New works in mixed media

I have been working on some new pieces using print and paint and collage. In a way I like to work sometimes, I put the ink and paint on with no thought in mind, using brushes and rollers. Then look at the colours and forms and find the faces or figures in them.

In this series there emerged all sorts of figures, birds, strange creatures and faces. I used pencil or pen to just highlight the forms.

The brain is wired to see faces, so they often come first,  it seems almost miraculous when looking, finding other figures arising when moments before it was just a mass of colours. It is a particular way of looking, relaxed and not forced in any way, allowing the eye to travel across the page, and not all forms arise straight away.

These particular pieces have a folk tale sense to me. I will be continuing to work this way for a while.

The Wateland and Altered images

 

We are working on a project looking at TS Eliot's The Wasteland in Blank Canvas.  A poem, part of which was written in Margate, with Eliot sitting in the shelter at Nayland Rock, near the station.

The poem is rich in symbols, imagery and references, as far as I can tell, to much classical, literary, religious and secular thought.

The Wasteland would not be a choice of reading for me, but as an exploration in visual terms, I do find it interesting.

I've not tried to make any art using poems as inspiration before, so this is a new way of working.

Here are some altered images, working with ink on found images of land and seascapes and on paper.
I will continue altering some of my own images next time.

New paintings

I have been painting intensively for a few weeks now, and sorting more work for the Art Market in Maidstone  website here  on the 19th September.

I have been using a mixture of watercolour mediums in a series of  seascapes, watercolour pencil crayons, watercolours and acrylic. And using some very thick watercolour paper.

This paper means I can build up layers of colour and create textures and depth to the pictures, which I have been enjoying.

 

I've also been painting some more of my more stylized trees with bright colours, along with Avebury paintings and Cherry trees.

Experiments in photography for Mr Lion film.

We are finishing our project on Mr Lion at Blank Canvas with a film about this mysterious character.

 

All of us have different ideas about who or what he might be and have explored this through, sound, print, photography and other visual arts. This culminated in an exhibition earlier in the year at Turner Contemporary.

Following our explorations with Lucy Steggles, our lead artist and others, we have decided that Mr Lion is essentially ungraspable and this is what our film will be about.  At the moment all our photography and filming is being put together for an edit. And will hopefully be ready for a screening in the Autumn.

As part of this exploration of the ungraspable and mysterious, we have been using various props including, balloons, glass balls and shadows. I have enjoyed these experimentations and the painterly effects that some abstract photographs have. I can see more cross overs from these abstract works with painting.

Sketches of Margate harbour and beach, England

I have been back down to my local beach enjoying the bit of warmer weather we have been having lately.The colours in the sea were Mediterranean in places, gorgeous blues and greens.I took some photos and walked along the beach to the harbour.

I am always struck by how the colour of the sea changes constantly, it's one of my real pleasures and I can see why so many people love to be near the coast anywhere.

There are usually a few people around who are just looking at the sea like me, gazing at the waves and the ebb and flow of the water. We often just acknowledge to each other how much we enjoy our sea gazing, and sometimes I'm told about another beach. Apparently Broadstairs harbour is a great place for watching stormy seas and high waves.

I sat on the new steps by the harbour and focused on the patterns made by the sea and sand on the beach. I'd brought some water soluble coloured pencils and made some quick sketches of the beach.  I was just looking for the abstract qualities and the line of the forms left by the water and drying sand.

The paper cockled a bit with the water, but I was happy with the idea and will follow up with some more sketches and paintings.

A lone man came out with a shovel, I think he was digging for bait.