Thursday 24 March 2016

Wanderer

I think that the solitude of wandering and losing oneself literally and in thought to be an important aspect of life.  My life is very structured and that is how I like it to be.  Wandering however releases me from myself and presents opportunities to find out about new places, new things in life and new aspects about ourselves.  Being able to grow mentally as a person is something that is important and necessary.  I often reflect on things from the past when I create my art work.  I think about how I would do various things in the past as I am now.  It helps highlight that one has progressed from mistakes from various points in the past and to not continue to repeat them.  I also find that allowing the mind the freedom to wander allows one the ability to observe others and their behaviour and how that affects me.  My conclusion is that I am now in control of my own mind (although this has not always been the case) and that the only thing that I have control over is myself.  I could say that I can't change various things about me because of autism, but I think that is an excuse for being lazy and not making the effort to improve of some of the difficulties that autism presents.  Obviously some areas such as awkwardness around new people, learning how to keep a conversation going with a stranger may never be improved  to other people's standards but I still think that there are many lessons to be learned from life. 

Wanderer, oil painting on canvas, 106cm x 106cm (2016)

This painting represents a street in Nafplio one of my favourite places in Greece.  The overall composition is structured and with perspective of the buildings an important backdrop to the central figurative figure.  I think that this painting sums up my love of structure and also my love of allowing myself to wander physically and mentally.

Monday 21 March 2016

Καλαυρία

 Καλαυρία, or in English letters Kalavria is the original ancient name of the island of Poros.  There are the remains of the temple of Poseidon in an isolated area at the top of a mountain overlooking the sea.  The day before visiting the ancient temple of Poseidon we had walked up the mountain and back down the other side in order to reach the lovely bay of Vayionia.  We had to walk up the mountain yet again to get back to our hotel.  We were so tired we did not visit the temple while we were on our way back to the hotel having climbed the mountain twice in one day in 40 degrees heat.  Two days later we returned and went back up the mountain again and found the temple and the lovely views over the Saronic gulf.  On the way back we stopped off at a church and sat in the shade and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  This drawing captures a moment when my older daughter sat quietly in the shade watching the birds flying in between the trees in front of the church.

 Καλαυρία, pen and pastel drawing, A3 (2016)

Friday 18 March 2016

Flower Study

This is another of my small studies on a botanical theme using the same material (Walkden Gardens in Sale).  There will be more to come (both oil painting and drawings) of the smaller scale works that I am doing at the moment.

Flower Study, oil painting on canvas, 20cm x 20cm (2016)

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Mahonia

This is a study of some of the material that I gathered on the last day of 2015.  I've discussed Walkden Gardens in Sale in previous posts and this is where I have amassed quite a lot of ideas for past and future art works.  I like to work on pieces that I have an emotional attachment to and Walkden Gardens symbolise some happy years from my 20s.  They also remind me of my new life after leaving teaching.

These painting is to date the smallest one that I have so far attempted to do.  It is part of the overall theme of small art works that I have been working on (so far on paper).  I will be bringing out quite a few of these art works over the next few weeks, although larger pieces will probably be back later in the year.

Mahonia, oil painting on canvas, 15cm x 20cm (2016)

Friday 11 March 2016

Leaves

This latest drawing is based on the mundane and ordinary, leaves.  During late spring, summer and autumn they are everywhere and little noticed once the first ones have arrived during the spring.  I suppose as with many things, if you pay enough attention to something, even the ordinary things, there can be points of interest found.  When I look at leaves (or many things for that matter) I see the initial leaf and then more and more detail and patterns.  Here is my celebration of the humble leaf!

Leaves, fine line pen, gouache and coloured pencil, A3 (2016)

Friday 4 March 2016

Winter Blossom 2

Here is the next of my botanical A5 drawings that I had mentioned earlier this week.  It is based on the same material as 'Winter Blossom' but less focused on a single area (the flower).  I ended up using similar colours in the end.

Winter Blossom 2, pen drawing and coloured pencil, A5 (2016)

Tuesday 1 March 2016

Winter Blossom

After working on my last two intensive drawings I thought it would be a good thing to get back to my small A5 pen/coloured pencil drawings.  I've got quite a lot of material to work with at the moment and hope to get quite a large number of these together so that I can exhibit them together.  I think they might appeal to some people more than my larger pieces which can sometimes leave some potential buyers intimidated!  I love working on A1 size or larger drawings and paintings however I have found that stepping out of my comfort zone and working small scale is good and changes how I work. 

This latest A5 drawing is based on the winter blossom that I noticed on the last day of 2015.  I have enlarged it to focus on one main flower.  The next drawing based on the same material which should be finished later this week will show more of the surrounding flowers rather than the simple focus of this drawing.  I may experiment with the colours as well, however it depends on how the composition turns out and what mood I'm in at the time!

Winter Blossom, pen drawing and coloured pencil, A5 (2016)