Inspired by the Moon: A Series of Summer Paintings part 1

''Rainfall Moon,' acrylic on canvas, 92 x 73 cm, 2020

As summer races by, I've felt incredibly inspired by several different experiences, alternating between abstraction and abstract figurative themes as paint suggested new approaches. One of the reasons I haven't posted for quite a while has been the intensity of my excitement and the momentum of working almost daily. 

The moon has often appeared as a theme over the years. As I love to walk at night, in the UK, Cyprus and other countries such as China, I have always found night to be full of mystery and open to boundless imagination. In Cyprus I often watched the moon as it rose luminous and green on the horizon and turned to pink, orange and finally yellow. Sometimes I've been surprised by a sudden view of the large Harvest moon behind some trees and I wanted to try to convey some of the magic I've felt. There's also something unseen, and a sense of the beyond, in particular beyond this planet, that the moon brings to mind for me. At a time of coronavirus and many global problems, watching the moon reminds me of the vastness of the universe and makes me question the meanings of our existence.

Light and the time of day often feature in my work and the moon theme gives me the chance to play with ideas about colour, calligraphic brush strokes and shapes. Some of the paintings focused on the developing interest in the process of making imagery and different ways to apply paint. Sometimes paint parallels light and the work veers towards abstraction.

The first painting is about the summer rain, of which we had little in the UK. I was thinking about the last warm colours as dusk fades to night and the rain streaming down, obscuring a landscape. It was painted with thin layers and was unplanned, the way I always work.

'Rainfall Moon,' (2) acrylic on canvas, 92 x 73 cm, 2020

This second painting is still in progress. I'm brightening the moon and tweaking a few other areas. I love this size of canvas, (and larger), and this painting is also quite layered with translucent and opaque paint. I layer paint until an image emerges and I feel transported to a new place. 

Here are a few more moon paintings, some more figurative based and some abstract.

'Moon, Mountains and Forest,' acrylic on canvas, 25 x 20 cm 2020

'Moonlit Terrain,' acrylic on canvas, 25 x 20 cm, 2020

'Lavender Moon,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 50 x 60 cm, 2019

'Moon Over Brighton,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 23 cm, 2018

And two of the more abstract paintings in which I was thinking of the emotional experience and loving thick paint.

'Moonlit Landscape,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 23 cm, 2019

'Scents of the Moon,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 23 cm, 2020

This last one is about the delightful fragrance of summer which I often associate also with walking along the coast at night or through landscape. It's a fragrance that's quite hard to define but is slightly perfumed, sweet, and uplifting.

I will post more of my moon paintings this week and also some of the new landscape/abstracts I'm working on.

If you would like to see more of my new work, my website is:

https://www.fionastanbury.com/gallery_759043.html

New Paintings and Keeping to Art Deadlines During Coronavirus

'A Global Connection,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 140 cm

During this exceptionally difficult and challenging time when our daily routines are drastically altered, I'm trying to keep a focus on my artwork and to stick to my deadlines. It's not easy because at times I lapse into a lethargy and become anxious. Then the 'What If?' keeps me awake at night. Last night neither my husband or I could sleep fully and at 6.30am we ended up eating some trifle!

Any minor feeling of illness sends your mind racing: Is this coronavirus? I've suffered from a really bad flu (6 weeks ago) that then went in to my ear and I had to have antibiotics, and any twinge of pain or health abnormality now instantly brings to mind 'Do I need to self-isolate?' Luckily, both my husband and I are coping and keeping our distance from people but it's hard because you have to keep alert to all the things you now can not do.

However, I was really pleased this week because in between doing the daily 30 works 30 days art challenge, I managed to finish a painting for a Biennale in China later this year. I only stretched my canvas in the second week of March, and it's a big one - 100 x 140 cm - and I never thought I'd get it finished and submitted by the deadline of April 15th! The last stages of this painting were really hard and even now I have to remind myself to stop finding things I could have tweaked. 

The theme of the Biennale was Home and Co-existence, and my idea was to paint a home situation in which people are reading newspapers each with a different current topic on the front. So there are the themes of nature, the world, relationships, and home. I've included animals, water, fruit, a teapot, homes, and a butterfly which is symbolic of the sharing of thoughts. The people are linked by the red chairs. 

My thought was that people co-exist, wherever they are, through this daily ritual and sharing of thoughts on current issues. I really enjoyed painting those newspaper fronts and the theme of newspaper readers stretches back to my time living in Cyprus when this was an ongoing series of oil paintings. I have extended the theme in this new painting not only in terms of the shapes and paint application but through the way I've depicted the abstracted forms on the newspapers. None of it was foreplanned; I always let the painting guide me.

I submitted the work about a week ago to an online form. It was actually very difficult to follow the instructions and took some time but I feel a sense of achievement that it's finally submitted. I hope it will be accepted!

This week I've been making a small painting every day for the daily challenge. I'm going to post some of them next. 

Painting About Light in Cyprus and the UK: An Artist's Thoughts.

'Fiona's Final Visit to Burrswood,' acrylic on canvas, 92 x 72 cm

I'm posting a few new pieces of work.

The above painting was inspired by my final visit to Burrswood on December 2nd. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this was one of my favourite places when I used to paint in situ, and I painted at this place over a 9 year period in all weathers. Now I tend to abstract from the experiences of seeing the light change, walking along many paths around lakes with distant vistas visible through the trees. Always at the end of my painting session I'd walk back out through the forest as the light faded.

During my last visit I left at dusk. There was a warm, colourful light behind the trees to the west and the plaintive sound of the birds followed me out through the forest. This painting is still being considered but my idea was to present myself in nature - naked, authentic to the spiritual experience - as the light faded. There's a suggestion of a chessboard on the distant hills because the random event of the closure of a place that had been open to the public for 70 years was very unexpected and seemed to echo the sometimes random events in people's lives.  I wanted to convey light and to evoke a place but there are parts of the painting I'd like to work on further.

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

This is another from my Cyprus Evening series. They are really about an exploration of colour as a parallel for light. I've witnessed the fading evening light in Cyprus over 36 years. It's usually fleeting but there's a moment when objects - houses, Carob trees, paths - melt in to an all pervading colourful light, which saturates the land, with orange, yellow and pink, and this sense of time and light was my main focus.

'Spring Energies,' acrylic on panel, 25 x 18 cm

Finally, this was what I call a 'spin-off' painting which was made during working between other paintings. Spin-off paintings often emerge from an accumulation of ideas that seem to flow off the brush on to the support, usually when my mind is buzzing with expressive possibilities from previous works. I'd just stopped working on 2 other larger canvases and I looked out of my window to see the sun shining - a rare occurence this winter - and began to think of Spring. There's a time during early Spring when the light brightens and you can feel the energies in the breezes. My aim was to catch a sense of movement and light. 

How Important is Knowing an Artist's Intention When Looking at a Painting? (part 2)

'Lost Paradise: Tears For Burrswood,' acrylic on canvas, 50 x 60 cm

I'm posting 2 new paintings and one work in progress. They have a message behind them which I feel it might be important for viewers to know. I don't believe it will spoil their enjoyment of the paintings, if they had attached a different meaning to them, but as the impetus for the first 2 paintings has a highly personal meaning, it seems to be an integral part of the image.

The first one, above, is about a place I loved and which has now gone in to receivership. I first went to Burrswood when I was 17 as my father had just got a job as Public Relations Officer there. It was at that time being promoted as a faith healing centre and my sister had a miraculous healing from Leukaemia there.  Some years later the place became a place for people to stay, as respite for ill people or just to enjoy the peace of the huge grounds, forests and lakes. There is also a beautiful church and I often used to sit in it feeling the quietness. Often I would go to the cafe which had a view down to the lake and distant hills.

I painted there every week over an 8 year period, seeing the trees grow, seeing the change of the seasons with their minute differences from year to year, breathing in all the scents, and always loving the wild orchids that grew near one of the lakes. 

I found out about a month ago that this place, which has occupied much of my life in one way or another, has now closed. My painting is about remembering paths, seasons, flowers, the lakes, and my deep sorrow. It was about wondering what will happen now? Will it all be destroyed as money dictates that flats should be built on the land? The church also destroyed?

It has been a heavily reworked painting and as I seemed to feel there was so much to say, the best thing is now to start another painting. While working on this, I was also exploring my ongoing ideas about colour, composition, (how much to include, where to include it, what could be left out), and how to make an image that respects paint as well as the initial inspiration. Once I start to paint, I walk a line between the original inspiration and what the paint is pushing me to say.

'Spartans Shields Returning Home in the Rain,' acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50 cm

This second painting, which was painted over an older work, is a bit of a strange one! My inspiration was the thought that people's lives often pass through many struggles with courage that is unseen. I thought of the Spartans and their saying 'Return with your shield or on it,' Their shields were emblems of courage and honour and this is why my abstract landscape - which has elements from my 14 years in Cyprus - includes shields. It was quite an intense painting with all kinds of thoughts going through my head at the time and also I wanted the paint to show the traces of my feelings through the brush marks. It is also about the passage of life, the certainty that you can not go back only forwards.

'Throwing Pebbles in the Lake While the Moon Rises,' acrylic on canvas, 50 x 60 cm

The final painting I am posting is one from my moon series. It grew out of my imaginings of being by a lake, usually with pine trees and distant views of mountains, and having the time to sit and throw pebbles in the rippling water while the moon rises. This is imagery I visualise when I'm falling asleep, it's where I would like to be! I liked the idea of the moon changing through different colours, as it does in Cyprus, and I don't feel that the composition is yet there. 

I don't believe all paintings need to be explained. They should greet the viewer with a certain kind of completeness, but when there is an intense message behind them, it can enhance any interested viewer's appreciation of the work to find out more.

How Important is Knowing an Artist's intention to Understanding a Painting?

'We Threw Pebbles in to the River as the Turquoise Moon Descended.'  acrylic on canvas, 50 x 60 cm

This question came up during a conversation with an artist at an exhibition recently. Is it really necessary to know why an artist painted a painting you are viewing at an exhibition or possibly thinking about buying?  While most buyers will purchase purely because they like something, recognise something in the painting, find joy or beauty in the colours, or follow and collect that particular artist's work, I personally believe it is essential to have an understanding of an artist's intention and ideas. It can enrich our viewing and enjoyment of the artwork and reveal things that are not immediately apparent.

At the same time, some artist's work needs less explanation than others. One well known website which sells artists' artwork advises that an explanation can often help sell artwork. As I scroll through paintings, I often find that some call out for the reading of their descriptions because the artwork may either be quite striking and unusual, or challenging.

The artist's personal statement is really important to gaining insights into their sources of inspiration, their methods and why they choose those methods, and how they find inspiration and interpret their ideas. The creative 'process' is incredibly interesting and much can be written on this and its mystery, but artists often feel the need to verbalise their intentions. Some paintings are easier to 'read' and others do need the message behind them explained, though generally it is assumed that a painting should speak clearly to the viewer. Ultimately, painting is a language and learning about painting is very rewarding and enriching.

In relation to my own work, when I'm painting I don't want to know exactly what I'm doing. I'd never paint if it was simply a case of filling in spaces I've calculated in advance. But there is always a demanding and passionate idea that generates the impetus to make the image. Ideas bounce off one another, jumping in to my mind in the middle of the night, or I see some shapes on TV or in a magazine that just seem to give an answer to a difficult passage in a painting. It could be a word, an idea could pop in to my mind while cleaning the house. Anything can inspire or give clues when your mind is buzzing with imagery and that creative passion is pushing at you to unveil a demanding, all encompassing and emotional theme.

My painting 'We Threw Pebbles in to the River as the Turquoise Moon Descended,' pushed at me for days to paint it. The theme is the transience of life and a desire to sit by a river (a metaphor for the passage of life) and have time to throw pebbles until the moon appears. It is about reflection, the desire to be awake, to feel life in all its aspects, to have the time to feel oneself in relation to the world. 

I've seen the moon rise in Cyprus in many colours and somehow turquoise fitted my feelings. I feel that in my work I 'surf' on meanings, pushing at the paint in a dogged way, making many erasures until I pull that image in to reality. It doesn't always work, of course, and the painting may take days to consider if I need to do more work on it. When dealing with unknown factors, you ultimately have to learn to read your own work and to absorb new elements in order to move forwards, which is why I let work sit for a while in order to be able to 'see' it afresh.

This next painting, 'Beyond the Black Lake' has just been finished a year after I thought it was finished. As my ideas for the translating of my ongoing themes keep being tweaked and the language extends, sometimes I see things that are irrelevant. 

If I'm asked to explain its meanings, it comes down to very personal feelings as with much of my work. The lake is the darkness in life. There is movement in the landscape, the movement of daily life, the tracks of passage across the land, brightness amongst the darkness. Possibly the turquoise shape above the lake could be a house and a suggestion of security. I like to enter meanings the painting suggests and follow those clues. I go in to another place entirely.

'Beyond the Black Lake,' acrylic on canvas, 35 x 45 cm

When I write about my work, or speak to people, I find that my intention is quite important to explain. My work is a reflection on the passage of life, personal journeys, and finding a way to translate these in to paint while exploring what paint can do and suggest. I let the paint direct me as much as possible and try to learn from the process of painting. It is always open to the potential for something new and exciting.

To be continued.

How I know When a Painting is Finished: Changing Your Mind is Ok!

'The Black Road,' acrylic on canvas, 50 x 60 cm, 2019

For this post I'd like to write about re-assessing paintings, whether they are recent or older works.

I frequently change my view on a painting, regarding whether it's finished or not, either a few days after working on it or sometimes months or years later. 

The painting above was, I thought, not finished and when I wrote about it a few posts back I said I would work on it more. At this point in time I'm seeing it as finished though as artists we can always change our minds and sometimes it's impossible to resist the call to work on something further! I've destroyed several paintings through this call, though there's no need to panic because they simply become something else.

'Sun Fan and Coast,' acrylic on canvas, 50 x 60, 2019

The more I paint the more I let time elapse before committing myself to the idea of 'finish' and for this reason I often work in series. There may be one element which I may not like which later I can find a way to integrate, or some elements which need painting over. Sometimes though, a painting is finished according to its own terms and a better idea is to start another or several others. This nearly always allows me to see if I truly need to continue or if I have merely become bogged down in irelevancies. Another example of a painting I was going to work over is 'Sun Fan and Coast,' inspired by a recent visit to Cyprus.

I'm realising more and more that if re-working a painting will change it in to something completely different, or adding things will over-complicate it or disrupt the composition, it may be better to put it aside and start something else. The reason I now feel this painting is complete is because I feel comfortable with the composition and message.

Here is another painting I looked out recently to repaint, as I sorted through work from a few years ago, but then I decided it is ok; it works within its own terms and also I have lost 'contact' with it. I can not see any particular element I want to change. One of the reasons I have posted it is because seeing a thicker application of oil paint, with textures worked in to the paint, has given me inspiration for my current work. Painting is like a spiral of ideas back and forth, up and down, everything feeding into everything else.

'My Somewhere Else,' oil on board, 45 x 35 cm, 2016

Over the years I have learned to feel more able to let a painting stand still until I feel connected enough to it to allow further work, or a totality appears to my eyes that suddenly feels complete. It certainly needs a lot of looking at work; quiet moments to just sit and try to see what is happening.

The magic of creativity in painting is that you may not see things the same way from day to day. I'm working on a large watercolour and today when I looked at it some elements jumped out at me in a way they had not appeared when I last viewed it - and these elements now seem complete - while others, which I thought were resolved now appear in need of either more emphasis or to be taken out completely. 

Finally, here is one I am still working on. I find the hardest part of painting is the last stages when your moves, like a chess game, become narrower - unless you decide to totally work over the image and start again. This painting was inspired by the realisation that this year I was finding it hard to 'let go' of winter for many reasons. Somehow the colours of winter and the dark days felt cosy and safe, with skeletal branches transformed to bright colours by sunlight, marvellous soft tones, sudden shadows drifting across blocks of trees and fields. I thought about winter as an image in which a figure is shedding a winter coat at the first signs of Spring. This one has been waiting for 2 weeks now because I want to think really carefully before my next moves.

'She Threw Off her Winter Coat and Headed Towards Spring,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 2019

Inspired by a Visit to Cyprus

''Coastal Poem: Night, Day,' acrylic on canvas, 50 x 60 cm

It's been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. My posting was cut in to by a visit to Cyprus. I went to see my sister-in-law and visited my mother-in-law's grave as she died in February, just a few days before the 1st anniversary of my mother's passing. It was my second visit to Cyprus this year.

New imagery from a change of environment always forces its way in to your imagination, whether you want this or not. Since my return, I have begun work on 5 new canvases and naturally some Cyprus elements have begun to appear if only in the intensity of colour and light. 

Cyprus inspired acrylic on paper

I'm still working on the waterfall painting which I posted in March and I find that working on more than one painting allows a rhythm to be set up and elements cross-pollinate between paintings. Also, I feel less pressurised about any one painting so become braver in making changes!

Creating and maintaining an artistic rhythm is so important to being an artist. As a student you have all day in the studio to focus on and develop ideas but out in the 'real' world that time often has to be fought for. Right now I'm fitting painting in between rearranging an entire flat - necessary because my mother lived with my husband and me and there are all her belongings to sort through - and also I'm finally sorting through numerous canvases and doing a kind of artistic 'stock-taking.'

'Paphos Lighthouse Remembered,' acrylic on watercolour paper (painted in Nicosia, March)

I will post more paintings very soon as they are finished.

An Guide to Acrylic Paint and some Acrylic Paintings in Progress

Some of the brands I use

As mentioned last time, I'm going to write about the acrylic paint I use and why I favour certain types. 

I often alternate between acrylic and oil paint and for speed I'll start with acrylic to get some ideas and textures onto canvas as the seed of an idea. I actually prefer oil paint, for the sheer physicality of the material, but recently I've used acrylic paint more because I've been able to explore fluidity, layering and the kind of approach I've been using in my ink on rice paper series. The thing I like best about acrylic paint is that it dries really fast so I can keep working on a painting all day. Oil paint can take days to dry before I can continue, depending on how thickly the paint has been applied.

So far I've used five brands. 

I started with Liquitex which is a good paint - I prefer the 'heavy body' because I can use a painting knife with it and also it can be thinned with water or acrylic mediums - and gives good intensity of colour. However, sometimes it can feel a bit 'plastic.' I often use it as a foundation to paint in oils on top of, though I have paintings which use only this brand.

I also use certain earth colours from the Windsor and Newton 'Galeria' range because generally earth colours are fairly permanent and this is a cheaper range. However, the consistency is not the best and I would only recommend it to extend your stock of paint and not for sole use. It mixes nicely with other brands though.

Most recently, I have begun to use a paint I bought in Nicosia (available in the UK too) which is Daler Rowney Cryla heavy body acrylic. It is a professional quality and it has a great intensity of colour, you can use it with a knife and also thinned like watercolour. If you paint with it on watercolour paper, you can keep layering over and over and simply erase inadequate areas with white - I posted a few small works on paper recently which used this acrylic on paper. Here is one which was worked with thick and thin acrylic paint, with erasures as part of the image. Some white areas in the sky section were the result of painting over darks I did not want.

'Night Roads,' acrylic on rough watercolour paper

Two other brands I have tried are the Vallejo  and Sennelier. 

Vallejo so far has been satisfactory though I have only tried one quite transparent colour so I would need to try more colours to get a fair idea. The intensity of colour was good. 

I think perhaps the best acrylic I have tried so far has been the Sennelier range though they are quite expensive. I've always found that with paint you get what you pay for and this range is the nearest to oil paint I have found; non-plastic in feel, and really rich colour-wise. Sennelier brings back memories of Paris last December when during my participation in the Salon des Beaux Arts exhibition (Louvre) I found by chance the Sennelier shop not far from the Louvre! The range of materials in the shop was incredible and I have posted photos in my Paris Louvre post, December 2018.

Another acrylic paint brand I have yet to try but friends constantly recommend is the Golden heavy body acrylic paint. I know artists who only use this and certainly if you have allergies to oil paint and turpentine this would be a good substitute.

Generally, there are 'heavy body' acrylics which are stiffer and more like oil paint and 'flow' acrylics which can be used for watercolour effects.

'Black Road', acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 cm

So now on to some examples being worked with acrylic. The two canvases I am posting were begun yesterday. 

I began both by painting a wash of colour on to each canvas.  'The Black Road,' had a layer of varied, golden-lime. I wanted to be able to play with calligraphy on top of this, like using the off-white of rice paper with ink drawing on top, while keeping areas of flat space. With much of my work it's a case of putting things down and seeing what happens. I want to explore abstract elements of colour and mark making and pattern yet also allude to my love of moving through landscape.  This one is being considered with the usual doubts and dis-satisfactions because I'm not happy with the area on the right (upper part) and I wanted the flat, yellow-lime to have more texture. Also, one of the things I love about ink on rice paper is the way you can create particular areas of darks and lights and I feel this needs more. My husband, of course, tells me to leave it alone, but most times I follow my instinct. It just seems to need more 'weight' though what that is has yet to be discovered. (Update on this work and the one below is in a post of May 8th 2019.)

'Sun Fan and Sea,' acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 cm

This second painting was painted over a pale turquoise colour with some variations of soft brown. I like to set a 'trap' for my image, and a visual memory of recently taking off from Cyprus in the dark and seeing just a few ripples of the sea between the clouds was part of the inspiration. At the same time, an image of the sun as a fan kept popping in to my mind! I have no idea how this one will proceed but I'm not happy with the composition because, for me, it is just too predictable, and also the paint does not have the layering and contrast of dark and light that I am seeking. I like to push beyond whatever seductive qualities an early version might have.

It may be in the end that I work both of these with oil paint, or eradicate them quite severely - but in the meantime I will make some small sketches to see if I can work out further elements. Since sorting paintings on to shelving in my studio-in-progress, I have found older work to finish, and work I thought needed finishing but is in fact ok. It takes time for one's vision to truly 'see' the work which is why I don't mind going back to old work, and I never feel that a painting can not be retrieved. Doubt and Revision are an artist's companions.

 I'm also starting some new, vertical 'waterfall' series canvases which will be worked with oil paint once I get in to my studio which is half-way ready. Next time I will write about my favourite oil paints and how this medium influences my painting approach.

Love and Loss

''Fiona Drifting Down the River,' acrylic on canvas, 80 x 40 cm

A theme running through my paintings for the last 14 months has been that of loss, both in a personal way and of possessions lost through moves and events. Daily there are layers of loss which we constantly have to make adjustments for.  The 1st anniversary of my mother's passing is tomorrow, and last Wednesday my mother-in-law Stella passed away. I was fortunate to be in Cyprus with Stella for the first week of February and I feel blessed that I spent some time with her and also during the summer. She was the best mother-in-law anyone could wish for.

The painting posted above is a recent one which references my ideas of loss and movement through life and through unfamiliar territory. It was unplanned - most of my work evolves through processes of applying paint and allowing elements to emerge - but boats and a river appeared and it matched how I was feeling at the time. Certainly my past year has seen many changes and naturally this impacts on your thoughts about your paintings and how you want to translate your life experience and feelings. While my core interests continue, new thoughts start to tweak and adjust those interests.

Stella loved colour and so did my mother. I painted this canvas last year as a tribute to my mother but I am posting it also for Stella. I painted Daffodils because they herald Spring and my mother loved them and filled the kitchen at this time of year. 

'Daffodil Poem: Tribute to My Mother,' acrylic and oil on canvas, 90 x 45 cm

Due to various obligations I have not been able to do as much painting as I wished to in these first weeks of 2019 but I hope to get back to it soon. Here is another recent painting about the loss of much of my patio garden. It is still being considered for further work but I wanted to paint something about the traces left by plant pots, leaves that fell, shadows and marks on the walls, and the shadowy traces of stems and masses of disappearing foliage.

'The Remains of Things Gone,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 87 x 76 cm

Finally, I made a few paintings on paper while I was in Cyprus 10 days ago. The change of light filtered in to my colours. This is one of the paintings.

'A Land Far Away,' acrylic on 300 gsm paper, 21 x 29 cm

While I was in Cyprus I bought some acrylic paint and a certain kind of canvas I can not find in the UK. For my next post I will be writing about my favourite art materials and explaining why they work for me.

Cyprus, New Canvas and Good News!

'My Somewhere Else,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 50 x 50 cm

It is just over a month since I last posted. It has been a packed month which included a visit of 8 days to Cyprus, and painting through the hottest days of the summer so far in the UK. I am going to post a few of the new paintings.

Then yesterday I received good news: an email that told me I have been selected for the Dafen 1st International Art Biennale, (Shenzhen, China) which I applied to mid-May. I have posted the submitted painting several times before but will post again! The theme was Social Integration and Opening Up, and my painting is entitled 'Social Integration, Peace and Opening Up,' and it is acrylic and oil on canvas, 100 by 140 cm. I had given up on hearing any news about this exhibition because submitting my image file turned out to be so hard and I thought it had failed. I'd spent some 6 hours one evening trying to resize a file that was too small! The online form required a file not less than 5 MB, and in the end I had to make my file a TIFF file which made it 25 MB. I had no idea if the file had loaded to their online form so I sent it by email too. I think it is time to buy a better quality camera that can give higher resolution images. The image posted below is not the most accurate image but gives an idea of the work.

The two new paintings I am posting are painted on some canvas I bought in Cyprus. I bought two types of canvas, one is very smooth and one is brown and quite rough. I began with the smooth canvas and found that it allows the layering of transparent colour and brush strokes to really stand out in a beautiful way. The green painting has a much richer green background in that the brush strokes and layers show more variation of colour, and this painting may be finished, and the red painting is still 'in progress.' I have two others on the go but I am not sure of them yet. I am looking forward to a series of paintings which will mix collaged brown and white canvas with mixed media and I was really pleased to find materials in Cyprus that I have not been able to find in the UK.

'They Passed Many Trees on Their Way to the Mountains,' (2)  acrylic and ink on canvas - in progress

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. 

Writing a Blog (part 2)

Fiona with 'The Silk Road and Human Exchange,' before it went to China

When I first began my blog in 2009 I had no idea how to write a blog. My first posts were slightly negative, with whingeing about rejections, and later I modified them!  I decided that my blog should include some information about my process and ideas as well as giving some advice and encouragement to those artists who might find it in the vast cyberspace of the internet.

My advice has always been never to give up.  Being rejected is part of the territory and I know of many renowned artists who were rejected from everything before finally getting an opportunity that was career-changing.  I have had quite a long road but I always try to generate new skills and to improve my work along the way. It is important to see yourself, your work, and your blog as a work in progress.

'Fiona's World,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 45 cm

To help myself with marketable skills, in case my art career needed some financial back-up, (as artists often need at times) I did a typing and business course for a year before I went to art school. It has really been a huge bonus because I was able to type my own thesis at college, and to type all my art related information for statements, CV and websites. It has also allowed me to get jobs at certain points. Then some years after I returned to the UK from Cyprus, I completed a computer course (ECDL Level 2) which was quite hard but I enjoyed the challenge and it is one of my best decisions. Now I am computer literate, I have been able to do many applications for residencies and opportunities that I used to ask family members to do for me. I have friends 10 years older than me who are unable to get to grips with this and as a result they miss out on digital platforms to showcase their work. Everything moves so fast these days and you need to keep an awareness of what is going on. The internet is one of the best ways.

'Paphos Walk,' oil and acrylic on board, 40 x 30 cm

Gone are the days when artists posted 10 photos with an SAE to a gallery, in the hope they would be returned with an offer of representation! Rarely were the photos returned and often there was no response. Much time is saved now because you can email website links to galleries and if you have a web presence, then galleries and collectors can find you.  Having a presence on social media also helps and I have received opportunities and a residency through my work being seen on Facebook

One of the aspects of blog writing that keeps me writing is that it allows me to evaluate my direction and to contemplate how my work may be evolving. My blog shows me that the work has evolved and will keep evolving. It is also really encouraging to know that people follow you and then click the link to your website!

Visual Diary (Cyprus)

'Land-Spirits,' ink and acrylic on rice paper, 97 x 95 cm

As I am going to Cyprus for three weeks to visit my in-laws, my painting will have a small interruption when it comes to working on canvas. I am taking a watercolour book though and plan to work from ideas while I am there. I will use photos of current work on my iPad as starting points and to remind myself of certain current interests, and also I may work from photos on my iPad of imagery that strikes a cord artistically, and some photos of places in China that I want to develop. But naturally these ideas will be influenced by my environment in Cyprus! It is impossible not to be influenced in some way visually. My work often relates to my surroundings like a visual diary but I am particularly focused on many ideas inspired by China and really want to push these onwards and this is what I will probably do in Cyprus.

My Artist friend, VP Vasuhan

'Amma,' pencil, acrylic and charcoal on canvas

I first met Vasuhan in Cyprus in 1997. Our mutual friend, the brilliant abstract artist Glyn Hughes, had arranged a painting project at the Melina Mercouri Hall in Nicosia. It was to be part of the French Cultural Week then taking part in the city, and Glyn picked 6 Nicosia artists to make copies of famous paintings by artists such as Cezanne, Bonnard, Kandinsky, and Leger, to name a few. We were each given 2 huge canvases, roughly 8 foot high by 12 foot long, and we had only a week to paint copies of our chosen paintings onto these. I painted one of my favourite paintings, Cezanne's large 'Bathers,' and one of Bonnard's 'Wife in the  Bath,' series. I remember spending a lot of time at night in the large hall, working on my canvases, with Glyn nearby supervising our efforts and handing out enormous tubes of acrylic paint and big brushes (some of which I kept). We only had a week to complete all 12 enormous canvases, which meant quite a few hours' work day and night. I have many lovely memories of working on my canvases and watching my artist friends working on theirs, and the energies that filled the hall were incredible. It is something I will never forget, and I would love the chance to work that large again.

It was here one evening I met Vasuhan, who had begun work on a large abstract Kandinsky. Glyn suggested we work on it together as time was running out, and it was a great pleasure to paint with Vasuhan and to see how he interpreted Kandinsky's abstracted brushstrokes and colours. We both enjoyed the process of working on a large canvas together, and seeing the different ways we each approached Kandinsky's complicated painting .

Vasuhan also painted 2 large canvases on his own. They were:
Georges Braque, 'Bathing Woman,' (1907-08)
Yves Klein, 'Anthropometry of the Blue Period,' 1960.

I have lovely memories of painting in the hall with all the artists, all of us working in a frenzy with increasing worries that we would not finish on time! There was a well attended opening night for our exhibition, which was opened by the President's wife, and our show looked fantastic. (There is even a photo of Glyn, me, Vasu and Mrs Vassiliou up on the stage at the opening, with my large Cezanne 'Bathers' behind us, in Glyn Hughes' book 'GLYN HUGHES.') It formed the backdrop for a series of lectures.

'Who are You?' mixed media on canvas

Vasuhan was working as an assistant to Glyn Hughes and I would see him often when I went to Glyn's house. Vasu was also painting and I liked his paintings a lot. 

Vasuhan moved to Paris not long after and Glyn often spoke to me about how well he was doing as an artist in Paris. I think that Paris must be one of the best cities in the world to be an artist and we both admired him for moving there to follow his career.

Glyn at one of Vasuhan's exhibitions in Paris - (Glyn on the left, Vasu next to him on the right)

Though I have not met up with Vasu since he left Cyprus, I have kept in touch with him and his career through Glyn Hughes, who sadly died last year. We also connected on Facebook and I have been following his work with much interest. 

'Dances with Rat.'

Vasuhan was born in Sri Lanka and spent part of his childhood in Columbo. He moved to Cyprus years later and finished his studies at the Center of Higher Studies in Nicosia. His website is:
http://www.vasuhan.com/paintings

Do check it out! I like the variety of his themes and different styles. His wonderful compositions, whether abstract or figure-based, are very personal and evocative.

'Sonat,' acrylic on canvas

I'm hoping that next year we may both exhibit together in Paris. I think our works would look good together. We have both been influenced by our long association with Glyn Hughes so in a way it would be a tribute to him too. He was such a master painter and we were very lucky to see him work and undoubtedly absorbed many things from him! 

We have since tried to find out what happened to those 12 large canvases, after the exhibition was taken down. They seemed to have disappeared! We both hope that they are somewhere being looked after.

Fresh Start

'Symphony of Choices,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 90 x 45cm

Though I hate January, I love the start of the New Year. It always seems to allow one a fresh start. I have just primed some boards to begin my first paintings of 2015, and after an over-view, I am ready to make some changes. 

It has been a few weeks since I have been able to paint because, apart from Christmas celebrations and obligations, there have been so many other things to see to. Just after Christmas, I found that my book, THE JAGGED GREEN LINE, had reached 65 in the top 100 of Kindle's Historical/women's fiction category. On the same day, my essay went 'live' on the chicago-based online art magazine, Neoteric art. I am attaching the link below:

Neoteric art magazine

I love writing these kind of essays and so far it has had a good response!

'Cyprus Walk,' oil and acrylic on board, 60 x 45cm

Dancing Autumn

'Cyprus-Poem,' watercolour, gouache and acrylic on watercolour paper, 22 x 33ins

November has brought flurries of fiery-coloured leaves, while some are still hanging tentatively on threadbare trees, some lying in mosaics across the pavements. Scenes change daily - something that delights me - but I am trying not to let it intrude on my 'Cyprus Poems' series. I need to get the rest of these completed before mid-December. But how those glowing, autumnal colours intrude on my inner vision and dance hopefully on the end of my brush!

'Paintscape,' watercolour, gouache and acrylic on paper, 22 x 30ins

Of the series so far, the above is one of my favourite pieces because it refers to landscape but in an abstract way.

'Inscape,' (Cyprus series) watercolour, gouache and acrylic on paper, 22 x 30ins

It has been such a busy few weeks. Apart from the Cyprus exhibition, I have work going to a show in Crawley in December and work in the Chestnut Tree Auction at the Pavilion in Brighton in March. (This work is still to be painted!)