“…it is part of the artist’s function to pay sudden attention to… the details the world is constantly offering us, and then, if adequately arrested by them, to give them a singular existence, transforming them without falsifying them to reveal the capacity that all ordinary things have to become suddenly remarkable when picked out by human vision.” Margaret Mahy
“Why should a painter work if he is not transformed by his own painting.” Keith Haring
My WordPress blog turns six today! Not that I’ve been on WordPress much this year. Life continues away from my little blog but I do miss it. No excuses — I’ve simply been elsewhere doing other things — but I couldn’t let the anniversary slide by without acknowledging it. Six years!
Quite a lot has been going on… I just don’t have much to ‘show’ for it. Yet. Ever the optimist : )
I am still surrounded by art and making art, although it tends to be mostly digital these days, and I will be taking a few of my paintings of the non-digital variety along to the Christchurch Art Show again this year. Not much else to report, really. But it is good to be back here in WordPressLand. Maybe I’ll get back into this blogging thing again. Maybe…
My 2017 in paintings…
Two art shows have come and gone. This is me with my paintings at the Pegasus Bay Art Show on opening night… and a fun night it was too. I made a grand total of zero sales, which made me sad, but, hey, the worst day in the best job in the world is still better than the best day in a job you don’t enjoy, right?!
I wallowed in my disappointment for a couple of days (damn you, expectations!) and now I’m back to my factory preset optimism. But I am running out of room to store all these paintings… So if you would like to help me reclaim some space in the art cave, there is 25% off the price of all paintings in my Etsy shop from now until the end of the month.
Onward.
“All I can be is me — whoever that is.” Bob Dylan
Another painting; another journey. ‘Wild Clouds’ incorporates quite a few of my favourite things: mountains, clouds, light, texture, the familiar and the abstract. It won’t appeal to everyone. That’s okay. My husband diplomatically says “it’s not my taste” and that’s okay too. Hey, I’m not quite sure I like it. But then I leave the room and come back and think, mmmm, yes, it really is okay. It changes with the light. It shifts and doesn’t stay still. I love the colours and the shape of the clouds. It is playful. It is dramatic. And, at the end of the day, it is finished.
I used an almost identical palette to that of ‘The Heart of a Rose’ with the addition of a shimmery gold for the sunset. The red was mixed into the pinks, purples, and greys. I originally intended the sky to be quite golden and more like the reference photograph (see below) but it didn’t look right. It was too happy, too sunny for winter.The golden light looks wonderful in the photo… but then the snow in the photo isn’t blue. Changes were made, layers were added (a lot of lovely layers), and now it is done.
Another year has flown by and it’s time once again for the Christchurch Art Show. I’ve downsized my commitment this year and will only be exhibiting three paintings. I’ve chosen work that I think will benefit most from being seen ‘in person’ so to speak: Any Road Will Take You There, Tasman Bay, and Curves Ahead.
The Christchurch Art Show
Opening Night: Thursday 15th June
*** Show Days 16th–18th June ***
Wigram Air Force Museum, Christchurch, NZ
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 