Painting as a Way Of Life

There's nothing odd about it really. I paint (or knit or sew or make something, anything) full time, i.e. everyday. So when it came to deciding what to do with the grimly dull kitchen wall, stripped of old wallpaper, patched with grey plaster and with no grand kitchen design units to adorn it... the obvious thing was to brighten it up with fresh blue sky and the calm sea view I've always wished we'd got in this house.

Difficult to photograph it properly but maybe you can see that it pushes the wall further away into the distance, which is rather effective.

Here is a close up of the bit where I want to dive in for a splash of cool sea water:

In my studio, meanwhile, I've been painting a bright and flowing abstract on the theme of 'hugging' and, this morning, I started an oil painting of a mountain view.

Preparation

When I'm ready to create something I want to dive in and DO it, so a pristine canvas is a temptation and usually the winner. However, I envy the pictures I see that other people have done which have involved a lot more work in advance of the final drawing or painting and often wish I stopped to think about the final effect before getting going.

Thinking about painting a mural on our kitchen wall (currently covered in nail-holes and unsightly patches) made me realise how important the starting surface is - especially as I began to think of ways to incorporate some of our kitchen wall's defects into the mural!

So - with the lack of time, ideas, and destinations for any saleable artwork at present - I am experimenting with surfaces, creating some interesting 'supports' (i.e.sheets of heavy paper) ready for drawing on.  Lovely and messy!

Let it Loose or Let it Die

I've been reading an article about creativity in older people, i.e. over fortyish, and it has been liberating and heartwarming. It is a time to 'explore our creative impulses and give the results to ourselves and our families, if not to others.'

Having been a creative thing all my life I happen to have found it hard to know what it's like NOT to want to make my own clothes and do my own everything. The surge I'm experiencing now is therefore almost ridiculous: I spoke to a fellow artist this morning who is probably ten years older than I and we exchanged curses on the dilemma of creating more than we can find homes for. I think she and I would give our large paintings away if it were not for the disservice it does to other professional artists; and we are professional if we do it (or think about it) full time and have done for years. The dilemma is finding space on our walls to display the work.

Here are two pieces I've created on paper, recently. To be able to show them 'in situ' is pretty impossible as they need framing and hanging on wall space which I haven't got; so I temporarily put 'Drunken Disorderly' (the line drawing) on a door for you to see the scale, and 'Sunnyfields' - a picture done with soft pastels - is propped up on a futon. Sorry about the presentation - how about giving one of them a proper home?