new (old) paintings
Three recently finished pieces which are now hanging in the Pembury:
Underwater Lights
(with Stefania Bounajuti)
Acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"
For sale (£90)
This is one of the paintings I started with Stef before she cruelly ran away to France and left me to finish it on my own. Minx. (I don't mind really: she took Synaesthetic Culture with her to work on because she was enjoying adding infinite amounts of tiny detail, and she said she wanted something connecting her to me while she was away. So it's a fair bargain.) Anyway, I got out my unfinished pieces a couple of weeks ago when I knew I was going to be hanging everything in the Pembury soon, to see how much of it I could finish in time. I didn't spend long on this, but I did do a bit of experimenting with adding translucent washes in Prussian Blue (OMG I LOVE PRUSSIAN BLUE, how can it not be everyone's favourite colour? I don't actually like blue, but it's my favourite shade of paint, hands down) and fine swirls and dots in white. I only did this on a small bit of the canvas, but I liked the effect it had, like galaxies and the depths of the ocean, so when I picked the painting up again on Wednesday I continued in this vein. I didn't really do anything to change the composition, just evened it out and added detail. The work-in-progress is here, for reference.
Sea Flowers
(with Lizzie Louise Sudbury)
Acrylic on canvas, 8" x 8"
For sale (£50)
I started this one at the Innocent Village Fete last summer. Kristen and I took paints and small canvasses with us, and we proceeded to spend the next six hours sunbathing and making art under the trees. I didn't really have the energy to explore much of the fete or take advantage of the amusements, but it was perfectly hot and sunny, and I was surrounded by lovely, happy people, and it was blissful. Kristen's artist friend Lizzie was in London, and she and I worked on this one together. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, which didn't involve many major changes, but a fair bit of neatening, adding detail, enriching colours and balancing the composition.
Fire Dancer
Acrylic on canvas, 8" x 8"
For sale (£50)
This canvas was also painted on at the Innocent Village Fete, but after covering the canvas with red, yellow and black Kristen and I weren't really inspired to add anything, and it got shelved. I decided to paint a fire elemental over the top, in sunny yellows and whites for a summery feel. I ended up repainting most of the canvas to get the colour balance right, including adding some red spiral patterns to the background. I really like this one, and I love the contrast with Sea Flowers - I've hung them one above the other to enhance the effect, although I'll be happy to sell them separately.
Many, many thanks to the three artists who contributed to the above. They are as inspiring and talented as they are lovely, and making pretty things with them has been one of the best parts of the last year. More of that please :)