Seeing.

Brought to life

Gently sloping hills of green.

A new painting drying in my studio.

‘Wherever you lead I will follow you’

Oils and cold wax medium on 20 x 20 inch canvas.

 I was thinking today about 

what we want to ‘see’ in a painting.

A realist landscape like my painting here

may be easy to recognise but 

an abstract landscape can be complex;

sometimes impossible for others to understand.

‘Looking for the silver lining’

Abstract shapes.

A painting I finished earlier this year.  

This large picture might be 

described as non-representational.

 It is more about mystery, colour and texture.

Another piece below has a loose 

reference to a landscape.

(Finished today after a rework).

‘Find me if you can’

20 x 16 inches on canvas 

If we do ‘see’ things in a picture,

it can be said we are bringing it to life...

and each viewer brings a personal perspective.

Below is a seascape painted 

some time ago in my studio.

A loosely worked abstracted piece...easily 

recognisable as a shore but nowhere in particular,

other than memories of the Lincolnshire coast.

However, I don’t think anyone would find 

this difficult to understand.

The picture below was also inspired by the

Lincolnshire marshland but is very different.

 

Mark-making and shapes are the focus 

and the ‘seascape’ evolved as I worked.

I began to ‘see’ the reference to a coastal 

painting as I drew on my memory, but

viewers will bring their own thoughts and 

feelings if they choose to look into the work.  

This one is very different.

‘Wake up and dance’

Oils and cold wax medium on 52 x 77cm canvas 

So there it is...

Next time you pause and look at any painting...

love it or loathe it, that painting will 

come to life and ‘speak’ to you.

To finish,

I saw this picture (source unknown) 

and a quotation by Andre Malraux.

That’s all for now,

until next time...

thank you for visiting.

To visit my website 

click on the picture 

www.wildartdesigns.com

Travelling on.

A long journey 

Just a pause in this ‘saga’.

This painting is one of the most 

 challenging I have ever worked.

On and on it goes, getting heavier 

each time with many layers of oil and wax.

There may be a chink of light visible 

but I am not taking it for granted.  

A detail of the picture.

For the patient readers of this blog

I shall show a few previous 

images of the journey.

         

The first and second reworks...

Some blues added...

then a stripe of ultramarine, 

some black, some red 

and more back and blue.

              

Turning the painting round I added yellow...

then I didn’t like it.

On my iPad I doodled some blue 

over the yellow on the photograph.

It did look more restful but after leaving it 

to dry a little I removed all the yellow.

A strange move really as I would have 

liked a small piece of yellow to remain.

The canvas was turned again to place the 

turquoise blue patch at the bottom 

and I began again.

Is there a moral to this story?

I cannot say.

No one said art would be easy.

Ps....

A few hours after posting this story

I have decided to keep the painting 

as it is and sign it as finished.

‘It was here already long ago’

Oils and cold wax medium on 24 x16 inch canvas 

Until another day...

Thank you for visiting.

If you would like to visit 

my website,

click on this link.

www.wildartdesigns.com

May I have this dance?

Quickstep

Just for fun, I iDoodled this little 

image on my iPad last week.

It was over a photograph of a 

picture I painted earlier this year.

‘In the mood for red’

The picture came home from

a recent exhibition and after my 

doodling I decided to rework the

piece to add some excitement.

It has taken a few sessions but I 

like it and will leave it to dry now.  

Here it is...

‘Wake up and dance’

There is movement and drama 

along with some narrative.

No reference to the doodle exists..

I wanted to be free from a plan.

I added a lot of different marks and shapes 

whilst keeping a similar colour palette.

Although it is quite busy there are 

some places to rest as my eye 

travels around the canvas.  

The painting can be displayed 4 ways..

     

    

That’s all for now...

Thank you for visiting 

To see my website..

Click on this picture 

Carry on calm

Unexpected 

‘Suspended in time’

Oils and cold wax medium on 24 x 24 inch canvas 

It’s strange how some things happen.

This painting is not how I imagined it would be.

I began the piece with an under painting 

of Indian yellow and burnt sienna

 without any plan for grey.

Something told me it was finished.

The combination of soft blues and 

grey/browns with glimpses of the 

warm under painting is calming.

I shall let it dry.

Not so with this one...,

‘It was here already long ago’ 

I am losing count of the times it has 

been modified and reworked.

My battle continues...

I cannot let it rest.

I turned it around and added more paint.

Two bold yellow marks were rolled on.

Now I don’t like it.

One yellow mark has to go.

Possibly the top one. 

I have iDoodled some blue over

the yellow on this photograph.

Now it looks quieter.

I like having one patch of yellow.

Less is definitely more as the 

bottom patch carries more weight now. 

What to do about the top?

That is for another day. 

‘Keep calm and carry on’.

Until next time...

Thank you for visiting.

Click on this picture 

to see my website 

Tinker time.

I knew it might happen!

Another visit to this painting.

...from this rework yesterday.

I thought I had finished, but when I went 

back this morning I decided the patches 

of yellow/gold were too bold.

  Some taming needed to be done.  

Some readers might think I am 

too harsh with my work.

Destroying reasonable pictures.

But it is part of my process.

I never feel sad.

It is time now to let the painting rest.

I have turned it around 

and given it a title.

‘Time knows no beginning or end’

There are lots of interesting 

shapes and textures.

Layer on layer, scraped away,

rolled and over-painted.

It has been a long journey.

On the clothes line...

Bookmarks.

Drying on the line,

these little paintings will be taken to the 

Gainsborough Artisan Fair 

on 14 December.

They are useful warm-up exercises 

and are made with oils and cold wax medium.

The sheet of Arches oil paper is taped off

and transparent oils are used at first.

Opaque oils are used later to add interest,

with scraping back and drawing to finish.  

The pictures will be cut apart when dry.

My workplace 

The mixing table.

Time to finish.

Enough for today.

That’s all for now.

Until next time...

Thank you for visiting 

To read more about my art 

If you click on this link you

will reach my website:

Back in the swing.

Getting ‘nearly’ hysterical.

‘It was here already long ago’

Oils and cold wax medium on canvas.

Here is the painting after the first reworking.

I was ‘stuck’ and left it until now.  

It was then turned clockwise.

I have continued my rework on this painting.

 

After my previous blog post I wanted to 

go wilder in response to learning about

the artist Albert Oehlen.

He likes his work to have a ‘base note of hysteria’.

I didn’t exactly become hysterical...

but my picture has some elements 

of spontaneous flurry.

It is finished now...

although I have said that many times.

Time will tell.  

Next one...

‘Lingering in the golden gleam’

Oils and cold wax medium on 16 x 16 inch canvas.

The painting before I reworked it.

There is more drama in the rework 

and I like the swoosh of golden paint.

I like to use flat tables for my pictures as I work. 

They rest here and dry.

I have lines with pegs to hang work on paper.

These will be cut into three separate pictures 

for my Artisan Fair in December.

A warm and cosy place to make my work.

Notice the white sheets of oil paper 

on the table...ready for making little 

studies for the Artisan Fair.

...and another makeover

 It’s on the way but more work is needed.

Maybe an addition of hysteria?

Previously...

It was a gentle abstract but

I felt more work was needed.

Finally

This one caught my eye...

I really couldn’t help myself.

It had a sudden change today....

I turned it around and added a blast of yellow/gold.

Previously...

Time to stop!

That’s all for now...

Thank you for visiting.

To read more about my art journey,

see my website...

click on this image