Thoughts of the Sea

January 16th, 2024

The inspiration for my series of small works, "Thoughts of the Sea,” originally came about one gray, drizzly, winter day. I was daydreaming, recalling hot sunny days at the local lake, watching distant white sails slowly move over the sparkling expanse of water. I was not occupied at the time, so I decided to whip out a little canvas and see if I could turn my vision into reality. My goal was to create this work as much from my memory as possible. I did take one look at a photo of the lake (black and white so it wouldn’t affect my memory) to remind myself of the topography. I then put the photo away and commenced painting. I mixed a variety of colors on my palette, for the water, sky, and land, trying to match them to the image in my mind. Once I was satisfied with the various mixtures I commenced laying paint to canvas. 

Personally, when I'm executing works like these,  it's important to not overthink the process, but rather let my intuition take hold. With no reference to compare to, there is not the same sense of “right or wrong” I usually feel. These paintings are my chance to let my creativity have free rein.

I continue to experiment with different tones and hues of color, shifting paint till I feel satisfied. 

(Once the painting reaches a certain point), there is little rational reasoning that leads me to this feeling of satisfaction. I just add little strokes here and there and eventually the painting gets to a point where it feels complete. It's a mysterious thing. 

For Distant Shimmer it really all came together when I added the patch of glare on the water, and the highlighted clouds. When I stepped back to evaluate the changes, the painting had popped into focus and I laid the brushes away. 

The beauty of these small “memory sketches” as I like to call them, is the ability they give you to really embrace the journey the painting takes you on. There is no reference to compare with, just a relatively hazy memory. The end result usually differs somewhat from the initial conception, but if I feel that sense of completion, I’m satisfied.

This article delves specifically into Distant Shimmer, though the process was very similar for the other works in the series. See below for a little note on each painting.

Dominic Keim