Artists Working in Isolation: A Personal Experience

'Coastal Flooding,' oil on canvas, 30 x 23 cm

As lockdown eases a bit here in the UK, my anxiety has also eased a little though strangely my output of painting has not been affected. If anything, the 3 months of restrictions caused an even greater concentration on my painting and my 2020 album on my website is packed with new work made since March 23rd. The painting above was completed this week and reflects the gradually changing conditions in that I've picked up the threads on a past theme of climate change. Up till this moment I was focused on a series of collage and mixed media works which was largely directed by wanting to escape to new places or were reflections on the new territory we find ourselves in. Now these themes are alternating with painting on canvas again.

Most artists work in isolation much of the time but the main difference has been that we couldn't meet up or visit each other's studios and exhibitions. There have been many online events, discussions, and online exhibitions and we've had to find new ways to connect with our audience.

Materials take much longer to arrive at the moment so while making collage works on card I've been re-working unresolved paintings, some from a few years ago. For this post I'm showing a few of these plus a new painting made for a show in China later this year (which may end up being postponed).

'Garden of Light,' oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm

I've also gone back to working with oil paint again after having spent these 3 months working with ink, acrylic, papers and gesso on card. 

'Paintscape,' oil on board, 37 x 47 cm

Finally, this medium sized painting was painted entirely in acrylic. Last August as a particpant at the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale I was one of 30 artists selected to go out sketching in the landscape near the mountains. It was a 90 minute journey and I worked with ink on paper. This painting is a composite of memories of my month's painting Fellowship at the Great Wall in 2016, 4 trips to China, and reflections on my visits which evolved into waterfalls of colour. The painting was also influenced by the many mixed media works I was creating. I could have chosen any of the viewpoints I sketched though none were close up views of mountains, but as I love mountains, and they symbolise journeys and I remember the long journey to the mountains at the Great Wall, this image grew from those layers of thought.

'Waterfalls of Colour,' acrylic on canvas, 93 x 78 cm

How Using Collage Can Suggest Creative Possibilities For A Painter.

'B Went Missing in the Land,' ink, gesso, acrylic, papers on cardboard, 48 x 36 cm

Recently I've begun using collage as a way to extend my working approach. Grappling with different materials allows you to question why you use certain elements in your work and to see ways you can simplify, substitute or drop aspects of your practice which perhaps are no longer relevant.

While my main focus is landscape, and some of my works are more landscape referenced than others, I feel the call of colour and shape pushing me to drop certain landscape references. Questions hang in the air every time I work on canvas or collage and I like that side of creating because I see painting as opening one's eyes to potential. 

'They Passed Many Trees on Their Way to the Mountains,' collaged canvas, ink on canvas, 35 x 45 cm

The examples I'm posting today show different ways of working with varied materials. While they are only a step in the process, they have been really helpful to me with thoughts about reassessing edges, shapes and ways of making marks. They have helped generate a bolder approach.

'Land Rhythms,' canvas, newspaper, ink, gesso and acrylic on cardboard, 24 x 13 cm

Things I want to think about in these works are: how to simplify; how colour and marks can suggest a place without constantly illustrating 'trees' or 'houses,' etc (not that this is wrong, just that for me right now something else is calling). I want a sense of 'air' in the work yet to explore how colour can be an entity in its own right. Perhaps this might even lead to more sculptural work.

'Rain Dance on My Patio,' rice paper, ink, acrylic on cardboard, 50 x 50 cm

Some of these use a lot of layered paper, as the example above shows, and some combine canvas on cardboard with inks and acrylics. Each approach tripped me up, made me re-evaluate the way I think about the picture arena and what I want or don't want.

'Lemba Evening,' (series) painted canvas, rice paper, acrylic, gesso on cardboard

With some of the works it was not possible, due to the nature of the materials, to make too many changes. However, I feel that this is a good strand to follow while also painting on canvas because the combinations of materials really force you to focus and some of the 'accidents' suggest fresher directions.

'Untitled,' paper, ink, canvas on canvas, 30 x 30 cm

More to follow.

Paris and China

'Nostalgia,' corkboard with collage: canvas (painted with acrylic and ink), and acrylic and ink, 

Since my last post I found out I have been selected to show at a highly prestigious international exhibition in Paris in December - I will write more, and the name of the exhibition, once the details have been finalised and the painting is ready to photograph. I will be showing as part of a group of international artists. This selection came through a curator I met in Beijing in 2017 at the 7th Beijing International Art Biennale. I am really thrilled that she selected me!

Last week my MDF box for shipping my painting to China was delivered. Though I still don't have a shipping date I felt it was better to have it ready in advance.I still have to frame the painting.

For this post I am going to add a few images of some collage work I am currently doing as well as a painting about global warming. The collage work is an extension of some painting ideas and the great thing about collage is that it suggests new ways of creating texture and applying paint, and also new ways of creating shapes. So I am excited about these while still working on canvas purely with paint.

'Teardrops of the Setting Sun,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 50 x 50 cm

'Trees,' gesso, ink, collage (painted jute canvas) and acrylic, 25 x 25 cm

Getting my Artistic and Life Balance Back

'Daytime in a Jug,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 50 x 50 cm

It is always very hard after the death of a family member to find a balance again because memories of that person are never far away and you can find yourself on very uneven territory emotionally, with sorrow breaking through in the most unexpected moments. Having gone through all the tiresome task of sorting my mother's financial affairs, closing accounts, and the little things you never imagine you will have to do, I feel I have finally reached a balance in my life again. It's not that you forget someone but the rawness of the early days has receded a little.

In the early days after my mother's death it was hard to paint but I felt her pressing me to carry on and often I feel her 'looking in' when I am struggling with a canvas. There's no easy way; you just have to get back in to your themes and that in a way helps.

I am going to post some new work, some finished, some unfinished. I often remember my mother when I paint because she loved to see my work as it progressed and would give feedback, whether it was wanted or not! I know she would have loved the green painting posted above purely because she loved greens.

This will be a mixed bunch because some are works that have been completed to a brief, therefore they are more figurative, while some are personal, ongoing searches into paint and colour. Some, such as the painting below, have been very hard to photograph accurately, and the colours are not exact. When you do your own photography, it is not always easy to find a location with suitable lighting.

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

I have recently become quite interested in vertical paintings and this waterfall painting is a recent experiment with this format. I am also experimenting with collage on canvas, taking as a cue my work made on my China residency in 2016 which used raw canvas and mixed media. 

'Waterfall,' ink and acrylic on canvas, 80 x 40 cm

My mixed media work will be continued over the summer and it is exciting me because the potential suggested by different combinations of materials then informs my painting approach.

'Summer Sunrise,' oil and acrylic on board, 70 x 50 cm

'They Passed Many Trees on their Way to the Mountains,' acrylic on canvas pieces, ink on canvas pieces, ink on canvas, total canvas size 38 x 48 cm

Ink Paintings and How I Break Painting 'Blocks.'

'Waterfall,' ink and acrylic on rice paper, 98 x 78 cm

Though most artists constantly evaluate their work and direction, there are times when you feel such a pressing need to try new things and to extend your current work approach, and almost to start from the beginning. This - my Birthday week - has been such a week! I usually go back to ink on rice paper because the unexpected movement of the ink, which can only be controlled to a certain point, always suggests new shapes, rhythms and marks. 

I was fortunate to start to explore rice paper after my first trip to China (for the 6th Beijing International Art Biennale, 2015), when I bought rice paper in Beijing. It really suited my way of using spontaneous brush strokes and mark making, and during my China painting residency (2016) I was able to buy a much larger supply of rice paper and worked on it at the same time as working on canvas, so the language filtered from one medium to another. 

Two works in process, yesterday. Both from my Tundra series.

Whenever I feel a 'block' in my creative process, I go back to working in ink or watercolour because it allows quick experiments and it is especially helpful to work across 3 or more paintings. It is like setting a trap for paint ideas and you have to be totally open to what appears - any criticising of the painting comes during coffee breaks. Yesterday I worked on 3 pictures on rice paper and then ran out of rice paper! (Today, for my Birthday gift, I ordered a tube of rice paper.) Some of these paintings may come together quite quickly, some may need layering and deepening of certain areas or colours, but they always stimulate ideas for new work on canvas.

Two became three! Left painting is posted below.

I like to work on the paper on the floor so I can view it from all sides. While these become spontaneous paint-landscapes or paintscapes, my focus is to let the brush strokes and colours become the essence of the imagery and at the same time allow it to be suggestive of a place or scene. I want that fusion of the magic of paint and the qualities of the medium to shine through. Rice paper is unforgiving so you have to feel the marks as they appear and respond to them - wasted papers can become collages!

'They were Stranded on the Mountain at Night,' ink and acrylic on rice paper. 98 x 68 cm

I think that the passion that pulls me forwards is the need to combine this evolving paint language with my earlier interests in shapes and colour. For this reason I may also try some collage and work on raw, unstretched canvas, as I did in China. I want to try some completely new things over the next few weeks, keeping certain elements, rearranging them, using new materials, new combinations, just to see what might happen.

At the moment I am waiting to hear the results of some exhibition applications but the need to make new work is always an antidote to wondering about acceptance! 

The main thing with 'blocks,' which happen to everyone no matter how much experience they have, is not to let them stop you working. They are a great opportunity to try something different, a new medium or approach, and certainly you need to just carry on painting because sooner or later unexpected ideas come forth. I see blocks as hills to go over and beyond them is a wider vista.