Studio Musings.

The sky is green...

'Sky Green'

A4 monotype on paper 

Golden Open Acrylics 

...and purple

'Sensory Overload'

A4 monotype on paper 

Golden Open Acrylics 

...and the land is red

'Sun's fiery kiss'

A4 monotype on paper 

Golden Open Acrylics 

...who did this?

'Dragons did this'

A4 monotype on paper

Golden Open Acrylics 

...was this inspired by the rain?

'Precipitation'

A4 monotype on paper 

Golden Open Acrylics 

...what happened here?

Ugly but beautiful,

in a strange way.

'Gnarled'

Oils and cold wax medium on 20x16 inch canvas 

This painting had not gone well so

I decided to scrape back the thick oil

in an attempt to save it.

Scraping revealed the texture beneath 

giving the image a curious gnarled effect.

Suddenly the picture had come to life.

I like the weird mysterious shapes 

almost tree-like with a hole in the middle.

It can stay and is drying on the table.

Dealing with a problem canvas...

Frustration with a piece of art is quite common.

When not going well it can seem like a battle of wills. 

 Artist versus canvas.

Rebecca Crowell's Messy Studio podcast 

episode 179 

'Creative Frustration' is about this situation.

Rebecca Crowell 

American abstract artist

Here is the link...if you are interested 

http://www.facebook.com/messystudiopodcast

That's all for now...

thank you for visiting 

My overgrown pond

all tangled but a haven

for wildlife.

www.Wildartdesigns.com

Telling a story.

My travels in paint...

and thoughts from the gel plate.

'Early Rising'

A4 monotype on paper 

A memory of sunrise with a peach glow.

Musings...

This week my creative time has been

split between the garden and print room.

The weather has played a part as the 

frequent rain showers drove me inside.

How convenient...

a chance to play with paint.

After a few recent sessions with muted colours I decided 

to go with some brighter ones and vary the mark-making.

Making marks and scribbles is part of my painting hand writing.   

I like to draw into the paint on the gel plate and make

scribbles in the pulled print for added interest.

'Ice Pool' was the perfect image for this.

'Ice Pool'

A4 monotype on paper 

My monotypes often seem to have a landscape feeling.

It isn't a conscious decision, it just happens.

When I say landscape, I really mean abstracted landscape.

Some are reminiscent of land, whilst others are coastal.

The titles come to me after the print is finished.

'Be Free'

A4 monotype on paper 

Here is a change of colour.

The bold purple is a mix of 

Ultramarine and Quinacridone Magenta.

Buff Titanium was my choice for the top as a soft hue.

'Meet me at Sunset'

A4 monotype on paper 

The next print is one of my favourites...

I love my marks in the paint adding 

narrative to the picture.

Teal is a beautiful colour, almost ethereal.

This gave me an idea for the title.

'That Sweet Hour'

A4 monotype on paper 

My print below is also a gem...

it can be viewed both ways which is always special.  

I don't set out to do this, it's really how it

looks when I do the final pull.

Some work, others don't.

The more abstract, the greater 

chance of it happening and when

it does, I am really happy.

'The best of Times'

A4 monotype on paper 

The other view...

This orange and black print was fun.

Scraping out the paint let the paler

under painting show through.

It gave me the idea of pathways in 

an abstracted landscape.

Crossing Paths

A4 monotype on paper.

The monotypes below are examples of more abstract work.

They lend themselves to turning both ways.

'Time and Space'

A4 monotype 

'Dawn Chorus'

A4 monotype 

Below is a 'landscape' in vertical format.

The colours immediately reminded me of my 

Grandmother whose birthstone was Amethyst.

Part of the joy of painting comes from 

triggered memories, often from my childhood.

'Amethyst'

A4 monotype 




Finally, here is a grey muted landscape print 

with a focus on texture and tone.

No definite shapes, more an overall hint of shore, 

sand and grit with a worn aged appearance.

A simple off-white mount mat and plain black 

frame will be right for this vertical format.

'Of land and Sky'

A4 monotype on paper 

That's about all for now but before I go, here is

a picture of my garden which is beautifully wild.

This is at the side of my studio.

Until next time...

Thank you for visiting 

Click on the picture below 

to visit my website...

www.wildartdesigns.com

Lessons learned.

When things go wrong...

Sometimes a painting does not survive.

I am posting this little story 

to share an art disaster with you.

Last week I decided to rework an old painting.

It was a canvas measuring 24x48 inches.

At first things seemed to progress quite well

and I enjoyed mixing the lovely oils and cold wax.

Then it all went wrong. I became 'stuck'

and couldn't get any further.

I remembered having difficulty before

with a canvas this size and format.

Here is the canvas drying outside the studio.

I was giving it a rest and a re-think.

This is the one and only part I liked...

Against my better judgment I returned 

to the painting the next day.

As I worked, the previous part disappeared

and the canvas turned grey.

A few more marks were made but I sensed 

the canvas was not going to survive.

I had mixed some lovely colours on 

my palette but they were all wasted.

It was frustrating but not exactly life threatening.

To refresh my confidence I went into the print room 

to do something completely different.

I am happy to tell you this was successful.

Here are three A4 hand-pulled monotype prints

using acrylics on smooth white 300gsm paper.

All three are balanced to be viewed both ways.

First a blend of greys with a hint of green...

'Wave and Wend'

Next a warmer palette with

coffee and creams...

'Balancing Act'

And finally...

A different palette here...

there is a freshness of Teal,

it's as light as a feather.

'Wakening'

I really like these prints, especially the way

they can be viewed in both directions.

All three prints will be put in an off-white mat/mount.

That's all for now,

thank you for visiting.

www.wildartdesigns.com

Rain stops play

...and the Print Room beckons...

I have taken advantage of the rainy weather 

to catch up on some more monotype printing.

Here are some hand-pulled prints

using my gel plate and Golden Open acrylics.

'Seek'

'Find'

I like using the Golden Open acrylics as they are slow drying

and enable me to make drawings into the paint. 

Some of my monotypes are multi layered.

I can build up tonal values and texture.

'Terrain'

Hand-pulled A4 monotype 

'Vista'

A4 print pulled from the same palette...

'Crisp'

A change of colours for this one.

It reminds me of a winter shoreline.

I resisted the temptation to add more,

preferring to keep the composition simple.

'Accent'

A favourite pull from today.

I like the tonal changes which make 

darks 'pop' against the lighter ones.

In this monotype there is a blend of textures.

There is also a narrative.

Although abstract it might have 

 a touch of shorescape.

Before the rain...

I walked around our wild garden to 

enjoy the spring flowers and fresh green leaves.

This view is from the entrance to my studio.

Young growth on Silver Birches in the paddock.

Finally, I prepared my oil painting for

taking to an exhibition next week.

Here is the flyer...

It will be good to have a painting in a 'real' Show

after the restrictions closed the galleries.

That's all for now,

thank you for visiting.

www.wildartdesigns.com