As of late I have been having a wonderful time in my studio creating patterns. Using watercolour, acrylic or ink on paper, these patterns have been far from perfect in their repetitions and accuracy but I have been trying to radiate a certain vibe or rhythm to the paintings. As I work, I consider the frequent themes in those ideas surrounding the fragment such as connection, juxtaposition, absence, transformation, fetish to name a few. I am hoping that some of those tropes filter through into the patterns that I make, be it unconsciously.
These are still works in progress as I will be collaging within them using images of people and perhaps wildlife as well a little later. I can’t promise I won’t get side-tracked into making more patterns as I find it incredibly absorbing and I find there is something rather interesting about that in itself. It is very meditative and satisfying creating colourful and repetitive dots, dashes, shapes and swirls with the occasional random brushstroke thrown in.
It is interesting to see how some pieces work better than others; they might have more movement, vibrate or somehow sit better than other pieces and it leads me to contemplate and interrogate as to what it is that is making this happen. It could be a clarity of shape against another shape or the effect and transparency of layering or simply the contrast of certain colours against another. Let’s see how I get on with the collaging within these works now and what they may add to the fray.
Much of making art for me is about trying things out. I tend to work in series of works where I am exploring particular ideas that have evolved from other art works I have created. Very often it may appear iterative, where it looks like I am going round and round in circles but it is in the minutiae where my creative head lies.
I have spent a considerable amount of time over the last umpteenth months focusing on collage and painting to do with the wildlife in my garden and my fragmentary and transitory connections with this wildlife. This has included a number of bird works, a fox, a moth, snail and a woodlouse.
In this latter work, my little woodlouse sits amongst a patterned background and environment and it is this pattern that is carrying me forward. Pattern is something that appears in all our lives, from our natural environment, to human routines, behaviour and our connections to things.
I am having a little play with watercolours and pattern (inspired by Paul Klee’s little watercolour works) and am interested in bringing in the human factor in terms of our relationship to pattern and our fragmentary existence. I am at the very early stages of this; my watercolour expertise is currently sadly lacking but I do like a challenge!
The art piece I show here is the inspiration for this new developing series – ‘The wandering woodlouse’.
My, where has time gone? It is something that seems to stretch in front of you full of opportunity and potential and then collapses and amalgamates behind you, becoming blurred and unrecognisable. I haven’t written a blog for ages. Can’t say why, don’t know why. It’s too easy to say there has been too much going on. Yes, there has, but that has never stopped me before. One thing for sure, is that I haven’t been in the studio much and that can have something to do with it. Anyway, I am back now and look forward to long summer days of musing and creating.
I have been working on some insect pieces; a moth, woodlice and a snail. This is following on from my other garden creature series using paint and collage. I continue to explore the idea of interconnection between man and nature, the sharing of space, the blurring of boundaries, how these everyday creatures float in out of our consciousness and how in turn there is a mystery surrounding how other creatures might perceive us.
With these pieces I am trying to portray this idea of creation and disintegration, juxtaposition and interconnection, the ebb and flow between the real and the imaginary, form and abstraction, absence and presence.
I am currently working towards an exhibition with an artist friend. It will be held in CornerHouse – a community arts centre in Tolworth and I am grateful for the opportunity to have something focused to work towards. Our exhibition will be called ‘Reimagining the Domestic’ and we have chosen this title as the exhibition explores our individual imaginings of the ordinary and everyday such as objects and scenes in our urban environment whether that be within our homes or outside in the street.
I plan to install previous work I have made – my garden series, a few urban street explorations, possibly my garden animal collages – we shall see. I am also making some new work based on photographs I have used before; small scenes I have captured and montaged into an overall feeling, such as the reflections of a plant in a pool of water seen on the lid of an outside bin, merged with berry stains on the ground or camellias that have fallen from an overgrown bush onto the pavement reminding me of the New Zealand pohutakawas flower of my childhood.
These are just small works – they are small memories but they remain inside of me; ethereal and haunting.
Sometimes it is just hard to focus. Trying to experiment and develop feels like the hardest thing to do as pressures, emotions, and other commitments block and scrambles one’s progress. I don’t feel inspired, I don’t feel driven. It is all I can do to get myself to my studio in the first instance.
But it does help to just get there.
This is always a particularly busy time of year anyway. My other work in the Theatre industry is full-on (and given the last couple of years with Covid, for that I am thankful). Family stuff is full-on too and unfortunately much of it, not in a good way. Again, this is where I am glad to be busy. So I schedule my studio time. I actually open up my electronic calendar and optimistically type it in on the days and times I might be free. It helps give it importance. It helps me balance things. I might not have a clue when I get there as to what I will be working on that day but so be it. At the very least I can stretch a canvas, prime a surface or even just tidy a corner.
It helps me breathe.
The piece displayed is a work in progress – painting and collage. It is one of a series of works that explores human’s connection with the natural world, specifically garden wildlife and how it oscillates between the edge of consciousness and reality.
