30 Works 30 Days Challenge, Pushing My Limits

'Paint Poem' (series) oil and acrylic on canvas 22 x 25 cm

I chose to take part in a 30 day painting challenge which has been organised by 12ocollective. We signed up to make 30 works across 30 days which I'm using as a tool to push through new ideas by trying out some different processes. If you fail to submit by midnight each day you are out of the challenge!

I work part time at the moment so fitting in this challenge along with work and making other artworks is stretching my day but I'm determined to finish. It helps also to take my mind off the worsening news about the coronavirus pandemic.

The first painting, on DAY ONE, is a small oil painting which I worked to a time limit. Since that first day I've been working with different mixed media, combining acrylic and ink on gesso on cardboard and rice paper layered on cardboard, with ink and acrylic. My main materials, stretchers to make canvases, will not arrive for a while so I'm having to work with whatever is around.

For this post I'm including a few of the paintings I've made so far. We are currently on DAY SEVEN. 

'Paint Poem,' (series) 22 x 27 cm, gesso, ink and acrylic on cardboard

'Social Distancing in the Park,' gesso, ink and acrylic on cardboard, 30 x 28 cm

'Paths in the Park,' acrylic and gesso on cardboard, 28 x 26 cm

More will follow!

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