Gary Buckendorf

Make Do #33
28 x 36 
Chalk and charcoal on paper

Every day I awaken to a task in which process offers renewal. I get the materials and the marking tools.  I screw the canvas or tape the paper to the wall and start like I'm doodling. With the first mark the rules become apparent; “ don't put it in the middle.”  “ Don't put it on the side.”  But lopsidedness can produce a useful dynamic in the picture. To me these are obviously the rules of the abstract expressionists, which have a place in art history but before that were part of natural history. And so my work is part of nature as are the residuals of my daily life. 

I obsess about the fabulous, endlessly varied and renewing, enthrallingly beautiful paint strokes, scuff marks, and smears and gradations of charcoal and chalk.  I envy the chalk and charcoal their contact with paper. I want my relationship to the work to be as intimate and surprising as theirs.