This year’s exhibition I have taken steps to further abstract my work placing an emphasis on line , shape, texture and colour. With these I am creating paintings to depict space, structure and distance.
I collect my ideas when out on walks both locally and when travelling. I always have my sketch book with me, take photos frequently and think of words to best describe - the “live nature” of where I am.
Having collected my information, back at the studio, I then will create many collage and textural pieces from papers and painted study pieces which are then torn. I also keep hold of dismissed bits and pieces from old paintings and add them into new ones! I also print in relief or collect highly textural pieces from raised or corrugated surfaces. I will also look for those found pieces that suit the theme I am building in terms of colour or they may be completely random and will add an unusual hint or quirkiness to a painting.
Using graphite initially, I will do a limited amount of planning and drawing, preferring to get “stuck in” on the basis that using acrylic I can change the bits that do not work. My work then often takes on a life of its own! I aim to not recognise “mistakes” but rather look to incorporate them keeping my work spontaneous and free. I often paint in layers, adding and removing parts of the painting to reveal parts of those underneath. This will also create some interesting negative shapes which I then incorporate into the design .In addition to acrylic and collage pieces I will often dribble glue, spray ink and use marker pens.
I love to work with strong bold colours and the blues from indigo to turquoise juxtaposed with the earth colours of burnt umber and raw sienna. Whilst working with a limited palette with black and white and with various mixtures of this palette I am aiming to achieve some simplification and unity. This year I am painting the lighter hues of these whilst setting them against strong darks to create marked value differences to exaggerate form and tone. I also love a bit of metallic!
Within a piece of work, I rely upon mixed media to give me both hard and soft fluid edges for example ink sprayed over painted, structured lines and torn edges provide an interesting contrast that I aim to work into in order to create the image I am after. Depending on the theme of the painting I will adapt the energy of my brushstrokes from sweeping spontaneous marks for mountains to smaller and more precise marks for details. I look to stylise parts in response to my love of design and shape whilst bring forward abstraction.
The studio space allows me to work on a large scale freely without interruption.