Salmon Head with Bees (homage to Hokusai)

Salmon Head with Bees (Homage to Hokusai); R Williamson; sketch on glass, 4/25

I often take pictures of pieces during the creation process. Sometimes I do it so that I can recall later how I arrived at the final work, and sometimes I do it to preserve the memory of something that I liked; something that I know might change unrecognizably before the end of the process. Something that I might want to revisit.

In this case the early stage of a painting on glass including the detail shown here which draws on a print by Hokusai of a salmon head with two mice. Since I’m working with bees, they take the place of the mice despite their diminutive size. This went on to be fully painted but there is something about the simplicity of the drawn and only slightly colored version captured here that I’ll be coming back to. And yes, that is the actual shadow of the drawing that appears in the photo, as the glass is separated from the wall behind by about an inch.

Some version of this will be included in my upcoming show at Perry + Carlson in Mount Vernon this May.