Any road will take you there

February 21, 2017June 19, 2017 | Anna Cull

God bless our contradictions, those parts of us which seem out of character. Let us be boldly and gladly out of character. Let us be creatures of paradox and variety: creatures of contrast; of light and shade: creatures of faith. God be our constant. Let us step out of character into the unknown, to struggle and love and do what we will. Amen.
‘A Note on God’ by Michael Leunig
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Yes, I’m still exploring Arthur’s Pass in paint. ‘Any Road Will Take You There’ is similar to ‘A Road Runs Through It’ and ‘Summer Somewhere’ but also quite different. This time I’ve hinted at the telegraph poles and allowed the foreground to melt into the mountains. I really pushed myself to do something I hadn’t done before and I’m very happy with the result. And if the title sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a paraphrase of a line spoken by the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.” It’s also a line from a George Harrison song but I didn’t realise that until after I’d named it.

Questions

February 18, 2017November 20, 2018 | Anna Cull

Summer Somewhere – acrylic on canvas, 405 x 405 mm, 2017

“The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.” Anton Chekhov

I found myself asking a lot of questions while painting ‘Summer Somewhere’ — mainly about colour, mood, and about what was essential to the picture. I painted telegraph poles; I took them out. I had the blue road disappearing into the horizon because that’s what it did; I painted over it. It was too cold, all blue and white and green and grey; I mixed an entirely new palette for the middle foreground. And then I stopped…

A road runs through it

February 3, 2017June 19, 2019 | Anna Cull

“The painter knew that color was not something you controlled but something you set free. He believed that color knew its way home.” Thomas Lloyd Qualls

I really like the idea that colour knows where it wants to go and the best thing the painter can do is relax and get out of the way. To not try so hard. To not worry so much about getting it right or wrong.

Looking back at the journey this little study has taken me on, I realise that I actually painted about three different paintings, each one over the top of the other. I’m quite happy with the final version with its blue and purple mountains and dramatic shadows, but I really could have stopped sooner and I would have been happy with those paintings too.

Late last year, I started several larger versions of this landscape but I stopped working on them because I couldn’t quite manage to get the colours I wanted. Putting the paintings to one side and taking time out to do this one has helped me to relax and stop worrying about them. And now I’m finally ready to put them back on the easel, move a bit of paint around and see what happens.

Tidying

February 2, 2017February 2, 2017 | Anna Cull

“If things bring you joy, keep them.
‘What? You still have that?’
Yes. I keep them because they are treasure.”

I’ve been reading (and finding blackout poetry in) Marie Kondo’s book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’ and don’t let the poem fool you… I am preparing to embark on an epic journey. The book — and the KonMari Method — are intriguing and, yes, potentially life-changing. I’ll keep you posted.

Curves Ahead

January 17, 2017May 29, 2020 | Anna Cull

Here is the third in my ‘roads and signs’ series. (Please see my earlier posts for the background story.)

The landscape is typical of the stunning scenery as seen from the road between Christchurch and Akaroa. I’ve posted the original photograph, the study and WIP images below:

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I didn’t intend to use such a vivid green in the foreground — yes, it’s the same colour that crept into the other two paintings in the series — and now I can’t imagine the painting without it.

Summer Hills

January 13, 2017August 14, 2020 | Anna Cull

Here is the second in my ‘roads and signs’ series of landscapes based on photographs I’ve taken over the years as a passenger, being driven from one place to another along Canterbury’s beautiful winding roads but rarely having the opportunity to stop and take a proper photo. I started turning some of my slightly random through-the-window shots into paintings last year and I suspect I’ll continue to do more again this year.

‘Summer Hills’ is a landscape somewhere on the road from Akaroa to Christchurch and very near the location of the painting in my previous post. I’ve included the original photograph, the initial study and several WIP images below:

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You may be able to tell from the WIPs that I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the lower half of the painting — the sky was pretty much there from day one but the foreground was another story. I solved it in the end by mixing a really bright lime green and a vivid blue and just ‘going for it’ (I believe that’s the technical term).