Oil and leaves on board

This next image is a work in progress, mainly drying time so I can add more leaves. Because my last painting was quite dark I wanted to lighten this one. Again using two shades, but this time red and yellow only, I spread the paint with thinner but left the paint quite thick in places. I added some leaves, more paint with some white this time, then more leaves on top. I want to build up the leaf section to depict trees stood together.

I got a bit lost for awhile trying to figure out want, why and how I wanted to paint. I was dabbling in too many different styles but not being comfortable really in any of them. Out of desperation  (I guess you could call it that, now I look back) I returned to the oil on board I started awhile back but had got stuck on.I created a 3D scene predicting fairies with fancy dress animal heads having a boat race. Made from oil paint and mixed media it has a clumsy, childlike yet innocent quality that makes it rather endearing. This was, in a way, my turning point.
It started to allow me to show a quirky side to my character. I got pretty good feedback so I was happy.

Sticking with fairies I played with ideas on small canvas boards, using acrylics, inks and pipe cleaners.

It was advised that if I wanted to paint in small detail, then try using MDF board as it has a smooth texture compared to the grainy texture of canvas.

This next image evolved from Simon wishing his team - Nottingham Forest - would win 10-0 every game. 'Fantasy Football'  is on MDF  61 x 91.5 x 0.6 cm using acrylics. It depicts a bunch of football fans going to watch the match on a big screen TV. In this case instead of using public transport to go to the pub, the fairies gather in the forest and their mode of transport is the tree fairy; from stars to fairies with one swish of her wand.

Got good feed back overall, they liked the idea of looking through and particularly the detailed crowd in  front of the TV. It was advised not to put writing in as this makes the image literal instead allow the viewer to decide for themselves what is going on. Need more work on the technical side as well, which I knew, but this is a successful picture for me because it allowed me to be free in style and subject matter. Being introduced to and looking at work by artists like Herni Rousseau, Martin Maloney, Paul Noble, Mamma Anderssen and many more, helped me understand that this style of painting is an acceptable genre.

'Money Tree' - idea came from Rebekah asking me for money and my reply being 'you would have thought money grows on trees'. Although technically better than the above, it is again too literal and runs the risk of being an illustration rather than a painting. I needed to decide whether I wanted to paint or illustrate.

It took me awhile to work out the difference, it is just supposed to be humorous and an exercise in improving my skills.  I understand that perhaps without the two boys pointing out the obvious and more time spent defining plus some luminosity, it would be a painting.


This brings me to the two paintings I have just finished. 'Hope' is the 'Storm' painting that was unsuccessful last time. I backed the canvas onto the same size MDF as the previous two images. I really love the colours and textures on this image but knew I had to give it a twist, something I could talk about when critiquing it at uni. This time it is definitely not literal because everyone who has seen it comes up with something different. Saying that, I haven't taken it to uni yet so we shall see what is said then.

What does it say to you?


This next painting is my most successful I believe. I started to use acrylic mediums to achieve different textures with the paint; iridescent for the lamp, super heavy gesso for the trees and sand gel for the path. Looking at it, it reminds me of life and the journeys we take. Going to see the Bridget Riley exhibition definitely had an effect on me.

 My favourite bit is the fire flies, they finish it off nicely.

'Storm'

Creating the painting below was great fun. I found that I got completely absorbed into it as it progressed because I had no particular image in mind when I added the oil paints to the surface. I started off with randomly adding blobs of two shades each of; blue, red and yellow, then washed with thinner to spread the paint around. Once the whole surface was covered I used various objects; a comb, a pine cone, a roller and wood to create marks in the image. When I was happy with my mark making I finished off dripping shimmering ink on to it. Stepping back is when it's title came; 'Storm', that's what I see. The beautiful colours created by a storm out at sea. Different people see other things in the image and thats good because it makes a person stop, look and think.

'Auras'

'Colour In Art' by John Gage is an interesting book, hard going at times but pretty insightful. The part that caught me was chapter 6, Can Colours Signify? Here he talks about colours having a roloe in our lifes, take for instance; flags.The colours symbolises different concepts for different countries, i.e. national flag of Saudi Arabia, green often appears in the flags of Islamic countries because of the strong association of the Prophet Mohammed with this colour. The inscription reads ' There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet'. Whereas the green of the original Mexican state tricolour was glossed as symbolising independence from Spain. Nowadays the green in the Mexican flag, like the Portuguese, expresses hope, a concept taken over from the colour of hope among the traditional Christian theological virtues.

The Aboriginal flag symbolises the people and their land. The flag, introduced in 1971, four years after Aborigines gained Australian citizenship, has become a powerful political symbol in much non-traditional Aboriginal art. It introduces three of the four 'traditional' colours; red for the earth, yellow for the sun and black for their black skin.

Further on in the chapter Gage talks about man's aura, introducing C.W Leadbeater's 'Man Visible and Invisible' and William Blake's 'Albion Rose'

Leadbeater's 'Man Visible and Invisible' 1902.

Blake's 'Albion Rose' 1796.



This got me thinking about trying to describe my kids in colour; their auras. I started with Rebekah who can be basic described as reds, yellows and oranges as she is loud, fiery expansive, flamboyant and full of energy. These are some colour studies I did using oils and mixed media.

This is a typical look from madam, she was having an attitude problem that day lol.

To Jane

Hope this artist is of some use to you :))); Katarzyna Gajewska.

Sigmar Polke

Sigmar Polke, the translation at the bottom is; "Higher forces demanded:paint the upper right corner in black!" 

'Journey'

As I am exploring colours I decided to do an interpretation of Ludovico Einauld's 'Nuvole Bianche'. Using colours that symbolise certain emotions, I depicted a spiritual journey I took and a philosophy that I live by now; 'Whenever you're in a dark place, look for the light and follow it. It might at times become very dim, this is because when you are faced with problems that need to be resolved. Afterwards the light becomes bright again and the emotions become clearer to understand, which gives you strength and hope to keep going till you reach the end and come out into the sunshine.

This last one is the finished painting

Classical Music

These are two of many pieces of classical music that I love to listen to whilst painting.
This first one is by Frederick Delius and it's called Koanga 'La Calinda'




This next piece is by an amazing pianist. Ludovico Einauld plays 'Nuvole Bianche' which is the theme tune to England '86