Process IF NATURE WAS WATCHING WOULD YOU BE KINDER?

 IMAGINE IF NATURE COULD WATCH WHAT YOU WERE DOING.

  

 Sculptural wall art. Ply backing board

Paper clay, acrylic paint, gold leaf, resin. Step by step.   60cm diameter

 

 

2024 Exhibition Paint Like a Master

March 2024   Kilcoy art Gallery        kilcoyart.org.au

In 2023 Cameron and I joined the Kilcoy Art Society as a way to meet people in the wider community. Since then I have exhibited in two exhibitions. 4 small oil paintings in the first, and a low relief wall sculpture using  paper clay, acrylic, gold leaf and resin in the Paint Like A Master exhibition.  

 

 

 

As always, I started working toward this exhibition by doing some research.

The word MASTER - by definition - it is a person who shows great skill or proficiency. An expert, a virtuoso or wizard. 

Today Vincent Van Gogh is considered a master. His paintings are worth millions 

Yet Vincent Van Gogh - who to us - is considered a MASTER, was, in his time thought of as a NOVICE. He did not attend art school, so his contemporaries thought his work lacked technical skill.They described it as sloppy, lacking in precision and finesse. Thought his Colors were overly intense and unrealistic.

Yet - Van Gogh - described himself as a musician of color Said he tried to use color as a symbolic language of his emotions. To express the terrible and incredible passions of humanity and today we understand that the intensity of Van Gogh’s palette symbolizes the way he struggled with his inner turmoil. 

 

To me STARRY NIGHT which he painted while in an asylum represents all this angst and beauty. It is his psychological response to the world. 

 

Through bold, emotive use of color and expressive choppy brush strokes his work displays directness, freshness, vitality and passion. And we consider it a masterpiece. 

 

Then I looked up the word LIKE. Paint like a Master. LIKE - means having the same 

characteristics or qualities.

To me these qualities were - the way he displayed his inner turmoil,with colour, intensity, vitality and passion. 

 

It wasn’t primarily about producing something to be sold. Vincent In his 10 year career as an artist - having produced some 800 works - Sold 1

 

In my response to produce something LIKE Starry Night - I chose a circle to portray the timelessness of his mental condition. To show the disquiet and choppiness of his life - I have portrayed his trouble thoughts - looking out from his asylum. 

To represent his passion and vitality I used impasto and color. Thick layers of Paper clay with Bright Acrylics & Gold Leaf . To symbolize the restraints placed on him by his contemporaries and society - I have Imprisoned the work behind a layer of hard resin. 

PROCESS Paper clay - is it dries hard without the use of a kiln. Build up layers - using a slurry of paper clay, water and PVA glue. Joined at the back with Chux, and slurry. To repeat shapes I produced molds using PINKY SIL or Plaster. I sealed the finished work with gesso, painted it with acrylics and sealed it with resin.

 

 

Painting in layers

View from studio - distracting!!!

A dear friend, who developed an allergy to paints, decided to clean out her studio . . .

I was asked, if I would like to acquire some of her canvases . . . and believe me these were extremely generous sized canvases . . . .  from a generous friend.

I placed them in my studio, and walked past, eyeing them off, for some time . . .What to paint?

Then Brianna showed me a photograph that was taken of her for a photo-shoot . . It is an incredible photo, taken by a very talented photographer. (can't show you -copyright) It was taken at Kangaroo point. Brianna had her face whitened and her hair frizzed.

 I thought I'd try to work with it, as my inspiration.
I pulled out one of the smaller canvases . . .you know the one . . .5ft x 3 ft     Little!!!!!  Barely there . . . . a tit of a thing

I made the preliminary sketches with charcoal and thin washes of acrylic.

I added some more areas of interest . . . .and then, deliberately deviated from the photograph . I have since added more detail to hair,  figure and dress . . . and will add more . . . and maybe a few more glazes . . . 

Now, if I can  just pin Brianna down to do the face . . . . and remaining details. 

(A small photograph in a monochromatic scheme is not the easiest thing to use . . .)

Ps. I am enjoying using my studio . .the view is a bit distracting, and the animals and birds do turn up at the most inconvenient times, demanding my attention - but loving it!!!! 

Progressive canvas

Jennifer Hamilton 2010

Work in process

Here it is 2010 and we are starting, the letting go . . . . .

The Progressive canvas project.

We have now established who is involved.

There were quite a few interested, but not all shared the same 'joy of process' and reasons to be involved, that we do. Those who will contribute will have to be willing to have their works contributed to, painted over, changed and all together altered during the process.

They must have a studio and be willing to share process with other members. They must be willing to photograph each step and maintain good documentation for final presentation.

The group have spent the last week discussing the size, width and other properties of the canvas, on which the works will be done.

We have drawn up an outline of guides for the continuing progression of the work and are now about to start !

Someone asked, ' why do it . . . what are your desired outcomes . . . who gets to keep the works? " . . . . . Well, I guess the reason to do the works . . . . . is to form a group who meet regularly. To share our knowledge of different processes in a practical, functional form, in a creative way. . . . . while learning to let go of what we can be too precious about. Hopefully throughout the project we will break down some of our inhibitions & blocks . . . so we can see what changes will improve our own art practice.

We will meet each month to show what we have been doing and to have a practical demonstration of processes applied to canvas's. We then meet the following month to share thoughts behind our individual applications during that period and swap works.

We are starting with 9 canvases each. We each start our processes as we desire and then they are passed on to the other individuals in the group . . . . .until everyone has contributed to each canvas.

The project will start in the first week of February, with the last meeting being in the first week of October. At the end we each will have 9 canvases . . . . one from each individual involved. . . . . with their contribution being at the beginning, middle or completion.

In October, over a long deliciously indulgent weekend, we will have a final show and tell with works and presentations at the Rusty Roo. We will share some final learnt processes and make any final marks to our canvases . . . . it is then that we will decide if we wish to exhibit the 36 canvases . . . or start the process again.

I'm looking forward to the sharing. . . . the camaraderie is already evident, the processes already suggested . . . . limitless, the ideas and the learning to let go . . . . frightening . . . . . . . but, I'm excited!

I will keep you posted !!!

Mixed media, layers and then booked

Friday evening as the group gathered to meet and share a glass of wine, ( a very favourite time of day for me ! ) we discussed what we would experiment with over the weekend. We had a show and tell and everyone decided that doing works of a set size, to be housed in a hand made book, would be an idea worth further exploration.

So Saturday morning the first order of the day was to let RIP . . . . . so that all our pages, or at least most of them, would be of a uniform size, to be assembled into our own hand made book.

Setting up in the shade, under the blue tarp on Saturday morning, (assembled competently by Mr Lee, of the perfectly barbecued eggs ) was the start of some fantastic exploration of mark making and layering. The process was addictive and the results were so varied.

I loved that each and everyone, from people who haven't done art, to those that practise on a regular basis, embraced the creative adventure with such enthusiasm.

Bitumen, shellac, tea, sand, gesso and acrylics were sploshed, sprayed, splattered and layed on the paper. Again and again . . . . . . and again !

Bummer ! By Saturday afternoon I had allowed an unknown BUG to invade my innards. It was adamant that I lie down and be very ill. ( No nothing to do with my food preparation !!)

Fortunately I had already asked a dear friend, to come and play with the press, so in the after noon Jennifer Hamilton, guided the group through the delightful process of Mono printing.

Out came the inks, rollers, Mylar and papers to press, squash and extract every ounce of impression that could be made from our found and collected objects.

Between my bouts of sleeping, I could hear the OHHHS! and AHHHHHHHHHHHS! all afternoon . . . if I had have had the least bit of strength I would have dragged myself downstairs to see what all the excitement was about. As it was I had to wait until Sunday morning to see the beautiful results.

Thank GOD for forward thinking. I had prepared the Saturday evening meal prior to feeling ill . . . . . . thankyou to Cameron who played a very good Mr MUM. . . . . with the help of some of the other guests, so that the evening meal was a success.

So, as I lay sick and sad, the delightful sounds of laughter coming from 11 individuals enjoying themselves, kept permeating through to my fog.

Not amused !

I didn't even get to eat my Tia Maria layered cheesecake ! Jennifer who had 3 servings said it was scrumptious. Thanks Jen !

Sunday morning I was past the worst of what ever had ailed me and surfaced to much sympathy ( thank you one and all ) so that we could try out various ways to embellish the work from the previous day.

With glazing, layering, collaging and further printing the pages were developing into a sound body of work, that was ready to be housed in the book that we constructed on Sunday afternoon.

We used the magnificent hand made Himalayan rice papers to cover the back and front of the covers. In went all these extremely creative pages. . .. . . what a sight.

A complete packaged treasure !

Sunday afternoon as we had our show and tell, I was conscious that this was our last workshop at the Rusty Roo for 2009.

Still feeling slightly precious, I thought that it was good that I would now have a break to relax a little and do some of my own work . . . . however, I was also thinking how much I relish the joy of sharing and the camaraderie that always developes over these weekends. . . . . Yes ! I will miss them.

So . . . . . thank you to everyone involved throughout 2009. It was a true Joy and a privilege to have your involvement, enthusiasm, laughter, excitement and creative juices at the Roo with us.

Best wishes, for a joyous Christmas and a truely happy and Creative NEW YEAR

Sharon & Cameron

Rusty Roo artist retreat

a place to let your soul breathe

www.rustyroo.com

Weekend of watercolor . . . and printing

It was a delight to share the Rusty Roo with a group of creative individuals with a HUGE capacity to share, enjoy and experiment.

It could have been a disastrous weekend. The weather was a true B.....

It was dusty one minute, cold, then hot and then without a moments pause it was cold again.

Yes ! Nature was at it's most tempestuous, which could have led to temperaments being frayed . . . .but, NO !! this delightful group just changed their clothing, according to the atmospheric unpredictability, dusted off their art works, made jokes and generally got on with the task at hand.

Wonderful !!

Watercolours have never been high on my list of creative art forms to be viewed regularly or tried too often . . . well ! I have to say that after this weekend workshop with, Mia Clark, Jennifer Hamilton and a group of experimental watercolor artists . . . I have now changed many of my previous assumptions.

The gum Arabic on Mylar with water colour . . . printed onto wet paper; the glad wrap, detergent, metho . . . stretched and streaking across salt encrusted rag; the sponging, dripping, dragging, melding, melting and mixing was relentless.

I was in awe of the enthusiasm. The sharing of ideas and outcomes. The ability to try just about anything suggested . . . with real gusto.

Really great ! Thankyou for sharing your enthusiasm, skill & laughter.

Thankyou Sue, the bolle in the morning was soooo much FUN. What a hoot with the uneven surfaces, cockatoo's screeching and wallabies watching, set against a back drop of mountains shrouded by morning mist . . . . . . . or was it dust ?

We all agreed . . . . it is what everyone should do prior to a full breakfast of PERFECT eggs and bacon.

Work is slowly progressing for exhibition in 2010



After my illness i had to stop using oils and their additives. Ahhhhhh !
As a result I had to take the time to rediscover using acrylics, which I had previously delegated to the bottom of the heap . . . . as limited in their possibilities. For me, they always appeared to be thin in their application and lacked the lusciousness of oils, that I had grown accustomed to. . . . . .and loved !
They say necessity is the mother of all invention . . . . I may have to agree !!
Recent experimentation is slowly revealing some positive aspects of this medium. I have to admit that I am enjoying the process and will continue with the ' re-discovery'.