UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #85

“Togetherness”

(Watercolour)  

20x20cm 

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

This watercolour was the first I attempted.  I took the subject (Bridie and Connie – my granddaughters) from a photograph which my daughter Bernice took.  I thought that the composition was intriguing.  Not having any training in watercolours I was waded into deep water myself and can confirme that watercolour painting is very difficult to master.  It took me quite a time to figure it out and even now I am not completely competent.  A couple of books which are invaluable to the beginner to watercolour painting are ”Making Colors Sing” by Dobie and “Colour Choices – Making Colour Sense out of Colour Theory” by Quiller.  I think that the former is out of print now but you may be lucky to pick up a second hand copy.

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

With watercolour painting I am more methodical than I am with acrylic.  I work out the composition and what palette I will use in advance.  Firstly I painted the image in a gradation on a separate sheet of paper to get the highlights.  Then I re-sketched the image onto 300g watercolour paper.  The colours for my palette were then thought out.  I wanted to achieve a cool light as the subject is in natural light, so I kept the background cool and the figures warm.  I keep notes on my painting process when I paint in watercolours.  The palette is below:-

Watercolour Palette:

Aureo. Yellow

Rose Madder

French Ultra Blue

Cad. Red

Windsor Blue (or Phthalo Blue)

Indian Red

Aliz. Crimson

Veridian

Cobalt Blue

Light Red

Windsor Green (or Phthalo G.)

I kept the colours naturalistic with expressionistic overtones.  The palette is analogistic which means that the colours are adjoining on the colour wheel.  There are vibrant notes as seen with the use of yellow.  The painting is in mid tones.  Form is natural with a one point perspective but I have purposely kept the painting flat and stylized as this is generally my approach.

Although this is a genre painting which means it is a painting of everyday life, it is also of my two granddaughters so it is a double portrait also.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #82

Title:   “Cancer on Society” 

(Mixed Media)

120x61cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING and Artistic techniques used in the painting:

Cancer has become increasingly prevalent in our society in recent times.  We all have been touched in some way, either directly or indirectly by this epidemic.  My experience with cancer has been through palliative care. I am by profession an Expressive Art Therapist which allows me to use art as a counselling tool. 

A cancer develops in an organism when cells mutate and begin attacking healthy cells.  This painting shows corruption of matter. Corrupting the natural order - cannibalizing - similar to the way that cancer cells attack healthy cells in the body. 

Humanity is presently at a liminal point in time - an in between moment when things are changing rapidly in a way never before imagined.  The outcome may be positive or negative and will to become evident with time.  Both humanity and nature will be the driving forces in determining the outcome.

While seeking an emotional map for all this, humanity has to consider environmental questions raised by the exploitation of nature for monetary gains, such as fracking, mining and logging, all of which have resulted in obscene levels of degradation to the natural environment.  Humanity cannot live without the Earth - in a sense the earth is humanity’s body. 

The future also looks bleak on the biological front .  A recent book called “Frankenstein’s Cat” by Emily Anthes, discusses how biotechnology is shaping our future.  Scientists are storing DNA from the planet’s most exotic creatures.  On the positive side, they are cloning to protect endangered species, craft prosthetics to save injured animals, and employ genetic engineering to stock farms with disease-resistant livestock.   However on the negative side, other experiments have produced sensor-wearing seals, cyborg beetles, a bionic bulldog, a cloned cat and GloFish which glow in the dark.  She interviews scientists, conservationists, ethicists, and entrepreneurs and raises moral and ethical questions such as “What does biotechnology really mean for this world?”

Are these scientific experiments not similar to what cancer does – mutations replacing healthy organisms?”  Has humanity gone past the tipping point?  This is the dilemma raised in my painting “Cancer on Society”.

This painting is in the style of Abstract Expressionism.   This artistic style expresses individual autonomy and freedom in a manner that can be characterised as chaotic and anarchic.  Freedom in life is translated into artistic liberty with an emphasis on gestural spontaneity.

Painting “Cancer on Society” was like making an emotional map.  It did not solve the problems but it did externalize them and by so doing, the problems were then easier to comprehend.

The title of this painting is important to its understanding.  The form is two dimensional and flat.  The tone is neutral and monochromatic.  The colours are randomly mixed and covered with silver enamel spray. 

It is an experimental painting.  The final result which came about by accident is really very aesthetically pleasing.  It is hoped that the outcome for humanity is as pleasing and successful.  At this stage I think that we are looking into Pandora’s Box.  Will the benefits outweigh the risks?  I would invite your comments.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #81

“The Fractured Earth” #7

Rockscape Series

Watercolour, Ink and Silver Ink on handmade paper

83x98cm  (framed)

ABOUT THIS PAINTING and the artistic techniques used in this painting:

I believe the process of painting is a bit like the process of living.  We do not have a say in who our parents are.  Nor do we have any say in the country into which we are born.  The era in which we live also is out of our control.  We do however have control over the way we respond to the circumstances of our life.  Therefore when I paint I often do not take too much effort in controlling the subject matter.  So when I took the photos that became the basis for my rockscape series, I aimed the camera at interesting rock formations, with little thought to the composition of the picture.  This is the photo I used for this painting.

When I selected the ten photos from the 60 or more photographs I took, again I was looking for unusual rock formations.  I believe that if one is given a subject that stimulates, then one should be able to accomplish a well balanced and pleasing painting.  It is the process of painting (like the process of living) that interests me as much as the finished product.  I believe that given my painting experience I should be able to create a beautiful picture using whatever means as are available to me.  A bit like creating order out of chaos.

I have discussed the concept behind this Rockscape Series in Posts Nos. 9, 67, 69, 72 and 78, so dear reader, go to these if you are interested.  However in the past I have not discussed the process involved in any particular one of this series.  I will do this here.

The photo image was faithfully reproduced in watercolour paints and inks.  When I had completed this I felt that the composition was not balanced.  I therefore used a device (seen as a ghost net) to balance the painting.  A ghost net is a discarded fishing net which is a major polluter of our oceans.  It floats in the tides and drowns all marine life that gets caught in it.  Some of these nets are miles long. So in this painting I used the net as a visual device to balance my composition.  It also fitted well with the concept behind the series which is concerned with the degradation of the natural environment – particularly the oceans and their coastal regions.

Nets are very difficult to draw because our eye tends to know if the net is not correct.  I obtained some old netting from of the fisheries at Mooloolaba.   I had a few attempts before I was satisfied with the end result.  This was then inked in with a bamboo pen.  The sea shells also were drawn with inks. The fish image is a collage made from silver ink on transparent plastic and fixed within the ghost net.  The dead fish is to remind the viewer of the destructive nature of these discarded nets and their toll on marine life.

I always find it a challenge to create a pleasing picture from something which poses a technical problem.  It is the sense of accomplishment that is at the base of creativity.  What do you think?   I would welcome your comments.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #77

“Gifts” 

(Acrylic) 

Size: 90x120cm

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

The painting “Gifts” was born from grief.  It was started on the day that my partner Stuart died.  This was a sudden death and unexpected.  Below are photos that show the progress of the painting as it evolved over time.  The first (Figure 1) expressed my decision to temporarily leave Australia and travel to India.  I had been wanting to do this for about a year, and this tragic turn of events, cemented this idea.  The arabesques represent the exoticness of Indian culture.  The strong colour also speaks of that culture.  

 Figure 1

My art therapy training has taught me that to externalize my feelings will enable me to understand and process those feelings.  It is not that the feelings go away, but rather, that a maturity evolves as a result of life’s adversaries that enable one to move on in life.  The idea of erasing painful feelings like grief, which are part of life, is naive.  Humans (and perhaps all living creatures) experience pain (either physical or emotional) for a reason.  Pain conveys a message to the organism that it is either doing the wrong thing and to stop doing it, like when you put hand over a flame.  Or as in the case of grief, that something has been irrevocably lost that was of support to the wellbeing of that person.  The feeling of grief is different to that of depression.  It is natural for a person to feel grief for the loss of a loved one.  It is thought that the grieving process generally spansw about a year but it can vary between people and cultures.  Our western culture does not encourage the expression of grief like other cultures.  If one does not recognize ones grief and does not express it, then the person may resort to the use (or abuse) of substances to relieve that pain.  This can underlie addictions where the person is seeking relief from an emotional pain that they do not fully understand.

It is generally thought that the bereaved person goes through stages in the grieving process - sadness and numbness, then anger, then acceptance and moving on.  Theories differ on the number of stages but generally the process is similar over all.

My experience as a qualified art therapist working in Loss and Grief has confirmed this.

Figure 2 and 3 show my art making process and how through elimination I finally arrive at the finished piece.

 Figure 2

Figure 3

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

The finishing of this painting brought with it a certain resolution to my loss.  During the time that I painted it, I contemplated the “gifts” that I received over the time of my relationship with Stuart.  I am not referring to presents that he gave me but intangible gifts one receives through interaction with another.  The “gifts” were painted in rich colours and look a little like gems in a sea of aqua.  There is no attempt to make the forms recognisable.  This is very much the style of my painting throughout my art career.  They are undefined shapes that represent personal experiences, feelings and interactions that I had with Stuart.  The title “Gifts” explains this.  Those who have been following my posts will have read the rationale behind my abstract approach to painting.  In this case it is sincerity with a naked soul.  I will leave it at that today.   

http://www.buderimartstudio.com