PARTISAN REVIEW
as a point of departure. I even used some spilled blackberry jam
in
one
case as a beginning; I drew carefully arouna the stains and made them
the center of the composition. The slightest thing served me as a jump–
ing off place in this period.
"And in the various paintings I have done since my return from
•
Palma to Barcelona there have always been these three stages-first, the
suggestion, usually from the material; second, the conscious organization
of these forms; and third, the compositional enrichment.
"Forms take reality for me as I work. In other words, rather than
setting out
to
paint something, I begin painting and as I paint the
picture begins to assert itself, or suggest itself under my brush. The form
becomes a sign for a woman or a bird as I work.
"Even a few casual wipes of my brush in cleaning it may suggest
the beginning of a picture. The second stage, however, is carefully
cal–
culated. The first stage is free, unconscious; but after that the picture is
controlled throughout, in keeping with that desire for disciplined work
I have felt from the beginning. The Catalan character is not like that
of
M~aga
or other parts of Spain. It is very much down-to-earth. We
Catalans believe you must always plant your feet firmly on the ground
if
you want to be able
to
jump up in the air. The fact that I come down
to earth from time to time makes it possible for me to jump all the
higher."
212
