Distilled landscapes

Revisiting all the, ' Distilled landscapes, ' well that's the plan. I put these up in a spare bedroom and over time odd ones have gone to new homes and the rest need repainting. It's really just the odd one that I won't touch at all, like this one, that I like every time I go into the room.

It feels more floral that a landscape, but it was created as a landscape. These were the others, all 52 x 35 cms. Acrylic.

Space, calm, grey, cool.

Love the drips.

Poor photo.

I didn't want one big landscape picture...I wanted them to be individual pieces but also work butted up to each other.

 The new wall in the bedroom, complete with sign made by printing out the letters then cutting them out and sticking them on mountboard.

Quiet landscape. Second series

Often , when I have done a series of paintings, I am eager to go somewhere else with them. Not so the Quiet landscapes. I still feel quiet and want to be surrounded by my paintings of Quiet landscapes. We will see then if I make another series of them.

Colours that are quiet ? Grey, white, cool colours ore than warm. Interesting to think of colours as , ' quiet ,' or the opposite.

I revist all the time, adding layers to the old paintings. I win some. I lose some. That's how it goes. And I like paintings almost that I ink are finished but that I don't really like, so that I have nothing to lose on revisiting them, making them bolder....or quieter dependant on my mood.

I have been influenced by the bright Spring light today...gorgeous walk...cold though. So the go to colour today was a very pale cool ice blue. Gorgeous. In revisiting the two paintings today, I put the paint down and then wipe it off. Repeat as many times as needed. You can never wipe the whole layer off with acrylic...it's very sticky paint so always some remains unless I swill it with water.

The colours seemed darker on the photographs , darker than the actual a

Painting.

I might have thought these were finished at one time...but clearly not today. 

Scratching into the work often with a printmaking tool that looks like a weapon gives me a time out and stops me putting the paint down too quickly .

Thesea re both my preferred size 52 cm sq. 

Going to have a full paint day tomorrow, have a display todo put up in huge Art lounge ( back room)...a deadline is often good for spurring me on....

Landstills 2

I had finished the display in the Art lounge ( back room ) ...a display of , ' Quiet landscapes, ' and enjoyed them. Quiet, reflective, calm, peaceful. I liked the atmosphere that the paintings helped to create.

I never would have thought to put two paintings together on the chimney breast but I really liked them there.

The board in the corner holds 15 small canvases...well, paper mounted on canvas....still working on the framing of the work on paper.

Quite a lot of the paintings have gone off to Silson Contemporary, Harrogate this week for a show in May. Sarah Collier of Silson contemporary visited this week to select a collection for the Gallery. So I will just have to paint some more. And I don't feel quite done with , ' Quiet landscapes, ' yet.

This was another Landstill. What did I want from these....well a kind of snapshot in paint , a, ' zoom in , ' on the landscape. I wanted them to be abstract and I wanted the paint to , ' flow.' It's hard with this 12 inch size to achieve any kind of, ' flow, ' try again...

I tried to introduce some darker tones and a little more texture...I just need to do more of this size.

A try at a 17.5 x 52 cm piece. Try again.

Landstills

As an artist it's so important to avoid preconceived ideas. You have got to challenge yourself constantly to produce something new, try new ways of approaching your paintings, new media, new sizes of work , new colour pallette, new anything.

With that in mind , I have been trying to work with different sizes of board. That was so hard for me. And very interesting that it was so hard. I do get used to the same sized board....mainly because I repaint the boards I have over and over, so I am going to get used to a particular size.

With this series I thought I would return to look at the small 15 cm pieces I create as a sketchbook really and try more conciously to work them up into larger pieces. I have made some 12 inch sq.  And 2 inch deep boxes and would like to get my work to flow on this size .

Overall it was hard ( I don't mind that it was hard, I always know that I don't want easy and I always say to myself that number one of a series may be rubbish but number 10 might be worth waiting for !

These were the words that came to mind as I painted.....
Between the hills and the clouds
When I look at this landscape of mine, it looks so different... ( what I mean here is that if you look at or take a photograph of the same area of the landscape throughout the day, it chances so dramatically within half hour ....snapshots of the landscape...landstills....

' Between the landscape and the sky,' acrylic, 12 inches sq.

' Gently distilled,' acrylic,12 inches sq. ( this one was a rework of one from a few weeks a go that never made it .....)

' Bringing the sky down,' acrylic , 12 inches sq.

Words....I like the ambiguity....they all seem so serious.....I think doing them small, I am trying to include everything when I can't, I need to zoom in....are cool colours more serious ?....

' Between the trees,' acrylic, 12 inches sq.

' Landstill ,' acrylic,12 inches sq.

' I like the random marks that are part of the process,' acrylic, 12 inches sq.

Random words....landstills...snapshots of the landscape....I like the random marks that are part of the process..distilled landscapes...cool...texture...quiet contemplation...too much clutter...brought the sky down...flat skies...the landscape element needs to be distilled.....

' Include everything, ' acrylic, 12 inches sq.

' A snapshot of my landscape, ' acrylic, 12 inches sq.

Put them up in the Art lounge ( back room ) so living with them now.....they fit in and compliment the quiet landscapes on the other walls.....love the room now....my, ' Summer exhibition, ' in the Art lounge.....calm, quiet, reflective, still....I love how art has an energy almost of it's own, how it can create an atmosphere in a space.....Mmm....so lucky to be able to do this....maybe I should paint some of my landscapes on the cushions ( Caroline Lingwood comes to mind .... Research....) And the whole display is crying out for some poetry....research again.... 

Quiet landscape 3

Quiet week this week. Appropriate since I am doing a display of Quiet paintings ! Trying to redo the Art lounge ( well back room ) so lots of sawing wood for the frames for the back of the pictures and lots of painting backs of pictures and putting strings on. Lots of work but a neccessary part of being a painter.

This is one wall of the Art lounge , the backs of these paintings not yet finished.

This is the chimney breast wall, I had just by chance put the two paintings up but really liked them together on the chimney breast. Another part of the room done ...tick

Trying to get subtle texture by putting the paint down and then pressing the towel on top of it.

Below the finished painting....it's cold though so I may well warm it up somehow tomorrow. Missed the paints this week ! Will have a paint day tomorrow.