I was in between painting techniques, searching for something new.
So I started painting with a potato. I thought it would be a good thing to put in between my clumsy hand and the canvas, distancing but natural, with a built-in pattern -- the unique lumps of each potato -- to lend a subtle consistency.
I would impale the potato on a brush handle, cover it with a thick coat of paint, and start painting. I had to replace the potato within a day or so, because it would get soft and start fermenting, giving off a vinegary odor.
Applying the paint was tricky: because the potato had some weight, it would push paint into ridges at the edges of contact, leaving the squirmy ribbons in the photo.
Great art is never easy, and neither is this mildly entertaining potato art.
Anyway, the actual painting had a quilt-like warmth to it, the suggestion of vines or veins (or genetic ribbons) starting to form a structure at the center, and some mild frenzy. It measured 48 by 48 inches.