“To live is to paint, it is to create; but while we are painting, we are being painted, being created as well!” Mehmet Murat İldan
Here is one final Southern Alps painting… for now, anyway. ‘An Approach to Sunlight’ completes the 16″ x 16″ trilogy. It’s a little wilder and more colourful than its siblings.
I think it’s time to move away from the mountains and do something else. I’m not short of ideas — far from it — it’s just a matter of deciding which one to tackle next. Any suggestions?
I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been revamping some of the images in my Etsy shop, so I thought I’d show you a few of my favourites. These were all created with digital trickery : ) and each picture is a combination of three different photographs: the original painting + my black travel easel + the photo that inspired the painting (in the background & slightly out of focus to give a kind of ‘depth of field’ effect)…
The other idea I’ve been playing around with is showing how my paintings could look on walls in different rooms. Because our house is not very big and much too untidy for a photo shoot, I decided to draw the furniture instead of photographing it. This is the first of what I hope will be a series of illustrated ‘in situ’ paintings…
One of the other things I mentioned last week was that I have discovered the wonderful world of Polyvore… but I’ll tell you more about that and how I came to be involved in yet another social media site (I know, I know…) in my next blog post. Thanks for reading.
“They didn’t want it good, they wanted it Wednesday.” Robert A. Heinlein
I tend to thrive on deadlines, creating them for myself even if I don’t have to because it makes me more productive, but this month I have no projects demanding urgent attention. And I’m still managing to get a few things done.
Here are three little drawings I’ve just finished:
“The painter needs all the talent of the poet, plus hand-eye coordination.” Robert Brault
I read an article last month that changed my mind about working in series — it’s something I haven’t been interested in doing… until now. Here’s an excerpt from ‘Reasons for Artists to Make Art in Series’ which I found on www.artbusiness.com:
“In a way, you can compare making art to writing a novel or composing a poem. Very few ideas can be adequately expressed in single chapters or verses as compared to how thoroughly they can be treated in entire novels or poems. The same holds true for art.”
The author, Alan Bamberger, went on to talk about a series providing context and taking viewers on a journey, and I had one of those ‘a-ha’ moments. How many times have I seen a work of art and then visited the artist’s website only to be confused by seeing artworks that have nothing to do with the one I first saw? Don’t get me wrong — I love variety. There’s definitely a point at which, for me, seeing art that is too much the same turns me off. Fortunately there are many different ways of working in series so that a body of work tells a story or appears connected, and that’s what I’m interested in exploring.
I’ve spent the last few years painting all sorts of things in a variety of different styles and I have a pretty good idea of what wakes me up and holds my attention, creatively speaking. So now, as well as going off on my experimental tangents, I’m going to start organising my art into novels and poems — two metaphors that make complete sense to me. And that brings me to today’s post. I’ve started working on a series of aerial landscapes based on photos I took on a memorable flight over the Canterbury Plains in 2013. More WIPs to follow soon.
But first a few words about the SPFs. These paintings are experimental studies that mark a bit of a turning point in my art journey. While I was painting them, I realised something about the way I have been working and about the way I want to work in the future. I plan to start working more in series (I’ll tell you more about that another day) and these paintings don’t really fit in with those plans. The SPFs have served their purpose and now I want to do something a bit special with them. I had a lot of fun creating them and I would love to find them a nice home (or homes) to live in… and I’m hoping you can help.
If you would like to brighten up a room with an original artwork ⛱ , you can place a bid by getting in touch via my Contact page. Don’t forget to let me know which painting you are bidding on: SPF 15 or SPF 30 (or both). I would like to cover the cost of the canvas and paint but I will accept the highest bid, whatever it may be. If you live in the Christchurch area, I will deliver your painting(s) to you in person (no extra charge). If you live elsewhere and would like me to estimate the cost of shipping, or if you have any other questions about the paintings, please get in touch via my Contact page.
The paintings are 505 x 505 mm (20 x 20 inches), unvarnished, on deep-profile stretched canvas. The SPF online auction ends 30th April. I will be in touch with the winner and post the results here in early May. The winning bid(s) will not be disclosed.
UPDATE: Congratulations to Gillian. The two SPF paintings are yours! I’m really glad they’re going to stay together. Thank you very much : )
“It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do.” Elbert Hubbard
Having decided to paint this photograph of bunting flags and sun umbrellas, I played around with colour options and cropped them to fit a square canvas (see below), and I ended up with two versions that I like equally — and so I’m now going to paint both of them.
Yes, I think Mr Hubbard makes a very good point.
WIPs to follow soon.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 