Sunday, May 25, 2014

A PAINTING'S CAPACITY TO APPROVE OR VETO: AN ARTIST'S PROCESS.

 
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/the-blank-canvas.html
New stretchers [Belgian Linen] 
Please read my previous post called The Blank Canvas
 
So, I am painting...the large stretched canvas in the photo above. The two photos below show early stages. I am now working on more colour, more impact, light and shade, depth. It's a constant state of wonderful problem solving.
 
 
 A preliminary coat of paint
 
As I work, the painting 'speaks' to me. Yes, truly it does! It can veto my ideas! It can also 'grasp' my hand with approval! It can pose questions too. This is when I place the in-progress painting in a position where I will see it when I walk back into the studio...and then I walk out. I do other stuff, like write a BLOG post...and later when I return to the studio, I see the painting with fresh eyes. Sometimes I rework an area, other times I see something new, and on other occasions I fall in love with the painting...until it 'asks' me more questions I cannot immediately 'answer'...and I walk out again!
 
Yes, it is kind of like a relationship...
 

And, subsequent layers of paint.

Sometimes people ask me if it is hard to see paintings go ie: sell. Hey, no! I am happy they find new homes. It's a thrill to walk into someone else's house or business and see one of my paintings. Truly a thrill!
 
I also have them hanging in my house. But, they get changed very regularly as they go to exhibitions, competitions, sell etc. The photo below shows you how my work looks hanging in a domestic situation. Don't you just love the 1970s wood panelling! Actually, I have grown to like it a lot...time has given me plenty of space to get used to it. Funny thing is, it would have been very expensive in the 70s. I did not put it there...the previous owners did.
 
 


But, getting back to the work in progress above.

It's a large painting, at this very minute leant up against my car parked in the carport, so that when I walk back into the studio [aka garage] I can see it through the open garage doors. Yes, I had reached a point where too many questions were muddling me, so I walked away...and I am writing this BLOG post.

I am actually looking forward to walking back into the studio. I have been painting long enough to know that the process is exciting. The problems are never really that bad, because the process gives me strategies to deal with them. Long ago when I was younger I would wipe out, tear up, get angry and frustrated...but with age I've learnt that the impasses are just as creative as the moments and hours when everything falls into place.

The new painting will be themed along the lines of the thoughts I expressed in my last post Prelude To Landscape And, I am happy to report that the painting is not vetoing...it's just asking questions!

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com




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