So this painting has been a bit more difficult than the other two for various reasons. As discussed in the previous entry some distortion of the canvas was occurring with the uneven application of paint. However, this was pretty easy to overcome and has now shown itself to be the least of my worries. As shown in the image below there are visible white specks on the surface of the canvas. These were added by me to cover over the first marks I made on this image as I have done in all the others, the moles. These act as anchor points for me when painting. They help me to keep the colours right in relation to the layout etc. Unfortunately I rushed into getting the first marks on and put them in the wrong place. In my haste to cover them over and start again I used the white cover paint quite thickly. For some unknown reason, no matter how many layers of paint I’ve added over these marks as the painting progresses, they always pull through. Nothing sticks!!! Pretty distressingly I came to a point, having worked on the painting for days, where I needed to decide whether or not to carry on and hope for the best or make an attempt at covering over the specks by re-coating the whole canvas.
Hannah Maynard, 2014, photo of studio space
It was a big decision to start again but I couldn’t see any other way round it. I wasn’t prepared to take the chance of working more only to find they still came through.
Despite the setback I’ve managed to find a bit more rhythm in the work and been able to push the painting to a more completed stage as seen below.
Hannah Maynard, 2014, photo of studio space
However, having now found myself at a bit of an emotional and energetic block I’m starting to think that there might be more fundamental reasons underlying the lack of progression with this particular piece of work.
I took the opportunity last week, having been keeping in touch with Matt Darbyshire after working for him over the summer, to send him a couple of pictures of this series of paintings. Something he said in his response made me think of things in a different way. I realised that for a while I’d been trying to make these works which I’d started months ago when working on a different path, fit onto the path that I have found myself following more recently. I had been confusing myself by trying to alter the meaning of the paintings. In fact, their meaning doesn’t need changing. They just need to be finished so that they can stand as works in their own right, fulfilling their original purpose. One of the most important elements of my work to me is the progression from one thing to another and, as I’m discovering, seeing how that progression leads into new and exciting projects.
As soon as I made this discovery, I felt a huge surge of adrenalin. Things are somehow clearer again and I have a much better idea of which direction I want to move in next. I am fascinated by my current subject matter, objectification of women. Noticing that ideas spring out often when I’m studying articles, books etc I’m keen to keep up the study. Not only does it help with my dissertation research but it interests me and fuels my creativity. Very exciting!!!
