Category Archives: canvas

nearly winter

I have been away from home, visiting family and being a Granny in Wales, for two months, as well as a ten day break in Portugal

So I’ve been away from my studio and not painting

During the last couple of weeks I have begun to crave paint and canvas. So I bought a few materials from local shops and made these two small works on the floor in my daughter’s spare bedroom. In between visits, and in between layers, they’ve been drying in the shed.

My bedroom at my daughter’s home has sliding doors out onto the garden, with views into the trees beyond. And a view out of the side windows to a stand of Scotch Pines. From my bed I can see both dawn and dusk through these trees.

The paintings are not at all a representation of these photos of views. In fact they have more of an essence of a walk in the woods. I even embedded a fern leaf in the paint, removed it the next day to leave its impression, then rolled over it again with more layers.

However, some of the colours are there. A friend of mine said of these two latest pieces that they were a return for me of a ‘confident enigma’. I like that

Dawn:


Dusk:

Strokes and structure

Here are 2 of my recent large works

The top one is ‘Evening walk, Cruit’

110 x 160cm

The bottom one is ‘Ruined gables, facing West’ , 120 x 160cm

They were both painted during the same short period of a few weeks, about 4 or 5 months ago, in Winter.

They were both inspired by, and had their starting point in an evening walk at sunset, with the Western light, on the tracks around our home on Cruit

They are both unusual for me as they were mostly painted using brushes. And also the paint mixture was more liquid and had a higher proportion of oil, so the surface us more glossy than usual

Both have some strong diagonal marks as central structures to the composition.

The top piece is more balanced, with a fairly traditional compositional structure, with the mountain and horizon quite central.

The lower piece has a distorted, unbalanced structure, with a weird sloping section to the horizon on the left, and strong diagonal marks ambiguously reaching down from the pyramidal forms into the foreground

The brush marks were applied very quickly in both works. And there are dribbles and splashes

The colours in the top piece are warm and strong, but mostly complimentary and /or harmonious. Whereas the colour in the lower piece are strong and sometimes clashing, even bilious.

For me the results are very different. The top painting is comfortable, even comforting. The lower piece is unsettling, maybe anxious making.

I have never analyzed my work like this before. I almost never write any sort of artist statement. I would be very interested to hear what other people might think. About these paintings. Or about me writing about my own work. No holds barred! Please be honest. A diogue would be great. Thanks

Blood and concrete

These are ‘Blood and Concrete ‘ 1 & 2

Each piece 100 x 80cm on canvas plus frame.

They were exhibited last month at Green Fuse Gallery in Westport, County Mayo.

I have submitted them to ‘Cairde Visual’ at the Model, in Sligo for their annual juried Summer show as part of Cairde Festival. I should hear soon if they have been selected. Fingers crossed!

These pieces developed out of my response to images of destruction in Aleppo, Syria. However, I don’t see them as sad paintings, but abstract images in their own right. It’s up to the viewer to make their own interpretation. I would be interested to hear from anyone if they have a particular reaction. Thanks

planning

‘Evening walk, Cruit Island’

100 x 155cm

I’m thinking about what will hang where

Which paintings complement each other

Thinking that ‘less is more’ but also how many or how few


‘Donegal’ Pair (now framed), one is 80 x 100, second is 80cm sq

Should they go in the same room

What’s the lighting like


‘Ruined Gables, Night Painting’

98 x 150cm


And what about the Ceide Fields pieces? (100 x 80 and 80cm sq). And there’s another of these there already


And there should be some smaller ones too (‘Its Orange Outside’, pair, framed now, 50cm sq)

But of course its not up to me anyway!

On tenterhooks waiting for a studio visit from the curator

Solo show at Green Fuse Gallery, Westport, County Mayo. 29th April to 10th June

edges

On a wet, closed in StPatrick’s Day, nothing for it but to get on with the mundane jobs in the studio

Painting the edges is a rather precarious job, with paintings balanced at odd angles in strange combinations, often upside down

I usually mix a colour in harmony with the painting, but not an exact match to any of the colours I used in the work itself

This blue and yellow pair of square canvases is an exception, as I used the same blue as in the paintings to try and emphasise the feeling of spaciousness I was trying to capture in relatively small works

I had already painted the edges of these, but have reworked them, so the bright turquoise edge seems too strong now, so I’ve mixed a pale olive green. However, it might be a bit dark, so I’ll probably try yet again!

pale yellow with blues

These 2 are each 60cm square and have undergone a change of heart, or a facelift or a renaissance! Formerly they were darker and mostly orange and quite ‘loud’ with a title to reflect that mood : ‘Tolerate chaos’- the title taken from the 10 well known painting rules of the Bay artist, Richard Diebenkorn.

Now they are calmer and paler, with a new title, ‘Formerly chaos’, perhaps with a nod to us being in control of our moods along with our palette if we so choose!


These 2 are a bit bigger, at 80cm square. They have had a similar transformation using a pale palette of pale ochres, yellows and some very pale blue. Their former title was ‘Oceans, a tipping point’ – part of a series of 5 canvases. They haven’t got new individual names yet 


Thus one is ‘Musing’, also 80cm square plus frame, painted 2 years ago on my furst residency at Stiwdio Maelor in Corris in Wales and then exhibited at a group show at Terre Verte Gallery in Cornwall. Home now from her adventures


These 2, ‘Sunshine 1&2’ have also just returned from Cornwall and are also each 80cm square plus frame

a light touch

I’m using a lot of light mixes for layering over some older works. Favouring ochres, yellows, pale blues laid over the deeper and bolder tones underneath. This is creating some depth and I’m adding further texture with light lines and scrapes using solvent followed by a palette knife