An Artist's Ideas and Inspiration Going Forwards in to 2020

'Lemba Dusk,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 22 cm

My first post of 2020! I'm going to write about some of my painting inspiration and potential 2020 exhibitions.

This has been my first chance to write because I've been busy submitting work for 3 opportunities so far this year; one in Germany, one in Bangkok, and one in the UK. These have been quite complex submissions and some have required several PDF documents, long descriptions of past projects and numerous image files. This is the life of an artist; juggling making the artwork along with seeking out opportunities and applying to them!

'Dusk Birdsong, Winter,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 22 cm

Currently I'm applying to 3 more opportunities and one painting residency. There are numerous opportunities out there on the internet, or if you sign up to newsletters, and the main limits are how much work do you have, do you have time to paint something for a particular theme, and how much does it cost?  

I feel that certain opportunities here in the UK are very exclusive - they say they are also for unknown artists but when you see who is selected you realise that they already had some artists in mind, either known through various connections or whose father is a well known artist. A little research backed up my thoughts on this when I found that a so-called unknown artist who was picked for a group exhibition in London was already many months earlier being 'followed' on social media and commented on by the 'hosts.'  It is certainly not an equal playing field: although I've exhibited internationally for some years now I've never been able to get a certain local news/arts publication to write about my participation! So much depends on who you know and who they wish to promote!

So far this year I've not done as much work as I'd hoped but today I've begun stretching one of several canvases. I'm back to working with oil again, though some of the posted work is acrylic.

Summit,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 30 x 22 cm

The posted paintings:

1. 'Lemba Dusk' is about that magical moment in Cyprus when dusk dissolves recognisable forms into a haze of sunset colour. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been inspired by memories of coastal sunsets in Paphos and the way the land and sky become one colour!  I've watched these sunsets many times and this painting is about the small buildings, vegetation and various elements melting in to the warm colours of dusk.

2. 'Dusk Birdsong, Winter' is about the melancholy sound of winter birdsong. I've listened to it many times while I've walked back out through the forest at Burrswood when the sky to the west blazed with the last warm light and the shrill, plaintive notes of the birdsong seemed to hold an anxiety about whether the light would come back. I chose colours with references to light, and the pure colour touches are my idea of birdsong notes cutting through the fading light.

3. 'Summit' is a painting which was different to the other two in that I had no theme in mind. The summit refers to the accumulations of paint going upwards as I struggled to find a form for the paint but it could also be a landscape.

More to be posted soon.

New Work - New Opportunities

'A Journey Through Paint,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 95 x 54cm

My diary for this coming month is full. It is getting to the point where preparing work for shows, and doing all the admin work and website updates, social media updates, and all web-related, promotional admin is taking over from actual painting! But these two paintings are some of the recent work.

I have to deliver two paintings to the Llewellyn Alexander gallery (London) in May, for the NOT THE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION, and they are still not framed. I am showing some work at The Art Pull gallery, in Tunbridge Wells (Kent, UK), in the middle of May. I'm entering a portrait for a portrait exhibition, which is a long shot as it will be very competitive. I haven't painted a portrait for a while and it was a very interesting thing to do. Also I have several applications for exhibitions pending and I am still planning a show in Cyprus with a friend, though currently we are looking for a venue.

'Paphos Walk,' (2) acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50cm

My work is still hanging in Camden Quarter (Tunbridge Wells restaurant), and every time I walk past the bright colours catch my eye. I think they catch everyones' eyes as they walk by!

I have also made a few updates to my novel's details and hope to get on with the sequel soon. The link is:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jagged-Green-Line-Fiona-Stanbury-ebook/dp/B00IIOX92Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1398699203&sr=1-1&keywords=fiona+stanbury

Summer Sun

As my first wedding anniversary approaches, I found that my latest painting evolved into a memory of my Paphos honeymoon.  We spent many hours walking along the coast, with the lighthouse visible from most of our pathways. It stands like some kind of beacon, and gives you a sense of direction. As I painted, scraped off paint, wiped paint, slashed paint on with my palette knife, gradually I felt the rocks under my feet, and the razor-sharp grasses, and the sparkle of the sea shimmered in front of my eyes. 
My painting became all the more intense as I am going off to Cyprus tomorrow, to celebrate my anniversary on August 5th at this exact place. This painting needs time to sit, as I'm unsure whether I will work on it further. I may come back from Paphos with fresh eyes and make changes, or even start another. That's the wonderful thing about painting - it's fluid, you can change your mind at any time and take a new direction, or not!
('Paphos Lighthouse DeConstructed,'  oil and acrylic on board, 61 x 91cm - in progress)

Choices

As I prepare to go to Cyprus for a few weeks, I'm thinking about the way that no one thing affects the way a painting evolves. Poetry flows from layers of experience, finds its path into a painterly vision from mulitple scents, sights and emotions, and memories.

'Choices: Carob Trees and Figures at Dusk' emerged through the act of painting, and through the realisation that the points of red paint could be a metaphor for the last rays of the sun during a walk along the coast in Paphos. The choices represent paint choices, as much as referring to the choices we all make as human beings. It was painted 3 months after my experience of the coastal walks, but I start to wonder if perhaps that passage of time allows a purer synthesis of

the original sensations. Links are constantly forged, broken, re-created, and drop into a painting in unexpected ways. I find the contrasts between painting in situ, painting from memory, and the many walks here and abroad coagulate and re-assemble in my work in ways that are increasingly exciting me.

('Choices: Carob Trees and Figures at Dusk,' Oil and acrylic, 91cm x 61cm)