An Artist's Insights in to her Themes and Sources For Painting

'After the Deluge, the Light Rose Over the Mountains,' acrylic on canvas, 70 x 50 cm

This is today's Facebook post:

TWO of my favourite starting points for my paintings are mountains and waterfalls/rivers. I like to use them to explore paint and an idea of space, in particular, to give a sense of the physical space we feel in landscape which is always so different wherever we go. This has fascinated me since I was a child and it took me a while to realise that the actual sensation of space and 'being' in the land is at the root of my abstract-figurative compositions. As a child I used to imagine myself dancing through landscapes and this is what I like to do with paint!
Both of these, from this year, are about being in landscape and feeling the elements and its changing nature, in this case mountains and flooding (which we have had a lot of in the UK), and they are paintings of hope because in the end the light comes through. They are also about the presence of landscape as a being in itself.

I find it really useful to keep thinking about my core values and themes, even if they keep changing, as they always do either step by step or through a sudden insight brought about by trying out a different process.

I would add to this that my work tends to have several areas of focus as I cast out my net to explore the elements I'm interested in. This sense of space is one of the things that has always enthralled me because my earliest memories are of journeys with my parents, often by car, as we travelled to visit relatives in Scotland or Cornwall. These tended to be quite long journeys and I sat quietly feeling the different 'vibes' that came from the land. 

'Three Escape the Deluge,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 70 x 50 cm

I still imagine myself dancing through landscapes and landscape memories. I love that feeling of my own small size in relation to epic landscapes with huge mountain vistas, or being on very flat, open landscape where there is a certain factor of vulnerability. But the theme has widened recently to include the thoughts of environmental concerns, climate change and the eternal precarious aspect of being a human being.

I like to think that my use of paint - bold brush strokes, forms that suddenly appear, an emotional reaction to the paint - are all part of this dance and that I also echo Nature.

To be continued.

How Important is an Artist's Statement? and Some Painting Ideas

This is something I wrote on Facebook today which I found quite helpful when thinking about the new series of work I'm about to start even though it relates to the above painting:
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'MUCH OF MY ARTWORK explores the overlapping of meanings of things felt and seen and my reflections on them. Often I overlap landscape and still life elements to convey the sense that everything is connected and feelings are a fluid stream though may appear separate from moment to moment. This is why I chose to paint various elements and shapes as incidents across green (possible landscape reference), and some of the shapes are ambiguous but embedded in that green. 

It is also about my love of landscape, the scents, the sounds, the changing appearances from day to day but within an eternal cycle of seasons, our traces across the world and thoughts made concrete as shapes. Within that world are many overlapping words that co-exist. As I create, I am also Nature.
This was worked over and over until I found a title came in to my mind and that directed the end game.
'Daytime in a Jug,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 40 x 40 cm (2018)

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I've always found it helpful to constantly evaluate what I'm doing as an artist and to reassess the elements I'm working with. The thing is to be open to changes and seeing new ways forwards. 

'Colourama,' oil on wood, 35 x 45 cm

For the rest of this post I'm attaching a few older works which I'm looking back to before starting this new work. Some elements I want to re-introduce back in to my painting are some looser forms, more exploration of colour, more simplicity, less total complexity running from edge to edge. I quite like the fluidity of being able to look back to older work and learn from it because I see it as widening the spiral of my creative process. I also like the coherence that working with thick oil paint can bring to a painting. Each of the paintings posted has something, some aspect, I want to keep in mind.

At the same time, I want to express my love of Nature and those reflections on life experiences while also using my natural tendency to calligraphy and drawing with a brush. My feelings flow down through the brush and often my spontaneous impulses with that brush can finish a painting.

'Escape From Winter,' oil on board, 60 x 45 cm

'My Place,' oil on canvas, 35 x 45 cm

'After the Long Hard Winter it was Time for a Picnic,' oil on board, 35 x 55 cm

Instagram is an Incredible Tool for Artists

'Mountain-Tracks,' ink, acrylic and oil on canvas, 55 x 45 cm

I began using Facebook in 2009 and I have found it a very useful tool for connecting with artists around the world and discussing artwork and also exchanging tips and information. Then I joined Instagram a few months ago after an artist friend persuaded me to open an account, and now I am finding that I am spending more time on there than on Facebook! This may be to do with it being so 'instant,' because I can visit it on my iPad anytime and a few touches take me into other artist's work and any 'likes' of my posts pop up both on my iPad home screen and while I am browsing Instagram. I soon reached 1,200 followers and I feel I can access other artists faster than I can on Facebook. 

Another useful feature is that it also makes suggestions of artists and galleries based on my previous search history and this is very helpful because I don't need to spend so much time searching for information, and I have connected with galleries and curators very easily. Some then chose to follow my work.

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

The aspect I like about Social Media is that it allows me to see art from around the world and this really challenges my own work. I can also get feedback and connect with like-minded people. On Instagram the continual popping-up of imagery helps me to constantly evaluate my own artistic focus. This is not in order to 'copy' other artists' work but just to tighten up my technique, appraise my approach or to extend my directions. I believe that artists are always evaluating their work but this visual plethora of imagery really keeps you critically aware! Facebook is very good for long discussions about issues, or asking for tips on materials, but Instagram is better for seeing imagery fast and making those connections quickly. In a few minutes you can browse a great variety of painting techniques, subject matter, approaches and visual and written ideas.

On a different subject, I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been interviewed for a magazine. This interview has just been published in Art Reveal magazine, issue 39. It can be read online or bought as a printed copy.

Below this post is a link to the magazine cover and my interview can be found on pages 78 to 83.

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!

Signposts

There are no signposts saying 'This is the right way.'  I have often wished there were, but that would take away from the broad, exciting sense of journey!
I worked on three new canvases this past week, and in the arid, unposted landscape I found some beacons of encouragement. Friends on Facebook left positive responses to some new work, and noticed glimmers of a new direction. I never wonder am I a good or bad artist? but as the oil paint congeals into a colourless, meaningless paste, support can help you to at least feel positive enough to scrape it off and start again. A Facebook friend, who used to be a dealer/gallery owner left me a comment saying not to be upset by selection committee's responses to my work, and added that he thinks I am 'a brilliant artist.' I will hold on to this when I finally get the courage to open the email from the Cork Street Open Exhibition selectors, saying whether I have been short-listed for the next stage! I received an email from them last week (a circular to all artists who submitted work), saying that we must remember that responses to art are always 'subjective.'  In other words, the £38 I spent was like a throw of the dice!
I am still waiting for the results of my submission to the Latvian residency.  I sent a large number of emails regarding the submission, as I do not have Powerpoint on my computer so couldn't send a Powerpoint presentation, and though I sent 10 images in an email, and a CD of images by post, I was told that this wasn't enough. So I spent hours finding out how to put together a rudimentary slideshow, and attached this to an email. They received it and praised my 'persistant efforts,' and within such a competitive arena I can feel that I did my best. A year ago I wouldn't even have considered applying for such a residency.
My application for funding from Artstap came back negative. No matter - there are plenty of other funding opportunities out there.
('Edges,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70cm)

Van Gogh's Artist Community

Van Gogh always dreamed of creating an artists' community, where artists could work together and exchange their ideas. Unfortunately, his dream was never realised, and one attempt to live with Gauguin and share a studio had disastrous results. I was thinking that he might have found social networking sites invaluable, if he lived now. I am an avid Facebook user. It has opened up a very wide connection with artists around the world, and given me great support and inspiration. Most of my 900-plus friends are artists, ranging from very figurative painting to totally abstract, and we comment on each other's paintings, give tips, and join in discussions on aesthetic issues, new work, exhibitions, and ideas.

For anyone not familiar with Facebook, you can create albums of work and your friends can leave comments. So in theory you can end up with hundreds of comments below each photo, from all your friends. You can read comments left by other artists on other artists' work, and respond or debate with them within that comment 'thread.' I have learned from more from this than I can ever say. Technical and aethetic merits are almost always discussed, and many of these people are international artists, curators, gallery owners, so their comments are always very focused. Over 2 years I have gradually been able to make friends with the friends of artists I really admire, and now I'm part of a very active online community. I post new work every week, as do many of my friends, and I look forward to their reactions. I'm always very excited when my closest artist friends post new work, and join in the discussion on it - and this way gain new friends, as anyone reading the comments can send you a friend request. When one of my favourite artists leaves a positive comment on my latest painting, I approach my canvases with renewed faith in myself. Artists are rarely nasty, their comments are always helpful and enable you to see aspects you had never considered before.

The quality of the artwork is incredibly high! I know artists whose work puts the Royal Academicians to shame! Some of my friends are headed for international recognition, and all are very generous and supportive. Being an artist can be very isolating, and like many of my friends, I am not living in a major city. But this exchange makes you feel part of a large, evolving circle, you can get exhibition invitations through it (galleries check out artist's work), and best of all, it keeps your standards high! I believe that Van Gogh would have greatly appreciated this kind of intense worldwide communication, all at the click of a mouse. I enter artist's lives, studios, aspirations, vision, in a matter of a few minutes of page navigation.

('Looking Through,' Oil and acrylic on canvas, 14ins by 18ins, 2012)

Axis artists database

If you Google Axis, you will find this description: 'Axis is at the forefront of presenting artists' practice on the web and connects with other organisations to run events, exhibitions and initiatives that benefit artists...'

I joined Axis in 1999. At the time it was neutral and the criteria were that you needed a formal art qualification and a CV showing exhibition history. I have been a member all these years. My subscription was due to expire on 31st January so I went to my account pages to renew it, and to my disbelief there was a message saying that I had been declined as a member as I had failed the new review process.

After clicking on the link to their revised list of criteria, I realised I had failed on the last of five - namely that I fitted the term 'modern' but not the term 'contemporary.' They made it clear that they had decided to review all artists who joined before 2005 (when certain extra criteria were introduced). Their new remit implied that they would still accept certain traditional or figurative based works. So where, in the end, was the dividing line? It seemed, in my opinion, that the organisation was no longer a neutral showcase for a diverse range of art, but had become a reflection of the selectors' tastes or ideas of what art should be. I had noticed that increasingly it showcased digital/photographic or video based media.

I put out a message on Facebook, and have had a large number of responses from other artists, and I am now pursuing the matter with letters to various art magazines. My complaint to Axis brought no positive result, so now I am fighting for the right of all kinds of art to be reinstated on this website that was started with public funding and still gets public funds. It is a fight for the individual's voice rather than collective opinion, and for the rights of the website's visitors to find a cross-section of art rather than a reflection of market place values or trends.

http://www.axisweb.org/

('Afiromeni.' oil and acrylic on board, 61cm x 31cm, 2012)

Admin versus Creativity

After much painting, erasing, and contemplation, and numerous cups of coffee, my commission is finished. I could have gone on longer, but felt that it had reached the stage where it conveyed the buzz of night life and multi-layered conversations that were the original impetus. It's a theme I love, as each brushstroke takes me back to my many night-time walks around Nicosia, and colours start to carry the essence of those memories.

The painting will be delivered on Saturday, but during the painting process my client was kept updated by the means of photos of the progress of the painting attached in emails. Modern technology can be so helpful for an artist and saves so much time.

Much of my painting day tends to be taken up with what friends refer to as 'Admin Time.' Perhaps there was a Golden Era when galleries sought out artists and opportunities dropped in through the letterbox each day. Now we have to be on constant alert for exhibition opportunities and the chance to showcase our work. This means signing up to gallery newsletters online, joining artists' databases, and constant networking (often on the internet) and putting your work on as many websites as you can find! It is time consuming and can be expensive, and of course there are thousands all doing the same thing. But what I love about the internet is how easy it is to enter other artists' worlds and make connections. My own practice has been greatly extended by sites such as Facebook, which allows me daily discussions with artists around the world.

('Nicosia Balconies at Night,' 120cm by 60cm, Oil and Acrylic on canvas.)