For the past nine months (in fact since I had a show of figurative paintings from photographs at N’s Yard) I’ve spent the time returning to older smaller unfinished paintings. Different animals to the work in the show. One day it occurred to me to revisit one that wasn’t impressing or forgotten about and then more started to shout out for more work and attention too. Ive found I had more than ten paintings I have re-worked and I am now coming the end of this ‘re-work run’. It has been interesting for me because the stakes were pretty low in my expectations to make them into something.
It gave me lots of leverage to work through a playful building up of imagery and finding time to allow for forms to emerge.
The paintings were totally cold at resumption of play and I felt like a trouble shooter (or asset stripper) as you sort through what needs to be done, usually making a confident restart and covering the rubbish bits straight away.
Towards the end of working on them last few months (for many of them) I became locked in, to the subtle colour changes, throughout the motions. Without hooks or stories, I became interested in the forms and relationships and I am still unpicking them with eye/mind etc.
