What phase are you going through?
I thought I was stuck because I didn’t want to do anything radical but I knew it wasn’t finished. …
How to keep feeling it.
I have a group of 40 cm square pieces on the go ,which have stalled a bit. I was finding it harder to get into them emotionally because they are on a smaller scale
It’s OK not to know, you know?
I am OK in principle that these paintings will show me the way when they are ready... To be honest though, the uncertainty is uncomfortable .
What exactly are you trying to do?
I have been working on some larger canvasses recently which are 60x60 cm. This week I have reached a point. I’m happy with where they are, but I know it’s not enough.
All gone back to blue.
I decided to park colour for a while and concentrate on how I put the paint on. The marks that excite me are dynamic and immediate.
Beyond the blue and orange.
Colour is important to me. When it sings the painting is going well, the marks look terrific and I’m feeling good. So if my painting is going to be about colour then I need to get better at it…
Playing with space.
I have used the difference between thin and thick paint to make the surface interesting, or really to make it disappear, which is more my preference.
Just add water.
I have been working on adding glazes to my repertoire. A thin layer of transparent colour over the top of thick paint. It is not a complicated process, no mediums are needed you just add a lot of water.
Colour that works.
I love colour. I love bright colour. A recent collection of my landscape inspired paintings was zinging off the walls. I have a problem with colour.
A series of small boards.
When I decided to work in a series, or rather to work on several panels at the same time, I didn’t realise how hard it would be at first to keep myself at it.
Playing with paint.
Playing with paint is surprisingly difficult at first. I found it hard to cover the board, to use the paint thick enough while at the same time enabling it to flow.
Let’s do it.
This is one of the first panels I painted. I limited the palette to red, yellow ochre, black and white. I was concerned with design and didn’t want to get into colour too much yet.
Process stories.
My new process has to be about exploring. I am looking for something. I need to set up good conditions to allow me to come into my studio space everyday and do that.
What’s next?
I needed to find a new way to paint. What would that new way be like? I needed to look inside myself and work out what I loved to do, what I wanted to say, and cut out everything that wasn’t about that.
A new way to paint.
At the beginning of this journey is a feeling of dissatisfaction with my art. I had been making increasingly abstract paintings inspired by the Dorset landscape…but in the end it didn’t feel exciting to me to paint.