Saturday 26 March 2016

Daily walks

Well I had two 33 inch boards prepared and lots of photos from the walks this week. Trying to continue from the Poemline series. What was I trying to do ?

Well paint more literally, less abstract.
Work from an image of an actual place
Bring the techniques from the Daily painting into the bigger pictures.
Try to express my feelings for the landscape within an hour.....why ? Because, as always,I prefer an immediate response to the landscape. An intuitive work, less about consideration, more about response in paint. Mmmm. Not much to ask.....she says

What did I like ?
The process. Love it. Love layering the colours, reacting to the paint etc.love watching it go it's own way.

What did I think of the image ?
It was ok. Maybe a little cool. May try to glaze some warmth in it when it's all dry.

What didn't I like ? / What was hard ?
Working from an image. I only worked from the image initially, then moved away from it. I still know where it is but I like the fact that it could be a few places, anywhere.
I was very conscious about the paint going everywhere .... Need to cover up stuff and the carpet ( I work, by choice, from home, even though there is a massive mill nearby, Woodend Mill, Mossley, full of artists. It's cold though. I had a studio for a good few years there .)
The time it takes to prepare the boards but am fussy so I need to do them myself ( I don't work on canvas because my painting process is too wet/ vigorous. )
It was hard to bring in the techniques from the Dailies.... Just simply because of the size. I am sure I
will get used to it though.


This was the photo ...the finished piece went it's own way ......






The image looks different on the ipad than in the Artroom. I had to take the painting outside to photograph it... The light was going !

What next ?
Try another tomorrow. I need to be focused , to prepare for doing the painting within an hour....it's just the same as the Dailies when, at the beginning, I was trying to get them down in the half hour.



So, today's challenge was to create another Daily walk painting within the hour....trying to get one that was lighter than yesterday's, that seemed a little somber . I managed to paint it within the hour and make it a little lighter but I didn't like it at the end.....look again tomorrow. If I think of it as a 
sketch then I can live with it.....because I was trying to also do a painting that was a little more literal then that put extra pressure on me. Remember  , I couldn't do the Daily paintings within the half hour at first......Try again .......

The photo .....


The painting .....again went it's own way. Maybe it might be a good idea to do some small studies of the subjects.  Ughhh.....rather do my own thing......







Below is today's ( Easter Monday ) Daily Walk. Seems a little yellow now but wait until tomorrow. Maybe it will just go in the , ' to be painted over pile.'
Mmmmm....try again.....





Sunday 20 March 2016

Poem lines continued

Another week gone by. Good week in paint ! Put up the display of paintings at Emmaus Mossley. I picked the dark grey without trying my paintings on ..... Took a risk but loved them on that dark background. The letters above the paintings I just enlarged and narrowed Times New Roman letters and cut them out in mountcard. I then just painted them with black masonry paint because I wanted a mat finish. The paintings are priced between £100 and £120.


Thoughts.......
Hard work but rewarding.
I had painted these for our bedroom but my husband likes a more literal image, so will have to paint some some more !
Couldn't get them to match up or relate to each other, needed more time. Try that again though.



Back onto smaller ones this week, using my words rather than someone else's poetry. Enjoyed them, as always and tried different colour mounts...... Overall though with the new background colours they look a little pretty. I din't want pretty. Try some grungier colours.

Thoughts
How many do I want to do? .... although they are enjoyable, I would have to sell them for around the £5 mark to make it worthwhile. People though still see them as cards, rather than the paintings that they are. Mmmmm

Sunday 13 March 2016

Poem lines...the bigger pictures

Lovely week in paint. Did have a few wobbles thinking the muse had deserted me....or was that just my need for a bit of drama.

So, trying to make bigger pictures from the 50 little landscapes......Mmmm. Thoughts.....
Cannot cover the whole painting in one as I would with the small ones....
Have to think a bit more about what goes where, so a it more deliberate thought about the work
Haven't got enough boards......hate going to B and Q need a PA
Have to reorganise work space to cope with bigger pictures. Mmmmmm



The notebook there is to capture my words as I paint. Think I need to do 50 more little landscapes with my words on .



Have been trying to eg the bigger pictures to but up to one another as these three do. But they are going their own way and not matching up ....he ho.....it's not really that I want them to match but rather that I want them to relate to each other so that they can but up to one another to make a big big painting.





It did strike me that the paintings that I do for the Art lounge ( my relaxing space ) need to blend in to the surroundings and add to the feeling of calm in the room. I never want drama in a painting for the Art lounge. It might well be different when I display maybe 5 or 6 on the Art wall at Emmaus .





This one I did before I started collecting the words.



Poem Lines
Listen to the paint....it tells a story of 1,000 decisions.
The landscape makes you cry.....or is that the paint
I'm looking for something elusive
Quick to scarper away from the day
Can't write quick enough
Where are we going
Where is it going
Paint drying
At certain times in the day space is required
Sometimes there is a need for horizontals
At times it's got to be dry

I like an uncertain outcome

The same landscape here a time gone by 
Parts of the same landscape

Mmmmm



Poem lines
Space as always
It's just me looking for the drama
Lost the muse
Remember it doesn't work if I try to match them
Paint them and then relate them
Love the paint
Don't block yourself
The landscape is a feeling
Just one little brushstroke and it goes a completely different way
The small marks add to the bigger picture
I like the they move in and out of the paint

I like the different perspectives





Of course there are too many words.... they will need editing to be of use......but I don't really want to write poetry.....

Poem lined...the Bigger pictures.....' the colour's there, we just have to look. A side. ' 33 inch square, acrylic on board


Tuesday 8 March 2016

Final 50 Little landscapes....love them

These are the 50 Little landscapes. I loved them. I shared the process with the Art group last week and they made their own. Loved them too. It was interesting the varied interpretation of both the images and the calligraphy also. Mmmmm. Work on the calligraphy.









Got the grey sugar paper I used to mount the work from the Yorkshire purchasing company. Liked it.

Worked on the bigger paintings and changed the display in the Art lounge. It changed the flavour of the room completely.it seems more of a grown up space now ( maybe because I took the fairy lights down. ) am working towards putting up a display of the bigger pictures up at Emmaus.

Changed the painting on the chimney breast ( re painted an old one ) This one has almost very little content ... Just seems about space.....but that's ok . If I display the paintings butted up to each other with no space inbetween then I will need some with less content and more space.

Re painted over an old one to produce this one.I don't mind it but it doesn't match the others. Maybe they don't need to match so that they become one large piece, maybe they just need to be related.

What to call these bigger paintings ? 
Weekly paintings
Big sketches
Bigger pictures ( working title )

Jeanne Myers has paintings that she calls Friday night practices ... Love the idea of that....love a lot of her work.....

Mmmmmm .... Love the art.......