So not having any idea of what I'm going to paint, I just take this paper, cut it to a size, and affix it to a board on my easel. 
  Then I get out some colors, mostly some primaries and started to put down some red, then blue, in a random fashion. I began to see a form, abstract in shape, but nevertheless a diverse form. So I went with that. I got to a point where it congealed to an interesting subject. Once I saw that it was of interest to me,
I left it alone to live. 

Paintings don't need finish, they need to take root in their own way. Once the work begins to live, its a fragile thing.  I hate it when I persist in getting in the last word on an already evolved piece.  Restraint from dabbling is necessary at this point, unless the intent is to dabble. 
Anyway, I called it,          
 "Configurations"
 8x8 inches
 acrylic on paper

Winter on Cheshire Lake
8x10
acrylic on canvas panel
$100
russpotak.etsy.com

Living near a lake in the Berkshires, has it stellar moments. Like when the ice fisherman are out on the lake as well as some ice skaters too. The low sun in the afternoon creates some beautiful patterns on the snow and ice. The mountains deepen in shadows and the sky turns a salmon pink and orange. This is my interpretation of that moment of the day as I was there sipping on my coffee.

Stretched this canvas by hand, and wasn't sure what I was going to do on it. It was last winter, and I was intrigued by the open barren fields just getting their first snow covering of the year. I kind of liked the way a lot of earth colors still peeked out and the bare bones look of the landscape. I did a quick sketch, then headed back to the warmth of the studio to work on this piece where a hot coffee was waiting.  I particularly like the way the colors play out on this painting. Some ochres, pastel blues and pinks, all in a low key palette. Like winter itself. Saying it with less. 

Winter Landscape

                                                                             16 x 20" acrylic on stretched canvas

                                                                              available through: russpotak.etsy.com

I wake up, make coffee, and rummage through my sketch book, or head out to get new sketches. It's certainly not rocket science, nor is it a major preparation process. I just see life and respond to it, in the form of a painting, in whatever way I have to. Impressionist, expressionist, abstract, etc. I don't spend a lot of time planning. I save that for grocery lists. So, I'll see something, or feel something from what I saw or experienced, and just start laying in some lines with paint or just painting randomly trying to formulate my vision. When I get to a certain point, where I feel its said, .. I stop. I am not one of those people who stop after every little facet is completed and accounted for. I don't want that. I want unfinished elements in my work. Its those areas that add mystery, exploration and life to the work. Why should I tell it all? What I leave out is just as important as what I put in. 

So, in this piece, I had gone down to the lake and did a quick pencil sketch... very loose, as to what I felt I wanted to remember in the subject. Then went back to the studio, and just started painting. A line here, a bunch of color there. All semi defined. Thats enough for me. 

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note:  This is just one way I approach my work. Sometimes, I have no idea what I'm going to do. I just start messing around with the canvas to see what develops. Some blue here, a line, yellow, a shape.. and so it begins.

This is a piece I did a year or so ago, maybe longer, but it reflects some of the things I sometimes strive for in making a statement in color, shapes and interpretation of a subject. I often, move back and forth in my work. Sometimes, more traditional impressionism, and sometimes on the verge of abstract expressionism. Whatever works. In this painting, I just wanted to incorporate a busy, lively, twist and turn little city with a lot of activity and angles, lines and shapes. 

Its an 11x14 on a panel 

and done with acrylics, paper, gel medium, glue, and whatever. 

Acrylic on paper

5x5" 

Shoreline 

Keeping the brush moving in this piece was very important so as not to let it bog down in a tired execution. I want the paint to live and not be diminished in any way. Overworking can make a fine looking crafted painting, but thats not my art. This is my art. I hope I can keep the two separate. 

"Road to the Other Side", 8x10" acrylic on canvas, signed lower left

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This is a rather somber little piece I did from a view just outside my studio, looking north up the road as it ascends up a slight rise. Nothing unusual in subject matter, ... and rather ordinary. But, I like its non importance although,  I decided it was important enough to paint.