ucs

Found the group tutorial interesting and insightful. Talking about one’s work is always difficult, especially when one’s work in very personal. I have come to the realisation that painting portraits is relevant, and my compulsion to paint the people who are important in my life is as relevant as painting anything else. Why shouldnt it be! I believe I felt painting ‘faces’ wasnt relevant because I couldnt understand ‘why’ I was painting them. There felt a void and a lack of connection to what I was painting. How wrong I was. I just couldnt see that I was exorcising my feelings through the portraits about the people I was painting. This insight has helped me understand my work and allowed me to go a braver step forward into working from my imagination. Presently…I have two paintings I am working on. One is another portrait….but from a side angle….and the other is from my own imagination. I have had a canvas for over a year now in my studio space that has intimidated me by its huge scale. I never thought I would have the confidence to tackle it….but last week i felt the compulsion to get it out and I just looked at the bare canvas for about an hour. I then took charcoal and drew out myself sitting in a chair in a room. I dont want it to be representational as in the portraits…but leaning towards a more abstract style . There was no intention conciously to convey anything in particular….but without trying the painting for me evokes very strong feelings about a situation in my life. The painting is a work in progress and I will be lucky if its dry for the degree show….as there is still lots to do to it, but this painting is the first time I am allowing the painting to evolve…and I dont know where its going…and thats very exciting