Rhubarbia: oils

Showing posts with label oils. Show all posts

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

New work, mid-January: Iced Summer, Enivrez-Vous, Bright Young Thing (ii)

Iced Summer

view on etsy (opens in new window)

Enivrez-Vous (large detail)

view on etsy

Bright Young Thing (II)
etsy

Friday, 7 October 2011

Apple Day Preparations...

Apple Day (I)

oil on canvas, 5th October 2011

First of a new series celebrating Apple Day, officially October 21st, but will be on Saturday 22nd here in Cromford, much better for families to join in with apple pressing, games and general apple-based mayhem!

This event highlights the need to protect older trees and orchards as both habitats and

producers of heritage or heirloom apples and encourage the growing of less widely

known varieties .

The local independent bookshop, Scarthin Books, has supported Apple Day with

its own celebrations including apple pressing outside on the Promenade at Cromford

for some years. This year for the first time they are inviting local artists to display their

work there a la Rive Gauche!
Any sales I make will include a 20% donation to

Common Ground.

A few more relevant links are...

orangepippin

The Orchard Network (UK)

a is for apple, a V & A Museum art page

List of Apple Day events in the UK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apple_cultivars

...and the painting is ~~on sale here:~~

~~etsy link~~
(now sold)

Saturday, 13 August 2011

Something Lies...(just out of view)

It's quite a strange process trying to recreate a small painting whose atmosphere I really like, on a larger scale.

At this point it looks very crude to me, a bad attempt at a copy.

The original developed intuitively whereas this is more a fake, a rehash.

It seems to completely lack the depth of the original too at the moment.

Yet I want it to work, it feels like a worthwhile attempt, as I would be interested to see if

I can make it work on this larger scale, and it's quite a challenge technically.

There are some interesting things going on inside, though, if you look closer...

two details:

I've begun to add glazing layers. After working for some time something kicked in and the painting suddenly seemed to come alive. I was finding gorgeous translucent mixes of deep transparent colours, blended on a palette without being too muddied together, so that they really glowed forming chords.

Two images of the original painting; photo with edges cropped and, below, the composite from scans (edited).
The original has a depth and a soft gentle quality that I desperately want to recreate.
It flows together, undulates and is unified.

There's a strong Leonora Carrington influence at play here... she died quite recently; perhaps this is part of the reason why I want to make a larger version.

Also memories of a visit it the Sitwell's family seat Renishaw Hall, where John Piper painted resonant works during the 1940s.

I used to have an album on vinyl of Edith Sitwell/William Walton's Facade,
from which my painting's title is borrowed.

The key musical influence here though, is Adams' "Shaker Loops", the slow passages of which were used extensively in the wonderful BBC Omnibus film on Carrington, Leonora Carrington and the House of Fear, which made a great impression on my imagination. Its effect was so strong, and it has inspired me again and again throughout the years. Seeing and subsequently recalling this glimpse into Leonora's work and surroundings, learning of her formative experiences really helped me to develop confidence in myself as an artist and to believe that I too would find my way creatively. Paintings such as Crookhey Hall, The House Opposite, Ferret Race, Samain, Night, Nursery, Everything and others continue to inspire me. I recommend her writing, too, it's very sharp, subversive and funny as well as magical.

I love all the fine texture in the image below, largely from darker paint (raw umber etc) on a dry-ish brush
and wipeaway strokes with rags forming multiple fine lines over lighter areas,
giving it a somewhat print-like appearance. The colour has been subdued somewhat
and the sharpness and contrast increased.

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Summer Storm

Summer Storm

oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches.

(Sold)

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Flowers of the Wind

Flowers of the Wind
oil on canvas panel, 15 x 11 inches approx.

We've had some breezy days over here lately
and this made me aware of the strength of flowers as well as their delicacy,
how they ride along in this boisterous game.

etsy link

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Laughing Song

oil on canvas board, 16 x 13 "

"When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;
When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;

When the meadows laugh with lively green,
And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene;
When Mary and Susan and Emily
With their sweet round mouths sing 'Ha ha he!'

When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:
Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
To sing the sweet chorus of 'Ha ha he!' "

-William Blake, 'Laughing Song', from 'Songs of Innocence'

A number of interesting musical settings to Blake poems, by Jeff Gillett, are here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/JandEGillett#p/u/4/M9pvcWA8fYA
etsy link