Pre Nocturnes

This week I have done all the research ( love it ) for a project on, ' Nocturnes.' Love the start of a project, love the adrenalin rush, love the fact that as an artist I can dip into a subject just as deep as I like, usually just as deep to help the muse which, in turn, inspires me to paint what I like to my creative satisfaction ( not sure I explained that very well.)

So in these initial stages, I will tease out ideas, in words and paint.....try a few different mediums....a few different ideas.....look at other artist's paintings that I would consider, ' Nocturnes.' I use pinterest to collect the images I have found , so there's quite a lot of preparation, but I love that too.

The start of this project was very definitely images of the artist Robert Wellings. Love them. Although I couldn't see they were called, ' nocturnes,' that's the word that came to mind. Love Whistler's nocturnes. Anyway what do I think of when I think of the word nocturne......evening.....dusk.....moon....moody......often poignant......often misty.......trees....landscape......

My favourite Artist's for nocturnes...
Whistler
John Felsing
Alan Rankle
S P Goodman
Lisa Breslow
Robert Wellings
Carlos San Milan
Laurie Steen
George Clausen
Christopher Volpe


I also massively thought I could paint to Chopin's nocturnes. So, I have been listening to his first Nocturn intending to paint it today. That will be this evening though because I have also revisited a few Daily paintings today. Love the paint ! Have ordered some easy Chopin nocturne arrangements because I haven't played the piano for a long, long time and my fingers kind of tuned into Cumberland sausages when they touched the paino keys !

Mmmm.Not critiquing these until I have done 10. Try rectangles on paper/ watercolours. This one was 12 inch sq. Acrylic on cotton covered board.

The ones below I have done mainly with watercolour and sumi ink. I am trying to be kind to them and not critique them yet.....they are around the a4 size...

I am just now into the second Nocturne...didn't really want to leave the first....love it !

These were the first 9. I have settled out to the a4 size which is ok. Thoughts this morning that I would do 10 inspired by each Nocturne.Try it. Then I could perhaps do one finished piece on a 12 inch board. We will see. I like the small , watercolour and ink ones but hate the framing...anything to do with glass really, I don't like doing the framing or transporting the framed pieces with glass in. Ugh. 

So critiquing the first 9..... They are too dark together....they are too intense together....they are moody...don't feel poignant ( well a couple do maybe) they feel about shape. I like the fact that they are abstracted....some feel dramatic....keep going .....

Try...... After the Chopin Nocturnes try doing some to , for eg, Em and Em... They should feel edgier.....the Chopin Nocturnes feed my already present Romantiscism.....

.......

I am a Daily painter and have been since April 2014. I started the Daily paintings to;
Help my landscape painting progress ( tick )
Help me produce a new body of work ( tick )
Help me increase my online prescence ( tick )
Help me increase my income from my art ( still working on this one )

When I had the idea to do Daily paintings, I massively thought it was a good idea but when I did my research, I realised there was loads of Daily painters across the world ! He ho. Anyway, now, it's completely second nature to create a Daily painting and although some days there is an element of churning out a painting simply because I am a Daily painter, in the main I have massively benefitted from this discipline in terms of painting. It has helpled me be more confident in paint and it helps me be freer and bolder in paint. I love it and I love the fact that at any given time, I have a massive resource to draw on. I regularly paint over old Dailies and I often create new work incorporating the apparently unrelated underpainting. He ho . These were reworked Dailies that I have done today, looking at a kind of Davy's grey colour.

52 cm sq. Acrylic.

52 cm sq. Acrylic.

52 cm sq. Acrylic.

Even though I wouldn't call these nocturnes, I can see that the research I have done for the nocturnes has a presence . Interesting !

Back to Poem Lines

Procrastinated today....it's a recurring theme with many artists, but not usually me. Because I have been working so small, I had slightly lost confidence in working big (33 inches square,)Interesting ! Because I am a Daily Painter, the issue of confidence doesn't really come up....I know that I will produce something on a Daily basis, even though that might be painted over along the way. Sometimes there is an element of churning out , ' anything,' to ensure that I do produce a painting but that is more than made up for the fact that it is a habit now, something I love and feels very natural. Interesting....well, to me anyway. I know that my painting has massively progressed since I started painting daily.

I have been painting the backs of paintings, putting mirror plates on etc. getting the paintings ready for delivery to Hope gallery, Redbrick Mill, Batley.

This is today's Poem line. Love it NOW! Will see later. It was painted over an old one and I need to edit my Pinterest account to reflect that.....the painting that it was is no longer !

These were the words....
Want some drama
Want some grey
Just put the paint down and something will come
Try different colours
Try navy blue
Landscape definitely coming
Try pink...ugh....cover it up
What is is about the landscape that does it for me ?
Love it
Got lost and forgot to record tha words but there were lots of ugh, ugh !

Sometimes you get there when you swipe your brush accross
Did I get drama ?
Undergrowth
Some turbulence
Love it ...fuss..argh
Too fiddley
STOP
Drips overtaking
Don't mind the brushstrokes

' What is it about the landscape that does it for me ? '

This one I did in the week. Dave in his Davy Crockett period ! We did ink on gesso in the Artgroup , looking at the work of Jinny Greyson and when I mentioned Davy Crockett. They all sang the theme tune of or the programme ( before my time ! )

Going to try and catch up with the dailies tonight.....I have been to trying not to do any more for the , ' My North,' series but maybe should stop fighting it if I am still interested.

Phew...rusty fingers in the , ' My North, ' pieces. Trying for a beach theme today....but as always, the paintings go their own way and although I might well have started out painting my husband on the beach, it's ended up as an older lady cleaning ! I am dyslexic in paint...I cannot remember how I have painted them before, what the process was ...I can get what colours I used but not really how I got the image....I just get lost in it and then it becomes an image....with ease sometimes but with the opposite
also. These are the words that came while I painted....mainly my memories of my childhood times on the beach or on holiday

Burying Dad in the sand
Always ice cream, so,etimes with sand
Always tea....many cups
Once on the beach , you stayed on the beach...ALL DAY...regardless of the weather
Loved the paddling pools
Always swimming caps, even in the paddling pool
Mmmmm

This was my brother on the beach, it was way before I was born....I don't know which beach but he appeared to have his school uniform and cap on ! 

Loved the concrete paddling pools....sitting on the steps with all the other children and Mums

This went it's own way....May need more work....the focus of the painting seems to be the bucket.Mmm

Try again !

My North display in the a Art lounge.

This one has stayed with me most of the week. Couldn't seem to resolve it. Therefore , my answer to that is to leave it alone, live with it, come back to it each morning with fresh eyes.Mmmmm ! Had a massive go at resolving it today. I love it ! TODAY. Will see tomorrow.....

I like.....the space.....the quiet.....the neutral notes, yet the tiny splashes of colour ( splashes is the wrong word ) the glazes.....( there are many )........

I put up a small display of textures at Emmaus. Liked that, but I have gone off doing the textured 

work.

Got this frame from Emmaus on Friday. Love it. Trying to incorporate into a , 'My North, ' display. Thought I would paint the Artlounge chimney breast wall charcoal grey and place the frame up with the small work in it, either dangling on string ( think annette Messager ) or just a line of them. Try it.....

Working on the , ' My North , ' display in the Art lounge ( back room, )  painted the chimney breast wall in charcoal grey ....still working on the rest of the display.

My Art house

Studio ( front room )
I work from home because I like to be warm. I miss an Art community and I miss using oils ( Dave has asthma so I can't use oils at home ) but overall, I love working at home.....I am reclusive....
Current series of work....

NORTHERN TEXTURES
Different sized pieces layering up and deconstucting old pieces. Initial plans are to do 10 large and 10 small before reviewing it.....

MY NORTH
A series of 100 small pieces, 15 cm. sq. remembering my childhood in the mills and hills of the industrial North, in addition to a wider observation of the North, it's people, it's landscape, it's towns.
Finished the 100 pieces , now exploring how to display them. Love the Northern cabinet, trying some more displays along those lines....

POEM LINES ( DAILY WALKS )
A series of large , contemporary landscapes in acrylics, 33 inches sq. This is my current work and I have completed 15 paintings.

This one side of a poem line and below is the other side.

DISTILLED PAINTINGS
Calm, gentle paintings 52 x 35 cm, displayed in my French room as a wrap around, butted up to one another. Although not specifically about France, they do remind me of the many Summers in the South of France. Special places.

DAILY PAINTINGS
Since April 2014 , I have created a Daily painting. The first year these were mainly contemporary landscape paintings 52 cm. sq. And then in subsequent years I varied the size and subject matter, often 15 cm. sq.

SKETCHES and CARDS
A large selection of sketches, often made into cards. Various subjects....landscapes, abstracts, faces, figures, flowers...I love it all !

Being a Resident artist at Emmaus Mossley

Emmaus Mossley is a Community for previously homeless people. The Companions, as they are called, live and work at Emmaus , earning a living by recycling donated furniture and bric a brac.Emmaus is an International organisation. It's wonderful and I love it.

I asked Emmaus Mossley in 2001 could I have a studio there ( I was at Uni then, needed a studio, and this is a big old mill practically on my doorstep ! ) they said yes, providing is started a weekly Art group to help the Companions integrate with the local Community. I am still there, running the Art Group . I have a space in the showroom to display Art, my Art and the Art group and I have organised a couple of Pop up galleries there.

Emmaus also now employ me to run a weekly Upcycling group. I started that 3 years ago and love it. We have a group of around 20 volunteers who come each week to up cycle furniture and bric a brac. We paint, decoupage and craft items to sell in the showroom. I love it, well we all love it. The volunteers work hard,have a laugh, keep me on my toes and bring in an income for Emmaus Mossley.

I feel humbled to be involve with Emmaus Mossley. I listen to the Companions stories and have learned over the years, that it's often a very little incident that starts a chain of events where they end up without often a relationship or home. I feel very privaliged to be involved in a Community where everyone supports each other, Companions, staff and volunteers, well everyone really.

My most favourite display of my Poem lines.

Emma us Art group does contemporary landscapes.

Pop up galleries in the , ' glass room.'

Upcycling display. We can't upcycle it quick enough.

Bags from rags display...

Love it all !

Northern textures

This week I have been looking at textures made with paper, tissue, toilet paper, old paintings. I often return to texture without ever really resolving what my interest is.....I dabble in textures, go do something else, dabble again etc....Always though each week , the prep I do for the art group informs my own work to a greater or lesser extent. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I was looking at the work of David Tress and Rod Ashman, both of whom manage a strength in their work that is often missing from mixed media or textile pieces. Often, I think, textile artists put too much texture in....you can have too much of a good thing and I think you need an area of calm in order to focus the viewers eye on the texture...I don't want to beat you over the head with texture....

This was the first one...Mmmmm...determined to be kind...

Like the layers

Like the colours

Like the fact that there are areas of calm

Like the bits curling up..

I mounted it on an old frame which really enhanced it...

This was the second.....size 24 inches square ins finished size....I wanted grey.....I again mounted it on an old frame......i liked...

The subtlety

The colour

The bits overhanging the inner frame

The glazes ( May do more )

This was today's piece, size 28 inches sq., painted on an old painting already in a frame....it seems easier to create them on an already existing frame.....to allow collaged pieces to , ' escape,' the frame.I liked.... The textures, the tissue, the colours, the size.

I liked them considering they were 1,2 and 3 of this series.Try 10 and then critique them.....

Missed my small , ' My North, ' images ! Might have to have a little paint this evening......try to paint daily on a large scale every day but then just paint a fe we smaller ones in one sitting.Mmmmm.

Almost there with the hundred My North pieces

Rainy Saturday !
Now painting on the backs of the bigger paintings. I think I need to paint bigger on a daily basis....it's very hard to paint this size once a week and I know how much my painting progresses if I paint the same size daily.Mmmmm. Found the bigger piece really hard....kept changing what it was and I left it to dry a coupe of times. Will live with it today......

Far, far away....

If I am being kind to it....I like....the drips...the scratches...the sky...the size....

This was the re paint of the first one. I kept some elements of the original but like it this way for the 

moment. I would prefer a little more of an abstract quality but can't get it yet. Try again !

This was a very poor photo of the other side of the painting. I painted over that this evening. Loved it....well loved painting it....

If I am being kind, I liked...the space in the painting....the colours....layering the dark navy blue over the dry pink sky....the browns, layered with purples....we will see tomorrow...maybe neither is finished but maybe I will do an A side and a B side painting....you could get it framed then as a double sided painting...it would have to be displayed on an easel though cos you couldn't string it , could you ? Research Charles Conder ( around the turn of the 20th Century ) and back to Alan Rankle whose work does it for me 

This was the re- paint of the reverse side of the first one. Like it......for the moment.....like the idea of a double sided painting with maybe an A side and a B side.....or a double A side would be better because I keep changing my mind on which side I prefer.......

.........

These are this weeks dailies and I am so nearly there with the hundred pieces that I said I would do for , ' My North,' project. Will finish them this week and then select out the ones that I want for

myself and my family. Maybe I need to about twenty more to take account of that...

Like the abstractions....you actually don't see many abstractions under the heading, ' Northern Art.'

Buses definitely too Northern but enjoyed doing them....

Cut down and worked back into older work that was larger than the 15 cm sq. When I started at first I worked on some larger ones that weren't fully resolved, but I made the decision to keep to 15 cm sq because.... They remind me of the photograph size and I felt very strongly that was what I wanted....small...intimate...no big work under this heading...not interested in larger ones...for the moment.