Movement Downwards (Gift)

Here is the second painting based on the theme of movement downwards.  I've used about 200 diamante rhinestones however I would have to use a different camera/light to get them to show up in the pictures that are taken of these paintings.  I think I've captured the movement downwards in the way that I was wanting which is a surprise because I didn't think it was possible to capture the style of movement that I have being trying to portray.  I've decided that this painting should be called Movement Downwards (Gift) because the inspiration behind this theme of work is just that, a gift off someone very close.  It cost no money but has been the best gift I've ever had (better than winning all lotteries combined forever).  I think about gifts as well because of the time of year.  My husband came home from the shops a few days ago and told me how people were fighting (elbowing each other and getting irate) over a pile of half price Christmas crackers at Waitrose supermarket.  I thought about it and could see them in my mind getting upset and arguing with strangers over a pack of half price Christmas crackers.  I think that a huge proportion of the populace has lost its mind in general anyway, but fighting over half price crackers is basically crackers!  Maybe if people took a step back and looked at the world around them properly they might get over themselves for a minute.  I can only hope during this season of 'Peace and goodwill'.

Movement Downwards (Gift), oil on canvas 91x61cm.

Movement Downwards Painting

I've finally finished my assessment work for the time being and have some time to put some paintings together based on my latest project 'Movement Downwards'.  I have about 20 A4 mainly pen drawings based upon this theme.  I have so many ideas to explore within this project before I develop it further into a sub project which will be based on 'Absence Of Suffering'.  I'm not completely sure how I will approach the sub project but hopefully my work on Movement Downwards will help towards the next project. 

This painting is the first of quite a few that will be produced over the next few months.  I have glued tiny diamante gems onto parts of the painting however in order to see them properly you would have to view the painting in real life.  I put them on the painting to help with the sense of movement downwards that is in the painting.

Movement Downwards, painting 1, A2 oil on canvas (2017)

Movement Downwards 3

This is the third installment of my studies about movement downwards.  I have drawn at least 20 different pieces, each trying to capture moving downwards in different ways.  I still have some more ideas that I may try out before moving on to painting these ideas.  This may take some time due to further work commitments however I hope to get painting as soon as possible and certainly before December.

Drawing 1, carbon pencil, drawing 2, pen and coloured pencil (A4) 2017

Movement downwards 2

Some more work on the theme that I have been looking at.

Ink painting, A4 (2017)

We have been returning to my mum's flat regularly and clearing out stuff before the new buyer moves in.  Every so often we come across another sketch book (there have been at least 12 so far).  Some of them contain ideas for work (she was an art teacher), others study personal themes that I will post up over the next few months.  Some of her ideas are very personal.  What I find striking is the last sketch I found less than two weeks ago contained a small number of works quite similar to some of the stuff I have been working on.  Here are some examples.

Ann Fones (c.2017)

Ann Fones (c.2017)

This last piece is kind of similar too but also shows how my mum could be her own harshest critic.

Ann Fones (c.2017)

Movement downwards

I've spent a couple of weeks on a series of drawings looking at the subject of movement.  These are abstract pieces obviously.  I've talked about the inspiration for this project to a very small number of people and it will be interesting to hear what they think about my work on this.  For everyone else, make what you want of them as abstract pieces. 

I will be investigating different colour schemes in these abstract pieces although the 'purest' ones are without colour or are simply gray.  I think they will be interesting colour studies though!  The next stage of this project is to start work on paintings in my case although there will be more drawings to come.

Movement downwards 2, pen drawing and coloured pencil A4 (2017)

Movement downwards 5, pen drawing  A4 (2017)

Movement downwards 4, pen drawing and coloured pencil A4 (2017)

Movement downwards 3, pen drawing and coloured pencil A4 (2017)

Movement downwards, pen drawing A4 (2017)

Movement downwards 6, pen drawing and coloured pencil A4 (2017)

Movement downwards 1, pen drawing A4 (2017)

Untitled

I've decided to not name this drawing.  A lot has happened this summer that was unexpected and unwelcome, principally the passing of my mum.  This will be the last of my figurative works for the time being though I will of course come back to these.   I have however already embarked on my next project that explores some of my more recent experiences and in order to bring these out I will be using none figurative ways of doing so. 

Untitled, pen drawing A4 (2017)

Iris Shapes

This is the last art work for a while (work beckons) and is a continuation of last week's update however with a more abstract slant.  Rather than trying to paint individual irises, my interest turned more towards shape and pattern as it has done in other art work I have produced.  I've never really worked with watercolour, so it was a bit of an experiment.  Oil painting is quite solid and gives quite a different outcome compared to watercolour paint.  Oils also take a long time to dry, whereas watercolours dry very fast so the whole artist experience is quite different. 

Iris Shapes, watercolour painting on A3 watercolour paper

Irises

It's been some time since I last updated this blog.  This is not because I have been doing anything but drawing and painting (quite the reverse).  I have been working on an area of weakness that is still a work in progress and will hopefully be added to my blog when I feel happy with my creations in this area.  I think that choosing areas and subjects that are out of our comfort zones to be a good way to develop as an artist and even generally as a person.  There have been some other developments to my art work which will give a very different emphasis in the future, however that will be a not too distant post on this blog. 

This drawing is a respite from working outside my comfort zone and is a subject matter that I am very familiar with: botanical/nature.  It could be good as a watercolour painting, although this is another area which is out of my comfort zone.  I suppose this has thus far been a year of working in less familiar areas concerning my art work!

Irises, coloured pencil and graphite drawing, A3 (2017)

Night Sanctuary

A few weeks ago I was walking my daughters to school.  My younger 9 year old daughter suddenly started to describe an unusual memory from when she used to sleep in our bedroom.  She moved out to her own bedroom when she was 3 years old so this was a very early memory for her.  She said that every night she would leave her body and sit in a tiny tunnel that was less that a centimetre in diameter.  The tunnel was in the wall near the ceiling.  I asked what it was like and whether it felt safe or threatening.  She said she would sit just inside and that she did it because it felt very safe.  I asked her if the tunnel was completely dark and her answer was that it had a small bright light at the end.  At the end of the night she would slide out of the tunnel and not feel any breeze as she slid into the bed and back into her body.  She said she had this dream until she moved out of our bedroom.  I asked her why she had never told me about this before, to which she answered that she did not have the words to describe it.  Make of it as you want, some people would say it is very reminiscent of the near death experiences some people say they have with the light at the end of the tunnel, but maybe it was a dream, although one might say a very repetitive recurring dream.  Whatever it was, it was a strange dream/experience for a small child to continually have.

I have tried to visualise this with this art work.  I haven't shown them to my daughter yet though it will be interesting to see if I captured what she remembers of her dream.

Night Sanctuary, pen drawing, A4 (2017)

Jane Sproston Art : Snow Tree 2009

Jane Sproston Art : Snow Tree 2009: The winter of 2009/10 was severe.  I remember minus 20 recorded at night and a day time maximum of minus 10.  Much to the delight of my olde...

Snow Tree 2009

The winter of 2009/10 was severe.  I remember minus 20 recorded at night and a day time maximum of minus 10.  Much to the delight of my older daughter it snowed so much one night at the beginning of January that the school closed the following few days.  The snow was so deep it brought a community spirit to the area with neighbours working together to dig cars out of the snow for each other and building snowmen together.  It's the only time I've ever seen the brooks near our house freeze over.  The cold went on for weeks, starting a week before Christmas and throughout January.  Although February wasn't as bad it was still freezing.  I would say that the summer made up for being in the freezer that winter, however the summer was cold and dull.  The following winter was another freezing one. 

A frequent theme in my art is trees especially in winter.  The shapes they make and the contrast of the dark branches against an often white or grey cloudy sky are interesting in an otherwise uninteresting winter morning or afternoon.  I like them and dread them.  I like the patterns, I hate day upon day of grey sunless gloom which is the time that these trees are bare.  Winter 2009 was a refreshing break from the usual grey gloominess of a typical British winter.  That year was sunny, the snow reflected the light and enhanced it.  We could walk anywhere without being knee deep in mud.

This latest drawing tries to capture the contrast between the snow and patterns of the tree branches.  The snow reflects the light thus a blueness that one can see in snow on a sunny winters day.

Snow Tree 2009, pen and coloured pencil drawing, A4