Here is the final painting (click here to see the original post). Yes, the colours are a little unusual ― it makes me think of old photographs and also the way memories can play tricks on us.
On the road again
landscape
Run away without leaving home (WIP)
“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” Twyla Tharp
Work in progress. Click here to see the original post.
Cheat
“The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you’re an artist.” David Hockney
I’m not sure I agree with Mr Hockney on this point but I do like the quote… and I did ‘cheat’ a little with this composition by removing the car in the background and changing the colours (see photographs below). I hope to have another WIP ready to show you later in the week.
Mirror image
I have finally completed the commission I mentioned in a post about a month ago: an abstract landscape triptych for the owner of a Christchurch hair salon. Sonya (who is a bit of a genius when it comes to cut and colour) is changing the name of her business from ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ to ‘Sign of the Times’ (yes, she is a huge Prince fan) and wanted to mark the occasion with a significant artwork ― ‘significant’ in both senses of the word.
Sonya told me that I could paint whatever I wanted ― the only guidelines were size (to fit a large area above the door), colour (grey and orange, to match the colours in the salon), and for it to include the new business name and symbol. And it had to be a surprise. Sonya didn’t want any WIP images… nothing until it was finished! Oh and it needed to look good in the mirror too. No problem!
I opted for an abstract landscape because I thought that would be a suitable background for the words and symbols. Quite a lot of my inspiration came from the salon’s location near Barrington Park (in the photographs below):
We did make one final (and fairly major) change to the triptych before calling it ‘finished’ but I can’t show you the paintings until we’ve put them up in the salon and that won’t be until October 1st. Sorry for the long wait. I have, however, just started another painting…
Update: The paintings are now in the salon (a little ahead of schedule). Visit this post to read more…
Showing off
What a lovely surprise ― The Last Autumn has appeared on AJ Scott Construction’s website in a feature about my client’s beautiful Waitikiri home. I’m thrilled with the photographs they took of the painting (which only went up on the wall the day before the photo shoot). Click on the image above to see the complete slideshow.
Eight seconds
My final painting for this month’s art show was inspired by one of my favourite photographs (below) which I took using an eight-second exposure. It was quite a windy evening and so the kinetic sculpture is moving just as much as the tree, something I really wanted to show in the painting. I’ll post WIP photos later in the week. There are a few more photos of Phil Price’s wonderful sculpture ‘Nucleus’ in action here.
Anyone who knows Christchurch will appreciate that although the sculpture is still standing, the Majestic Theatre/Majestic House (on the left) and the ANZ Bank Chambers building were damaged beyond repair by earthquakes a few years ago and are no longer with us. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to take lots of photographs in the central city in the months prior to those devastating events.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 