Land Spirits

'Land Spirits,' ink and acrylic on watercolour paper, 28 x 38 cm

This is one of the works I am entering for an international drawing Biennial. As the deadline nears I have spent the morning framing the two pictures. Though the Biennial focuses on drawing, this can be in any medium and I tend to draw with paint rather than draw with pencils or charcoal. I used to do a lot of portraits when I lived in Cyprus using charcoal, pencils or coloured pencils, and it was always a good basis for observation. These latest works are more concerned with the flow of the medium and creating shapes and marks. After working on rice paper for several years I am exploring Chinese ink on thick watercolour paper. The response of the paper is completely different as the colour does not sink in to the paper as much. I like both papers, each for different reasons.

The title of this work refers to the eternal aspect of the world. The horses crept in because I wanted some animal reference in the painting and I like horses! There is also a slight reference to cave painting.

The deadline of this Biennial is near the end of the month and I should know the result by the end of June. 

National and International Applications

My large painting at Cripps reception area

It has been such a busy month with applications for exhibitions and making new work, along with sorting through my late mother's financial affairs and all the unexpected obligations that happen after a family member dies. My paintings, which had been on display at the Cripps offices, in Tunbridge Wells, have now been taken to the DMH Stallard offices in Covent Garden, London, along with some new paintings. 

My work at Cripps

My painting, 'On the Cusp of Memory' in one of the meeting rooms at Cripps

Along with two applications for international exhibitions, I have just taken part in an exhibition called VIBRANT in London curated by Art Number 23, which took place in an old Biscuit Factory in Bermondsey. The theme was colour and my work fitted well! I went to the Private View in spite of having a large bandage under my right eye where only two weeks earlier I had had a carcinoma removed (the day after my mother's funeral). But I never like to let things get in the way of pushing forwards with my artwork and exhibitions!

Me with my painting DREAM LANDSCAPE at the 'Vibrant' exhibition

'Dream Landscape,' acrylic on canvas, 50 x 40 cm

I also have my small painting on a postcard touring with the Black Box exhibition, an exhibition of work on postcards (250 artists, 22 countries) curated by Boecker Contemporary, (Heidelberg, Germany). This is the poster.

Here are some new works in progress, both abstract and figurative. The large canvas with figures, (100 x 140 cm) is being painted to a brief for possible inclusion in an international exhibition - I will post more about this later. One of the two paintings, 'Landscape Poem'  (ink on paper) is destined for a drawing Biennial in Skopje.

'Landscape Poem,' chinese ink and acrylic on paper, 28 x 38 cm

'Flooding down the Mountains,' ink and acrylic on paper, 28 x 38 cm

'Integration and Social harmony,' acrylic on canvas, 140 x 100 cm (in progress)

This last photo is not very clear but gives an idea of the painting in progress. I am happy for figuration to filter back in to my work, though like to overlap this with my abstract landscapes.

Finally, as I write this, I am also completing an interview for an online magazine called ART REVEAL, which will be published in May.