Reflections : Final student project

Transitions toward a therapeutic art that re -connects us with the natural world in order to allow time to recover, reflect, and escape the busyness of the everyday …” a time to stop and stare.”

Yesterday Guest speaker Maggi Hambling came in to talk and answer questions concerning aspects of being an artist, I was glad to have gone along as it re-enforced and inspired me to keep moving on in experimenting with emerging ideas concerning my project based on observations of both the near Shoreline and the far Horizon sea/sky scape. At present I am working on ideas for acrylic paintings on canvas focused on the horizon and more detailed works of print works such as lino,etching, collograph forms for shoreline along with an idea for hand sculpture see blog image last week. may look again at Georgia O’Keefe.

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There were some aspects of the talk that resonated with me as I find my own way forward.

The first point I was encouraged by was …

All art is therapy – painting is a way of expressing and dealing with things…( this reminded me of Alain de Botton’s ideas and theories on art as a therapeutic form… see past blogs)

Marc Rothko looked at life and death in his work …this for me connected with the contrast of the recent ending of one project and the beginnings of a new one involving past childhood memories, and my present reconnecting with aspects in seascape/ nature concerning horizons where sea and sky meet/sun rise, sun set context..beginnings and endings night/ day etc…)

What happens in life dictates what one paints …(shifts in my project I didnt expect lead me into considering a different form and context …its ok to move on if things are not working out( the timing may not be appropriate)

Being so moved by something, events, images in the media, you express it through art( its ok to respond to events that touch you…)

Be your own critic…(yes ok but be open to the opinions of others constructive critiques…they can be valuable)

Have a converstation with your work…(new terrain to work on!)

Be open to all art forms (encouraging.. as I love many forms and expressions of art and what it conveys) “Art washes away the dust of everyday life,” as Picasso said!

Be true to yourself…be yourself.(be strong to believe in own capabilities.)

So from these comments and a realisation time is moving on, today I have been busy working with acrylic washes and concentrated acrylic mainly dealing with the horizon on small and larger scale A3 and A2 paper and sketch book work exploring ratios and colour.see images

Concentrating on the effects of layering washes over one another using turquoise, pthhalo blue (not sure if this blue works with the main colours-will get Robin’s advise on blue ) vermilion orange, indian yellow, and yellow hue (the latter is very vibrant!)

I am attempting to incorporate a luminosity, haze, aura, to draw the eye to a focal place on the horizon at the moment. The experiments are quite visually busy, both in colour and form (too many lines) so therefore not very cathartic or theraputic which is what I am aiming for as i also attempt to produce larger scale works on canvas..

I have been using my hands and some sponges as a method and technique of applying paint to create a smoother effect than brush recently. I also use damp clothes to take away excess paint and to create a softer effect… when the work is dry I use a scourer to create a distressed effect in the work .

Between two worlds life hovers like a star, twixt night and morn, upon the horizon’s verge.Lord ByronRead more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/horizon.html#YAkwlgzu6VjqzPk8.99

Further explorations form my sketch book based on the horizon where sea meets the sky.

images based on research concerning warm and cool colours and the effects of colours on emotion.

First revisting primary colours researching aspects eg

Yellow

luminocity,captures attention,optimism,creativity,positive

Red

extremes in emotions rage, passion,alerts; affects vision not dominent in nature.

Blue

favourite colour of many people, heaven and peace, serenity,infinity ,trust, has a creative effect when combined with other colours .

looking at ways to incorporate colours of nature into future works.

blues, yellow, hint of red, combining to create aqua, shades of orange, blues, pinks, see water colour sketches…

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” Henry Ward Beecher

http://www.artpromotivate.com/2012/09/famous-inspirational-art-quotes.html

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”

Henry Ward Beecher

http://www.artpromotivate.com/2012/09/famous-inspirational-art-quotes.html

Whilst working in collaboration with the World Land Trust in 2013 the CEO John introduced me to artist Frans Krajcberg see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UoMre6vJDU

Frans Krajcberg is an artist in his 90s he originated from Poland after losing his family of jewish decent to the Holocaust he eventualy moved to Brazil, to escape the memories of horror from europe.Krajcberg withdrew from society for a number of years lived in cave’s in the Rainforest he connected with nature, the trees, the woods, and his life renewed.

Unfortunatley he again tasted the bitter effects of man’s destructive nature on the wildlife, forest, and indigenous people, through the deforrestation of the Rainforest as an artist he became an advocate for the forest through his work.Many exhibitions in Brazil contain his works as a highly respected artist.

He said “My works are my manifest.The fire is death, abyss. The fire will always be with me. The destruction has forms. I am searching for images to scream my revolt.” Krajcberg.

I have found drawing on Krajcbergs experiences in connecting with nature as a restoration of his humanity, inspiringing and helpful concerning my own journey toward aspects of nature as a cathartic form for renewal and a way to visualy communicate the process.