30/12/2012
I went out to get a long canvas for an idea I wanted to get out of the way. It was originally to be called FOUR QUARTETS (after the T.S. Eliot poem which I love: “Midwinter Spring is its own season” and all that!) with superimposed sets of shapes, all in fours. However the canvas was expensive so I came home and rummaged in my shed and came out with three lengths of tongue and groove planking. The two shorted pieces I fitted together and primed (after a light sanding – I know I should have cleaned them!) and the longer piece I kept for a second work. The two piece work will be called TWO DUETS; the same concept as before but the image sets will be in twos. I didn’t do much else of a creative nature as my wife and I went out (twice!) although I took quite a few photographs on the long way to town – including a series in the town churchyard which may be used in due course in my paintings.
31/12/2012
A pretty normal day as June had to work although we spent most of the late afternoon/evening with the family. I did part of the drawing stage of TWO DUETS, first in pencil and then in acrylic paint. I put in the background sections and two sets of shapes. I will probably put in another twin set tomorrow (in a new year!) if I get the chance.
01/01/2013
June was working again so we couldn’t join the family until quite late in the day. I spent much of my time in my studio – save for a brief trip to town only to find that most of the shops were closed! I added the remaining shapes/symbols to TWO DUETS, as before using thin paint over pencil.
DUETS – work in progress
I then added rough marks to the long plank “rescued” from the garden shed on Sunday using different colours of artists pastel. The work is entitled BURIAL VERSES – HOW ONE PERSON CAN BECOME A CROWD which gives a guide to the eventual shape sequences.
BURIAL VERSES – HOW ONE PERSON CAN BECOME A CROWD – work in progress
Incidentally the cat is a rescue: she is middle aged, on daily medication and initially very feisty. We took her on as no one else wanted her. For some reason she has taken to living in my studio!
After this I started to add symbols to TOPLESS GIRL using the twin tree motif from THE LEGACY OF THE FOUR BREASTED WOMAN as the initiating thematic image. I hadn’t completed this process when we finally went out.
02/01/2013
A return to (almost) normal days! I continued working on TOPLESS GIRL. As much of the imagery was only sketched in yesterday using extremely thin paint I had to repaint these before adding the rest. After I had completed the main colour I decided to add other images using a different colour and moving from the opposite side of the panel. All are spontaneous variations or elaborations from the starting symbol. At the end of the day I found myself making changes to the composition/concept and I will have to continue the work tomorrow. Incidentally I deliberately put the thematic symbol about two thirds of the way up on the left which means the top third of the picture is mainly blank – this is just me playing games!
03/01/2013
I completed TOPLESS GIRL by painting over the white paint which I applied yesterday to obscure some of the images. This took several coats and a lot of tweaking. I wanted to emphasise the starting image so I removed some of the immediate variations; this was possible because the development of images was so loose and spontaneous.
Topless Girl
Later in the day I started to paint in the shapes on TWO DUETS. I am not sure if I will get the work finished tomorrow as I am out most of the day. I suspect I will be writing all of Saturday so I may have to squeeze in completing the work between gardening jobs on Sunday.
04/01/2012
I was out all of the morning and on my return I decided to catch up on my writing rather than finish my painting. I hope, all being well, to finish this tomorrow.
05/01/2013
As it turns out I was somewhat over optimistic about completing TWO DUETS as I have only finished painting the smaller blocks. I adopted an approach with this acrylic work which I should use for my oil paintings but don’t (i.e. do the complete drawing and then paint each individual area) instead of the technique which I actually use on my oils but shouldn’t (i.e. paint all the blocks first and then superimpose the images) – I am not sure why I am so back to front! Looking at how much gardening I have to do on Sunday I suspect I will be finishing off on Monday – again all being well!
TWO DUETS – work in progress
The fluffy cat is too cool!
I bought her home, opened the catbox in the kitchen and she promptly went upstairs to my studio and hasn’t really left it since! Everything is there including the cat litter tray!
Obviously an art critic who knows good stuff when she sees it!
Ha ha, I better not tell you what Sam (our little Pomeranian – sadly now passed away) did on a large painting I had standing on the ground – and he was up to then perfectly house trained!
I am actually laughing out loud! Maybe he was just marking it as his own?
The irony is, if I had exhibited the painting how Sam had left it I would be an art celebrity by now!
(smiling)