John Storrow

  Let it go. Turn it loose. Whatever that thing was you wanted. Let go of the need to be perfect, forget about salesmanship, don’t worry about pleasing your audience. Just drop all that exhausting s**T. Do it now! 

  The other day I decided to take my SK to my new sailing spot on the Emerald Necklace muddy river here in Boston. I got there shortly before 8:00 in the morning because the forecast said pounding heat later in the day, but a cool breeze in the morning. I decided to bring my folding chair and sit comfortably while guiding my SK (Stuart Knockabout model sailboat) through the mirror smooth water, under some shade trees, using my radio for rudder and sail control, like always. There were lots of different birds up and about doing their morning thing in the trees, large fish jumping near the banks, and even a turtle peeked its head about a half inch above the surface to see what was going on. Meanwhile, as still as a statue, on the other side of the river, a heron stalked its prey. Drinking in all this nature was great nourishment to my soul. I think my SK liked my new sailing spot too. She glided fast in a surprisingly steady wind. She did her gorgeous dance on the water. I took some ...

  This painting is called “Exactly the right wind direction” If the wind shifts even a tiny bit, you won’t be able to see the sailboat through the port hole. It’s 11 x 14, ink, acrylic, and oil on panel. I guess it’s another experiment to do with precariousness, which is way more interesting to me than still images of still objects that never move. It’s the implied, suggested, potential for physical movement, in a still image, that gives me a dopamine rush. 

  This story has a happier ending I hope, perhaps it will come to me after I write this first part. The other day I was scrolling through Instagram yet again, feeling bored, un-inspired, disconnected from the world, generally disillusioned. This happens often, I just let it take its natural course and observe what happens next. Maybe go play my guitar instead, or watch a movie.  So I came across an ad on instagram for a book you can buy that teaches you how to forge “Connections” with viewers in order to have a “successful” career. I already knew what it probably said. Go be socially connected so your work can be socially connected, the book probably said, in my mind. At the same time  I have also lately been reading about the Buddhist teaching of “no self” I take this idea to mean that there is no permanent self identity that people have, because thoughts are like clouds constantly changing, and that awareness is the key to happiness. Perhaps being socially connected is ...

  For this painting, which is another 11 x 14 panel, I again wanted to explore the possibilities of implied movement in a still image. My deep passion and understanding of the sheer physicality of things is the way I connect to the world in a primal way.   This  painting is also another “Miraculous alignment” because, as you can see, the hang glider just happens to be in mid air in perfect alignment with the top deck of the catamaran, a bit like an imaginary photo. I don’t know what it means on a deeper level, maybe it has to do with wanting all the parts of the  world to fit together and make sense, perhaps through the magic of a cartoon (painting) 

  This painting was the result of much thought and sketching. Can you make out the thin blue racing stripe on the two wheeled machine? It’s another one of my “Miraculous alignment” pictures. It depicts the precise moment, in my imagination, when a two wheeled machine holding four cups, is in perfect alignment with four cups that are hanging from above. To make it even more interesting, the ones hanging down are balanced on a curved sculptural form, which is supported by a tall cone on a floating ship. What could possibly go wrong with that you ask? Absolutely nothing, it all worked perfectly at the right moment, even though none of it ever actually happened in real life.  I don’t know, maybe this miraculous alignment thing has something to do with how life is so complicated and confusing, and nothing seems to come together the right way when you want it to, except you can make it happen magically in a painting.

  I did a re-hang in my studio with a collection of recent things. For a while I’ve been thinking about how right it feels to be circling back to doing the kinds of things that I did before all those “realist” paintings. There is something about tapping into the vast library of possibilities of the imagination that excites me more than simply recording and copying something from the world. The best part is, I’ve internalized all the things I saw in the real world visually, with the realist paintings, and added all that to the library of my imagination. Needless to say, reality and imagination can go hand in hand.