Cindy Kane: Process

---

1 – I saw the image in my mind’s eye of the pile of stones, and it clearly needed something on the top, so I tried adding the bear, but it was too sentimental.

2 – I put the snow in to give it some complexity in the background, and to obscure the bear.

3 – At this point I was getting fed up, and it was feeling too much like an illustration in a children’s book. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) When a friend came over and said, “That’s cute,” I knew I had to get rid of the bear. It felt like something that was appropriate for a small watercolor, rather than a five-foot painting.

4 – I was getting back into the zone here. It was coming into a place I found personally gratifying. It was edgy. It was a little bit confusing, and I don’t know if I had the idea to put the fire in at that point.

5 – I wish I had saved this painting. I can’t believe I got rid of it. I think I titled it “Stack” or “Hot Rocks”; I can’t remember. I love painting

  fire. It’s very satisfying.

6 – Serious breakup. I painted the whole thing white so the shadow of the stones were still coming through. It’s like a relationship that’s over. I can’t say I regret it, because I absolutely love where it went when I finished. The life of a painting is complicated. It’s a real relationship, and it has stages where you’re simply fed up and you want that painting out of your sight.

7 – At this point I think I wanted to implement the look of a map over these abstract shapes I put in. The familiar visual territory for me is maps.

8 – I had the title “Black Places” in mind. I think I saw it, either through a novel or a book of poetry, or a New York Times article in regard to bombing zones. It was such a captivating title; the title guided this one. I was coming to the finish line, which is really fun.

9 – There are very few paintings where I can say, “I really know I’m done.” This is one of the paintings I can say that about. I know I will never work over this painting.