The Paintings Limited to Red and Green
Five small canvases, each eight inches wide by ten high,
painted with pigments limited to red and green.
Not so big they become anything greater than poems,
looped ideas.
Not so large they become entities commanding veneration.
Last night I completed the one hundredth 8″ X 10″ canvas.
You already know the old color theory concept
that by using only red and green pigments,
the spectrum may be created.
Well, that is more or less true.
I am curious how you will perceive this series.
The pigments I employed were limited to red/green,
which will screw with the cones,
if left highly saturated.
Most of these are muted,
neutralized by mixtures of red and green.
As to why five?
I had one reason, or thought I had.
The reason is that five canvases is an arbitrary number
allowing a constant form,
within the confines of which I can work out
unreasonable thoughts.
I line up five blank canvases
painting them individually,
as if each canvas
is part of a single thought,
a visual Haiku.
One two three four five
Five words form this poem.
These canvases form one thought.
Red and green smile back.
I don’t paint / a bunch of / canvases and mix / and match which / goes with which.
I line, up five, apply paint, move on, when finished.
Red green reD GrEen RED
