Monday
Today is my last opportunity to do oil painting because I need the works to be able to travel on Friday. So between joining studio practice for critiques I have been trying to resolve the ghost rock tree painting. As part of my relationship & restraint project I have been doing small tondos, abstract colour fields as a counterpoint for the more expressive gestural works . These have an elemental absracted feel, I think they could be stripped back even further but this is something I will need to reflect on and test.
I am still not happy with the tree side of the work, its getting closer but it still feels quite contained. this could be a reflection of my time in an open studio at DON as I am very aware of the space restrictions and being passively watched. I tend to work best between 4-7pm when all the students and staff are gone and just have the occasional chat with Markus and the cleaning staff.
After struggling most of the day with the basic forms and textures of the figure (tree) I decided the top left corner was problematic and floated away. I did some tests digitally on procreate and then had an impromptu crit with Anne Morrison and Darrian about the work. What a breath of fresh air. We unanimously decided I need to subvert the blue - normally associated with sky, and carry the green over to the top left. it has intensified the containment but also the energy. Darrian asked me so very provocative questions, like what is the mood I am try ing to evoke? We discussed the longevity of the tree and how it has weathered so many storms and been a silent witness to so much upheaval and change over the years, but it unlike us remains stationary. Darrian had some great insights and described the work as “fractured realities showing different time periods”. - gold -! thanks Darrian I can only hope that one day my work will do exactly that ! (its these serendipitous conversations that make residencies invaluable.
So this is where I will have to leave this work. It’s not finished yet, once it has dried I will be able to start glazing and pushing more depth into pectoral space, this will happen when I get home. I do however like the two works together I think they bounce off each other well.