“The Fractured Earth #5”
(Watercolour on Handmade Paper)
Size:
83x98cm
THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:
Last week’s blog featured a
circle. I have used the circle again in
this painting “The Fractured Earth #5” which was inspired by the beauty of the
coastal region on the Sunshine Coast (Australia) where I live. I did this painting because of my concern
that this beauty that we enjoy today, will not be here for the future
generations. It is hard to imagine this,
when this morning I was walking along the beach where this photo (seen below)
was taken. The photo is of the volcanic
rock formations that evolved through the natural cooling process and natural
weathering over eons of time. In parts
of the coastal rock face I see petrified tree trunks and in other parts the
spherical shapes caused by bubbling lava laid down during the Earth’s early history.
The above photo shows live marine life
(small shellfish) clustered in the cracks around this almost perfect circle
formed by nature thousands of years ago.
My painting seeks to capture the time span that is imprinted in this
costal environment – a time span that geological studies reveal are about 120,000 thousand years in the making.
It is hard to believe on a beautiful
day like today that our lovely environment is indeed fighting for
survival. But it seems that this is in
fact, true. The over fishing and the
pollution of the oceans is pushing our lovely planet Earth to the brink of
destruction according to the climate and environmental scientists. When one sees the mega trawlers that indiscriminately
fish the oceans then this realization becomes very evident, but just walking
along the coastal beach one would never suspect that this devastation is
looming. It feels almost incomprehensible
but this is what we humans are doing and the root cause of this threat is
economic greed. Therefore this painting
shows the beauty of nature along with the longevity etched in the rocks that
are on the brink of destruction.
This painting is one of a series of
ten paintings that address environmental concerns about our oceans and coastal
regions.
Art Techniques used to achieve this:
It could be
said that this watercolour painting titled “The Fractured Earth #5” falls into
the genre of landscape. The complete series
is called the Rockscape Series. All the
paintings in this series are inspired by photographs I have taken of this
coastal region and each photo focuses on a particular aspect of the Rockscape. Although I have portrayed the painting in a
realistic way, the subject of the photos allows the paintings to look
abstract. I really prefer abstraction in
the visual context because it taps into the unconscious processes of the viewer
if they are reflective.
The symbol of
the circle is universally used to represent wholeness and perfection. It is no accident that I have used it here to
depict the beauty of nature. Last week’s
blog (#68) discussed a circle that I used for a spiritual painting.
The
composition is simple and is flat, which is consistent with my style even
though I have portrayed each photo realistically. It is balanced with the circle being central. When the whole of the surface of a painting
is dominated by a central image then this is described as a “medallion”.
Watercolour
paint gives a very soft effect and the colours are clear and unambiguous. An artist cannot “fudge” a watercolour painting
because of its transparent quality. The
colours I have used are Red Violet, Hookers Green, Emerald Green, Sap Green,
Manganese Blue, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Prussian Blue and Permanent Rose.
The style is
contemporary. The form is two
dimensional and the concept is abstract.
The title
gives the meaning of the art work and this title is used for the whole
series. Each painting in the series is
numbered.
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