on the surface, water paintings

six water paintings on the wall in my studio, acrylic on linen canvas (20cm x 20cm). i took a couple of these small paintings along to an informal 'show and tell' this weekend. even though these have no discernable surface texture someone said they were most definitely my work (it must be a pattern thing)...it would be wrong to call these small paintings studies of water. i did not refer to any external or photographic sources for these paintings. they are derived (and intentionally so) from the experiential process of painting and from my memory and imagination...i was thinking about waves in all their forms (as one sees and experiences them) - ripples on the surface of the water, water flowing over denuded rocks, stones and pebbles, the curling branches of a contorted willow tree, the pattern of willow bark, even waves of hair...during the painting process i kept thinking back to the river, of trying to see beneath the glassy, rippling surface, the swirling current and flow of water below, going under the surface and looking up to the sunlight (and air) - this could be a beautiful vision or a dangerous thing.i was also reminded of leonardo da vinci's many drawing studies of the movement and flow of water (which seem to have an intriguing hair-like quality about them). the following night i had a strange dream in which my hair was cut very short...leonardo da vinci, studies of water, c.1510-13 © The Royal Collectionher majesty, the queen, her royal highness, hrh the queen, or just elizabeth II (if you prefer), has quite a lot of leonardo da vinci drawings in her art collection...but not this one (a self-portrait of the great genius, a scientist, philosopher, inventor and artist)...self-portrait, leonardo da vinci © Royal Library, Turin...'water wears away the mountains and fills the valleys. if it had the power, it would reduce the earth to a perfect sphere'[leonardo da vinci]these are two of my eroded earth discs (as mentioned in a previous post)... there are bits missing; they have weathered to imperfection...if you see any connections between these eroded discs and the water surface paintings shown behind them, then i would be most interested to hear about them...'in time and with water, everything changes'[leonardo da vinci]...major setback of the week: autosave with no option of a reversionminor irritation of the week: flashing 'low battery' warningssmall delight of the week: harvesting fresh peas from the garden...current exhibitionsReunion Refresh @ Reunion Gallery, 5 Feb – 22 Oct 2011HWAT exhibition 2011 @ Harleston Gallery, 18 June to 11 July 2011...

some things i have been working on

an old sheet, pinned up on the wall, especially framed for a sunday viewing...[sheet pinned to a wall, 2011, mixed media on cotton]in the lower section of this large abstract painting, we see a delicate layering of muted colours, a dash of yellow interacting with its colour complementary, a violet grey. notice how some colours have subtly stained the fabric, creating a halo effect or aura. this appears to be a very meditative & complex painting, lyrical abstraction doing what it does best, skillfully combining philosophical thought with material process...let's take a closer look at this work. in this section of the composition, a solid coal-black shape is juxtaposed with its nemesis, a rising trail of smokey grey, and a deft flick of verdurous green entering the picture plane lower left could allude to the possibility of regeneration from the contaminated ashes. it would seem that all aspects of mankind's material world are exhibited here - from fossil fuels and their pollutants to the transient, small elements of nature in the quiet unfurling of a leaf......moving on, we arrive at an intriguing abstract composition, which finds a compelling reference to american action painting, but it also suggests the philosophical exploration of a distant galaxy, looking to outer space, constellations, the milky way, pushing beyond the known planetary frontiers. this is a painting that perceptually ponders on the big questions in life, the universe and just about everything else. the work is made complete by the antique gold frame, reinforcing the ideological concept of travelling through the continuum of space & time...[cosmic rhythm I, 2011, acrylic on tempered glass, dimensions unknown]on closer inspection, one can delight in the visual intensity of the overlapping & colliding discs and platelets of rust, olive, ochre, mauve, white and grey, which have some echoes of patterns & forms found in nature..the artist's hotplate; it's a very useful (and used) working surface......is this a referential nod to van gogh's chair? (but this is a stool, and it's missing a pipe and tobacco)[still life of a painter's stool, 2002 to now, mixed media on wood]this is an early work on wood, one of a series of studio still lifes, realised at around the same time as still life of a painter's jug. it exhibits a characteristically reworked, encrusted surface. the artist has said of this work: 'it deals with the notion of placement, alignment and subsequent sequence of actions within a given space, dialectically positioned between the opposing forces of standing up and sitting down. it seeks to answer the question - am i sitting comfortably? i also view it as a personal benchmark of my creative process, as it supports the works i make, although i wouldn't put it on a pedestal'...above, a close-up of the dense, layered surface. below, a serendipitous spot of vermillion red immediately draws attention to the small smatter of paint, implying some key pointers to the artist's influences, including impressionism, abstract expressionism and post-op art. there is a discreet, psychologcal hitchcockian reference too......here is the artist's painting box. apparently, no paints are stored in here, but it is a good height on which to place painterly-type things while working on a painting. this seemingly accidental composition of small vessels and green drapery draws some interesting parallels with flemish still life painting and also the paintings of cézanne, recalling the unfinished painting 'still life with water jug' in the national gallery, london...[still life with plastic pots, 2011, dimensions variable]to the rear of this composition one can just make out a long strip of white paper  - the loose, gestural brushmarks serendipitously also echo those of the aforementioned cézanne painting...and seen here, more freely applied brushstrokes and energetic daubs of paint, in a visual concordance of violet-brown and green-grey, the artist's chosen colour palette of the day......in this particular work, the artist has explored the transparent new media of acetate film, incorporating chance and process to realise the final composition - it's a readymade, reusable painting palette - a robust and yet highly flexible surface to work on...[watching paint dry, acetate film; about four and a half minutes]after studying the intricate surface patterns & textures evident in this small celluloid artwork for only a short while, one is reminded of max ernst's surrealist abstract landscape paintings - a primordial forest or a post-apocalyptic vision of the world......last weekend i started and finished a painting (for a change). i first pinned a piece of canvas to the wall (on top of the dust sheet exhibited above). i worked into the wee, small hours to try to finish this painting. it is difficult to paint under artificial lights. i stretched the canvas afterwards, then varnished the painting. the painting was an enjoyable exercise in trying out a representational way of working but i am not that happy with the outcome; the dimension and scale feel wrong, it has become too dark & murky, the surface is too shiny and the texture of the canvas interferes with the transparent layers of paint. this painting is nonetheless appropriately titled, in all regards & references, green water...[green water, acrylic on canvas, 60cm x 100cm][green water, detail]...current exhibitionsReunion Refresh @ Reunion Gallery, 5 Feb – 22 Oct 2011HWAT exhibition 2011 @ Harleston Gallery, 18 June to 11 July 2011...

yet another waterlog

we've had a little rain over the weekend; yet more studies of water falling on water...looks like rain...very lightly, at first...concentric circles on the surface of the water...more rain droplets on water, creating 'pretty' patterns...raindrops, drumming on the surface of the lake...and the heavy beat of the rain plays on...and on...and on... (be careful what you wish for)...current exhibitionsReunion Refresh @ Reunion Gallery, 5 Feb – 22 Oct 2011HWAT exhibition 2011 @ Harleston Gallery, 18 June to 11 July 2011...