How I Finish A Painting and Some Thoughts on 'Perfection.'

'B Went Missing in the Land,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 70 x 50 cm (2018)

The posted painting is one that caused me so many problems! Some of my recent paintings have focused on creating a lot more open and 'quiet' areas but this one evolved quite intensely. In the end I decided to let it have its own direction and to consider it carefully for some weeks before making changes. Then a few days later a curator came to my flat to select work for a London exhibition and this painting was one of the works she liked! It just shows that artists are not always the best judges of their works. (She also chose another painting which I had been unsure whether to include in the selection! See below.)

'Landscape Poem,' acrylic and oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm (2016)

The paintings were exhibited in the offices and foyer of Gordon Dadds solicitors in Covent Garden, London, and the Private View was very well attended on Thursday evening with wine and canapes. The whole of the fifth floor was set out like a gallery and looked fabulous! (I will be posting photos of this event soon.) There was also a very beautiful catalogue.

Seeing your artwork on show always gives a new perspective on the work. It rarely looks the same as it does in a cluttered studio and I was pleased that it actually looked better. My paintings were set out in a white office with plenty of space between each one and the curator told me there had been very good feedback. I always find that a London audience has a wider knowledge of art styles and can appreciate the more abstract kind of artwork. I spent some 3 hours speaking about my paintings and my inspiration to people who really connected with my descriptions. I also took inspiration from a view of windows seen out of the large office window; different shapes and colours seen within each window.

On the way home on the train I was thinking a lot about my next body of work and about the idea of perfection. I used to strive for perfection but rarely does any painting ever meet my idea of this, or perhaps we fix our ideas too much on one specific route or how something 'should' look. Some paintings can seem 'complete' in their own terms; perhaps this is a kind of perfection. Most times there is a niggling part of the painting which causes endless re-consideration! As I often tend to get too obsessive about 'wrong' areas, it helps to start something new because this releases my fears and I feel unblocked. There is nothing worse creatively than feeling blocked.

'China Poem,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 70 x 50 cm (2016)

'Finish' is another concept which can block you. How do we know when a painting is finished? I can know with some certainty when the painting is figurative because inadequate areas will scream out for attention. But with abstract, which for me means expanding and exploring the language of paint, it is not always so certain or signposted clearly. Perhaps the best thing is not to think of these things, just to paint and let time be the judge. My husband has stopped me ruining many paintings by telling me to lay it aside for a while.

In An Ideal World Artists Could Paint Every Day

In an ideal world, artists would paint as many days and hours as they wished or needed. Most painters I know complain that they don't get the chance to paint as much as they need in order to push their ideas forward and I feel the same. I would love to paint 7 days a week but life obligations inevitably reduce those precious hours. There are various Admin jobs that you have to keep on top of: website updating, social media posting, applications, noting deadlines in my diary, etc. I hoped today to get the chance to start some new, vertical canvases but instead found myself bogged down in these Admin jobs!

Paintings that are going to London, to show in the offices and foyer of Gordon Dadd solicitors (Covent Garden) on Thursday next week had to be prepared and bubble wrapped. Frequently this means tidying edges of canvases, attaching D-rings and making sure the work is signed. Then I spent ages updating social media, my website, and sanding stretchers prior to stretching canvas. 

For this post I've added some photos of myself painting in my studio in Daugavpils, Latvia, during the Mark Rothko Plein Air residency in 2012. It was one of my happiest times because I had a really large studio and could spread out the canvases and work as I prefer; bouncing between canvases and letting each one send ideas across to the others.

I think the truth is that no matter how many hours we paint, we will always want more, and the Admin times can also be good for thinking about what comes next. While considering a new body of work, I have also been busy finding a Paris hotel for the forthcoming Salon Des Beaux Arts (Caroussel du Louvre) which I am taking part in (December 13-16th). Having booked both hotel and flight from Gatwick, I'm beginning to feel really excited. My hotel is near the Louvre and I can't wait to see all the marvellous artworks that will be on display.

Finally My Painting Is On Its Way to China!

Me with my painting just before packing

An hour ago a local transport company collected my painting for the first part of its journey to Shenzhen, China from the UK. I had been waiting a few days in mounting anxiety as the deadline was approaching and delays suddenly appeared. I am posting a few pictures of me with the painting, the packing, and the painting in the van.

We packed it late on Tuesday night, while CNN was showing the US midterm elections! It took about 5 hours, with metres of bubble wrap and foam padding, and the packing time was due to having to make sure the canvas fitted safely in the box with no chance of warping or rubbing in the case it was dropped, laid on its side or banged against by other cargo. In a very short time the carpet was speckled with pieces of foam as my husband cut sections to border the frame.

My husband is a much better packer than I am! Luckily I have a collection of packing materials and he chose which were the best for the job.

The box is very heavy and we could barely get it up the 10 stairs today and into the van!

In the van

Then I heard that it will go to Germany and from there on to Shenzhen, though I don't know if it will go by air or train.

I watched it leave!

The transport costs for the return journey are paid by the organisers of the event.

The Dafen International Oil Painting Biennale will be held at the Red Cube Public gallery in Shenzhen (November 30th-December 20th) then the Dafen Art Museum (December 26th- February 20th 2019).

I feel a sense of achievement about this selection because I began painting this canvas only 6 days after my mother's funeral on March 9th this year, and 5 days after I had surgery to remove a carcinoma from under my right eye (the day after my mother's funeral)! I even went to the doctor the day before I stretched the canvas to see if it would be ok for me to be stressing my incision by bending over a stretcher frame (you are meant to not exert pressure on the wound).

The painting is called 'Social Integration, Peace and Opening Up,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 140 cm