When I squirted this little blotch of paint on just now, it didn't land exactly where I thought it would, and I didn't get to make the exact stroke I thought I would, but that reminded me of a paragraph from the liner notes to Miles Davis' classic album "Kind Of Blue" (which everyone should own, by the way). In the notes, pianist Bill Evans said this:
"There is a Japanese visual art in which the artist is forced to be spontaneous. He must paint on a thin stretched parchment with a special brush and black water paint in such a way that an unnatural or interrupted stroke will destroy the line or break through the parchment. Erasures or changes are impossible. These artists must practice a particular discipline, that of allowing the idea to express itself in communication with their hands in such a direct way that deliberation cannot interfere.
The resulting pictures lack the complex composition and textures of ordinary painting, but it is said that those who see well find something captured that escapes explanation."
The first time I read that, many years ago, it made a profound impact on me. I just thought that was absolutely brilliant, the way he went on to compare that to the improvisation the musicians did on that album. I always wanted to attempt some project in which I could incorporate improvisation (at least to an extent), and I think that this is that project - maybe the first of many.
Today's stroke wasn't exactly what I had planned, but like the Japanese painting, and, well, life in general, you've just gotta roll with it and see where it takes ya! Toodeloo!
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