acrylic

Experiment time

| Anna Cull
Time, detail – mixed media on canvas, 200 x 200 mm, 2017

Time has its own unique sound.
I’ve heard the talking hours.

I have been experimenting with transferring printed poetry on to canvas. I printed the poem on paper using a standard inkjet printer and transferred it to the canvas using acrylic gel medium. It’s a technique that works surprisingly well. Once dry, the paper is removed by dampening it with water and rubbing it off very carefully. This is the tricky part because there is always a danger of removing the printed image along with the paper. I then painted around the words to create a sort of arty version of the original blackout poem.

I added touches of yellow ochre and some light blue and gave it a slightly mad but subtle texture. It’s still mostly black though. In fact it’s so black that I had to take the canvas outside to get a decent photograph. I think the leafy autumn backdrop rather suits the poem (below).

My next experiment is going to be a ‘fridge poetry’ painting. And whatever image that sentence just conjured up for you… it’s not going to look anything like that.

Time – mixed media on canvas, 200 x 200 mm, 2017

Some vagueness

| Anna Cull
Summer Harvest – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 255 mm, 2017, SOLD

“A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.” Edgar Degas

Coneflowers

| Anna Cull
Coneflowers – acrylic on canvas, 405 x 505 mm, 2017. SOLD
Coneflowers

My latest painting is also one of my new favourites. I’ve  posted WIP photos on Instagram which show the progression of the flowers in the top left corner. I’m varnishing it today, so it will be listed on Etsy early next week.

To say that this painting has been years in the making is a bit of an understatement. It is based on a study I painted in 2014 of a photograph I took of our garden in 2003.

I’m now working on a couple of little Dunedin landscapes. Photos coming soon.

Daisies

| Anna Cull

 

Daisies – acrylic on canvas, 405 x 505 mm, 2017. SOLD

This painting has had quite a few different names during its short life. I’ve never had such difficulty naming a painting. Ever. The working title was Daisy Abstract. Then it became Abstract of Daisies, Blue Grass, Daisies in Blue Grass, Abstract of Daisies in the Blue Grass, Daisies Dancing in the Rain… I could have called it ‘The painting that refuses to tell me its name’ but I’ve finally settled on ‘Daisies’ … keeping it nice and simple and leaving the rest up to the viewer’s imagination. It’s written on the back now and so that is the end of the matter.

Birds

| Anna Cull
I Lost Myself – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 200 mm, 2017. Available on Etsy.
I Will Stay Here – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 200 mm, 2017. Available on Etsy.

“Your ability to see is your tools of trade; nothing else matters. Beautiful seeing is the desideratum. Remember, when you hear people say they can see a thing but not do it that they cannot really see it. If they did, they could do it even if they put the paint on with their fingers.” Charles Hawthorne

I’ve posted this quote before. It’s one that stays with me. I often find myself thinking “if I could really see this, I could put the paint on with my fingers”. But what if the thing you want to paint is the abstract impression of a favourite song? What if the thing you are “seeing” is a feeling, an impression, something in your mind’s eye?

I had one of my favourite songs playing in my head when I painted these little abstracts. I imagined being in the mountains just before dawn as the birds were beginning to wake up. You may see something completely different. Make of them what you will. I see the colours of early morning and mountains in the clouds. And I hear music… Birds by Lisa Crawley.