I have been looking back in my journals for the past year assessing where to now. There is also a pile of paintings, drawings, cloth etc that are 'finished' which i am going through. This article was prompted by finding/looking at these two paintings (below) - They are so similar, created months apart!
I am quite struck by the similarities .... intuitive shapes, marks, values and to a small extent, colour. And the similarity in the final outcome. (acrylic and paintstick).
Musing, below, on looking forward, these pieces and the materials i use - plus a little bonus video of the lovely #Snowcone.
My 'planning board' shows what I hope to get to in 2023. This blog site was number 1 on the list for this year.
A few projects and ideas for projects have been bouncing around for a couple of years (notes, researching deeper, ideas, drawings, mark making, photos, art of others etc).
I paint every day, collage may be daily for a week or so each month, textiles is slow stitching at night and intermittent dyeing, painting cloth etc.
Last year i started using my Ipad much more. I use apps to take macro and slow shutter speed shots and apps for drawing, painting, photographic manipulation, taking short movies and sound recordings.
Artist books are made by myself regularly as I work through ideas for projects. A book may be completely hand-made, using old paintings, prints, drawings etc and bound in any one of many contemporary bindings.
Alternatively images may be printed either on a laser printer or on an ink-jet printer and then bound. Workshops on collage, contemporary bindings and making books are conducted regularly and will begin soon at blackfishartstasmania (Turners Beach).
Poetry is ever-ongoing (haiku, haibun, haiga, some free verse) - writing is a daily doing - just 30 minutes at a time until a 'time' when i sit for longer and write out collected thoughts, observations, experiences.
As a premise begins to form, the editing begins, lots of editing to get the poem out. Soon, a page will be created here at blackfishartstasmania that will bring in my poetry including those that have been published over the years.
Assemblage - i am still unpacking out of the bus and feel winter will be a good time to tackle some of these assemblage projects.
I am still in the throes of 'looking back' - going through last year's journals and the large stash of drawings, paintings and project ideas.
I am often brought back to thinking that your marks, choices, intuition is all your own and if you put it down, honestly, it can only be you and who you are ? I question this because sometimes we try emulation and sometimes follow it for a while. but i do think you cannot get away from you and your own thinking, expression ... outcome.
So why fight it. I like scribbles, I like colour, I enjoy the mapping aspect that includes formal aspects and thinking. My notes to self are more often, than not, expressed in a mind map with arrows coming and going into circles of interconnected media, tools and offshoots.
The "proof" comes to me from time to time which makes me think it must all be inherent. It surfaces of its own volition. An example i just unearthed - the first image, done many months ago, is a mapping exercise - intuitive placement of darks, lights and shapes. Mark making coming in over the top. something that came about during small exercises in relation to mapping (internal and external) landscapes. (ink, acrylic, graphite on Canson brown board)
And then this one .... completed recently and many months later than the one above. Many other paintings, drawings etc etc done in between. I am quite struck by the similarities .... shapes, marks and the final outcome. (acrylic and paintstick).
They are so similar, created months apart.
My ways of working, it seems, has always been to mix it up, using any media. Anything that 'gets the job done'.
Notwithstanding I use only artist quality materials having learned very early on, in this journey, that artist quality paints are pigment rich, creamy, take additives and mediums without problems whilst cheaper materials come with all sorts of challenges which, ultimately, do very little, if anything, to move your art forward.
And lets not get started on quality papers .... yum. The different weights, textures, ultra smoothness, the difference in HP (hot press) and CP (cold press), the feel of 100% cotton rag or handmade papers.
Supplies I currently use include :
PAPER - Arches, Saunders, Fabriano, Conqueror. For printing - Ilford Galerie, Rag Photographique, Hahnemuhle, Washi Torinoko. A variety of specialised papers, including tissue, Japanese papers, printed and handmade papers.
PAINT - Any brand that has the colour I want, but mostly Atelier interactive, Golden (acrylic), Gamblin, Winsor & Newton (oils).
PASTELS - Art Spectrum, Unison, Rembrandt.
For Printing I use an Epson Photo Stylus R3000 and an OKI Laser printer.
Both have been with me for years and do, so well for me. They are both easy to maintain and access when needing to (paper jams, ink flow etc).
IPAD apps include pixelmator pro, procreate, art set, sketchbook.
A little movie of #Snowcone getting a snack, joined by the new generation Turbo Chooks and our one-eyed wallaby.
Thank you for an insight into your creative process...
love your... "Going through journals"....
it's like "where have I been? ... where am I heading?" .... or...
like when I revisit my drawing journals...I wonder...
what was I thinking? ...
... which is usually a springboard onwards...