First Float
©1989 Craig Ashby
12” x 18”
Oil on Paper

First Float is an attempt at making marbleized paper. Another piece I don’t actually remember making. Maybe a found piece or maybe I vaguely remember making it as though I am coaching myself to remember.

It’s obvious why I love it. A melancholy underwater landscape. Something alien and purely a chemical and physical process left untouched.

Note that this wasn’t the goal. Google marbleized papers for the intended goal. This is not those unless you calculate that history of abstract expressionism and action painting.

Sometimes things just are. They can just be. Sometimes I just let things be.

Even when those things are a part of me. If they are personality traits that seem unchangeable I leave them be. Best to not start a war.

At this stage it is more about discovering how to surf this experience. Riding with grace and confidence is far more important than a petty Pyrrhic victory. Smoothing out the rough bits while still respecting the fabric, that’s the key.