I have been pondering a little on the tags abstract artist and abstract art. I dislike these terms because people have so many preconceptions - such as it's easy art! My work is not formal abstraction but visual distillations of real experiences. My work has evolved in this way due to the comparative solitude of rural living.
edgescape rubel 2007, mixed media on panel, 100cm x 100cmI recently went to a retrospective exhibition of the paintings of Howard Hodgkin at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and his work epitomises just such abstracted experiences. Their sources may be an Indian sunset, an overheard conversation, taking afternoon tea, or seeing a picture at an exhibition. Hodgkin refers to them as representational pictures of emotional situations.There were some very large paintings and many small paintings, all hung on walls papered in gold. The small paintings were jewel-like in contrast to the background, incredibly vibrant and precious, quite exquisite. I really felt the playful flourish of his brushstrokes and I imagined the sequence of the colours applied, what kind of brush might have been used on that day, the pressure and angle of the stroke of paint as it was applied.Many of his paintings had start and end dates, so the relationship between painter and painting seems intimate, perhaps difficult at times, but hopefully resolved to Howard's satisfaction.I related to the difficulty with making paintings, falling in and out of love with a painting, trying to resolve the idea or emotion that started the relationship. No wonder Hodgkin can only bear to work on (and look at) one painting at time in his studio - you can truly only have one lover, truly, madly and deeply...
Howard Hodgkin Venice Grey Water 1988-89