Is it My Imagination?

Like many artists I find it really difficult, sometimes, to know when a painting is finished. Especially the small ones. This one, for example, has been feeling 'finished' almost since the white texture went on it. White on black - it conveyed so much that nothing else was needed... except it did need some white paint on top of the texture and that spoiled the immediacy of it so I brought in some grey shadows and light (weight) touches of purple and alizarin red.

As I looked at it I was certain I was standing before a snow-laden hill in darkness, asking my companion, in exhaustion, "Are we nearly there?"

But back in the reality of my studio I am looking at a canvas and wondering if my imagination is too vivid for my own good, so I've taken a photo of it - and a close-up - to try and become more objective about it.

Are We Nearly There? 30cms x 24cms [Is it finished?]

(Detail)

Borders and Backing

Until a few months ago I always saw it as yet another constraint. I used to have to cut mounts at college many years ago and it was a nightmare with a small craft knife and metal ruler; but recently I considered the idea of buying a proper mount cutter and, once I started looking into it, there really wasn't a problem but just another challenge.

And then a generous friend told me that she does her own mount-cutting and that I could go to her house for a cuppa and a demonstration. Well there was no stopping me after that, and I bought a mountcutter that's similar to the one I tried at her house.

I am now busy creating borders and backing sheets for many of my drawings, particularly the life drawings which are really rather precious to me and deserve to be presented and preserved as well as sold to appreciative art lovers.

Here's the drawing that inspired 'Lady In Red'.

Exciting New Work

Like most other artists, I always work on several ideas at the same time. It's great to have something that needs finishing, especially when I know what it needs. It's great, too, to have a new canvas (or even a used one) that requires covering with whatever I feel like putting on it! And I love the challenge of 'making it work' when something I've created doesn't look right and needs some attention.

Here is one of my popular line drawings, normally created on paper in a smooth flowing black line during a hunch of inspiration; but this one is on canvas - simple, clean, lightweight and ready to hang with a cord or with mirror-plates. It is a black oil paint line on a white vinyl silk background. It needs a little more work on it (I have an idea...) but I have to wait for the oil paint to dry before I can try it.

36" x 14" standard canvas

And this red canvas has been prepared with texture and paint using ONLY MY HANDS as tools... You JUST WAIT to see what beauty adorns it now! .... soon to be displayed on my Affordable British Art Gallery

24" x 30" deep edge canvas

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Spring Into Colour with SABAB

I'm catching up with my blog today because I've been so busy in the past week going back and forth to Montrose (25+ miles from here) to help set up our South Aberdeenshire Abstracts (SABAB) exhibition called 'Spring Into Colour'.

Yesterday we had an 'opening event' so here are some photos, including a shot of yours truly which would be a good one if only I wasn't caught eating a cake!

The Scottish TV local website has been interested in what we do and its fab editor wrote a very good review of the show which you can read here  There are some pictures there too.

Detail

It's really difficult to get a good close-up photo of the texture on this painting!

... But the title I've given it is 'Wistful Moments'

Texture and Colour

It's only a start and it had gone wrong already at this stage, but here's some progress...

I was disappointed (but should've been aware!) at how impossible it was to apply the paint with my fingers or hands, thereby requiring a brush and thereby changing the initial effect I was looking for.

However, painting is a voyage of discovery - always - and this one is ready for some more work on it. I wonder how it will turn out? I'll show you a close-up next time, so as you see the fabulous texture.

Something's Cooking

Why else would I be using a colander and food bags in my studio?

To select fine sawdust from the coarse stuff, that's why; and then to sprinkle it over the canvas to create a fabulously rough texture base to paint on.

Watch this space. It's further ahead than this now but it's killing me to have to wait for the next layer to dry!

Three in Progress

I've been working on three new paintings this week. Well more than that if you include the several drawings and paintings I attempted at our Life Drawing session on Tuesday.

Each of the pieces has been troublesome, I don't know why. I suppose I expected them to be easy and arty and to flow off the brush! It must've been my frame of mind - dissatisfied with myself.

I've taken photos of the 'work in progress' as I often do, to help me think about them; but I'll only show you one of them here because it's the only one that excites me.

And that's the key. I have to be excited about a piece to feel as if it's worth finishing and showing.

Seated Woman (Unfinished)

The Fabulous Challenge

It might seem as if I haven't been painting much lately, if you look at the dates on my blog posts, but I'm an artist, writer and maker - and making was dominating a good deal of my time during December and the early part of January. Obviously I made a few small gifts for special people but there was one big challenge that I took on, the client thankfully saying there was no hurry for it to be completed by Christmas, nor for the finished garment to be a pristine item of perfection. The challenge was to design and make a leather shirt from five supplied skins.

  There were a number of constraints in using this fine, light coloured leather. I couldn't use pins; I couldn't tack things into place before sewing; and I couldn't go wrong because every hole from the needle would show! It was a godsend that my trusty old sewing machine actually seemed to like working on the leather and presented me with no tangles, missed stitches or problems with tension.

I used a contrasting colour of thread and made the stitching an integral part of the design, based on a favourite denim shirt - I built the sleeves from scratch as the original had none. The client wanted slits instead of thick cumbersome cuffs so they looked good with the stitching.

And here is the finished shirt. A work of art!

Experiments are the best!

Here are some of the latest pieces I've been working on.

This is called Ribbons of Waves and is just being shelved until I decide whether it's finished or not.

This little painting is oil on card and reminds me of something like '39 Steps'. It seems to be keeping well, given that it was an experiment.  Experiments are the best!

Ready for an experiment with sky and clouds, perhaps.

And here is the underpainting, the beginnings of an oil painting of a view from Morrone: one of the hills near Braemar.

Plans

I'm a bit shocked to realise my last post here was 22nd December as it feels like only a few days ago... I have moved on, somewhat, of course, painted more (might show you soon) and have a few plans for the year beginning to take form in my head. As an artist I have always needed to have something creative 'frying in the pan' so to speak, even when the artistry was more of the writerly kind; and dates, deadlines, appointments with myself have always been important hurdles to aim for.


I'm old-hand enough to know that it's useful to help make things happen so I've booked myself another slot for a display in the library 'shop window' for September 2011. I'll plan the exhibition to make more of the space and ensure the paintings on offer are the right size and style to appeal to buyers whilst ensuring I adhere to my artistic integrity and enjoy the doing.

I have several other ideas and plans up my sleeve and would love to join up with other people to exhibit in some unconventional and exceptional ways, so if you've any thoughts - get in touch! 

This year I want to further explore the abstract genre whilst hitting on the stunning beauty of Scotland's sunshine, sea and sky. Hmm, not much to expect then.

Remember the post about 'Preparation' back in October? I told you I'd let you see the end results when I got the chance to use my prepared sheets of sugar paper. I've recently had the chance to do some fabulous life drawing and - although I'm still rusty after too many years' dormancy - I've been really enjoying having a free hand and experimenting with quick drawings interspersed with longer ones. Here are some of the results:

Woman Seated

That last one is my favourite (although it wasn't done last). It captures the essence of the woman, seated, and I used only five brush strokes to achieve it. I'm not entirely sure it's finished yet, as a picture, but I'm happy with the drips that have helped to 'ground' it.

There was a spotty, splashed piece of paper I used too, during a life drawing session, which is still on my easel and needs more work before 'the world' sees it.

I make no apology for being 'fast and loose' when it comes to this type of drawing!

Current Exhibition

It seems mad but already my exhibition of work in the window at Stonehaven Library has been on display for a week and a half. It is due to be on show for the whole of December and passers-by can pop in to the library and buy one of the paintings on the spot. They don't have to wait for the exhibition to finish before they can take it home with them, so the paintings make ideal presents. "An original painting will tranform a room - a house!- and will be an investment," say the television experts.

Speaking of television, the local Scottish ITV station phoned me yesterday and asked me for some info to put on their 'local' website so I've sent them some and await its display. I'll show you a link when they've done it.

For those who can't walk past (without a 500+ mile journey...) here is a photo of how it looks, reflections and all. My friend Mary Milne helped me hang it and we had a good laugh at the difficulties but we weren't drunk, honest - it was just impossible to get the levels straight, even using velcro tabs.

Contact me if you'd like to buy one and can't get to the library! mrs.bern.ross@googlemail.com

Artist's Statement and More

The Freehand Line - A Statement

My ambition is to paint each masterpiece with a swift, confident and pure, freehand line applied with a brush or fingers. 

Colour, tone, texture, mood and ambience will have all been created beforehand - and not necessarily deliberately. The challenge comes with trusting my freehand and the fact that I love painting and cannot stop. The experiments go on and on: only the constraints of time, space, and the want of further materials hold me back.

Another day, my needs are different; but always, always - the resulting image can be what the viewer sees it to be. No representation within the image is paramount or even intended.

This is an unfinished piece called 'Speeding', painted with acrylics and ink with fingers and credit cards. It awaits more work with 'the freehand line' (though of course it's all freehand anyway). 

Our SABAB exhibition in Montrose has been postponed until next March when the snow is likely to have melted and we'll all be able to transport our work and ourselves to the venue safely. Suddenly we have a little bit more time to paint!

Wild, wonderful sea...

Something a bit different: here's a short video for you to watch. A slice of the life that inspires me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89wZzPdixDs&list=UL_EfcdeDrnS8&shuffle=123&playnext=1
I happened to have my camera when the sea was wild and wonderful, the sky threatening to snow again (or send thunder and lightning and hail), and yet the waves continued relentlessly, noisily and surprisingly reassuringly.

After leaving the boardwalk and going on my way through the slushy streets, it snowed again and then came down in heavy sleet like balls of polystyrene before the clouds moved over to reveal blue sky and sunshine again.

Never ending work

What do I do all the time? This week I've been writing and sending press releases to the newspapers about my forthcoming exhibitions; creating a new oil painting called 'Of Childhood and Inspiration' - nearly finished that. I've been tidying up a few other paintings where I noticed the colours were not right or the edges needed neatening; I've printed some cards that I designed over the last few weeks; I've planned the layout of my solo exhibition in the local library window and typed the list of works with prices for that.

Choppy Seas Triptych

It took me ages to get these three pictures close enough in colour etc (including the fixtures at the right level at the back!) to make them a triptych but I'm pleased with them now.

I'll remember the other stuff I've been doing (oh, preparing the work for the Montrose exhibition of course!), just as soon as I finish on this laptop, but that's life. No doubt I'll be back soon. When I have time!

Let you in to a Secret

I've been painting a picture today which I think I'll call 'Sunset Song Landscape' because it's an impression of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's house in the Howe o' the Mearns, an area I love to travel through: and remember the prose in the novel Sunset Song.

My secret is ...

this is an experiment ... painted in gouache (watercolour) on canvas with my fingers, mainly, and...

... love it as I do, I shall probably wash it all off and use the canvas for something more permanent. :-(

Unless, of course, someone makes it worth my while not to! It is 16" x 20" and will need framing with glass to protect it. Offers over £40 by 20th November 2010 .... See my Affordable British Art Gallery where free delivery is included.

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?