First picture that grabbed me today was the Medusa and I had a great time doing it; after initial worries that I was recreating Pocohontas from the Disney film it all came together really well I think, with the snakes suggested in zig-zag rather than fully illustrated heads and all. A good array of customers today, some buying, some just looking, but plenty of interest and learning to be had. One excellent stone-carver visited, who coincidentally lives pretty close to my brother on Dartmoor and hand carves amazing abstract and figurative pieces in limestone, marble, alabaster...nothing but admiration for someone with mastery of a craft like that. Rosie Musgrave is her name, and her biographical notes tell me that she started stone work around the age of twenty, and like so many of us, has returned after a gap of some years. Humblingly, she really liked my work too and asked questions about techniques and methods of working that raised interesting ideas in themselves; rock carving and painting are so far apart but so close together - I can see echoes of each in the other. Both have so much to do with 'seeing' and 'drawing' instinctively to create a piece.
Ritchie's paintings are all over the place in preparation for his solo show at the Ealain Gallery in Drymen, over on the West coast; looking good too. I am gallery sitting for an extra day next weekend so he can have a decent time over at the private view; good for me too as that'll be at least two extra little box canvases this coming week. Sold one right at the end of the day to a photography team; a couple who specialise in events and wedding photos, something I have the greatest admiration for after umpteen years being on the catering side.
And so bounced I home to see how Stu had got on with convalescing and finishing frames; very well on both counts and now we are at least three paintings closer to the show I have spent half the year preparing for! All the frames are looking fantastic and it has been such a good learning curve picking colours and techniques to (hopefully) complement the paintings; bought a wee roller set to experiment with putting on layers of paint that way but he forgot to use it so that will have to wait for another day, another frame. I had a hairy experience with my framing 'flexi-point' gun when it jammed and I decided to take it apart to determine the cause - without first reading the instructions... how many times does it take? Maybe the sight of the main spring exiting the machine and 'boinging' across the studio, necessitating a lengthy and stress inducing repair, will finally send the message home. It's the oldest one in the book - when in doubt, read the instructions... funnily enough, when I did so and removed screw E (instead of all screws at once) and cleared the obstuction...ta da!
Started another Medusa tonight; I called the earlier one Medusa I with the prophetic feeling that she may be the first of many, or at least a few. Can't paint angels forever and boats just weren't doing it for me. I need a face to give me a reason to continue painting.
Hi Ing,
ReplyDeleteYour expressionistic painting is wonderful with all the imagery and feeling you've included. I love painting too and come have a visit to my site sometime.
Bye,
Richardson.