it felt like somebody finally replaced that flickering fluorescent light bulb over my work space.I swear,to all things that I hold dear in this world,I then heard the music that announces that the film is about to start.I heard the last tumbler fall into place and the locking mechanism open to reveal the contents of the safe.I knew then that my muses,or whatever you call those mysterious strangers that whisper in your ears and fill your head with ideas and images,had just given me another ticket for the quantum shift train.It's been a couple of weeks now and I ain't heard any announcements that this ride is stopping any time soon.So,that's why August.....now,enough talk.More pictures.Enjoy!!