Fired Earth

Fired Earth 24" x 24"

Mixed media on canvas.

I recently finished this painting, which was a bit experimental and not entirely successful.  The texture, that is a bit difficult to see in this photo, was created by covering the canvas on the right hand side with Japanese paper well soaked in dilute PVA adhesive and then pushing it about into ridges and creases, all the time keeping it well doused with the PVA.

The left side was treated in the same way but using newspaper to create rather deeper ridges and creases.

Your critical comments would be appreciated

Wabi-Sabi 3

These three images seem to me to have a distinct Wabi-Sabi feel to them, they are definitely in a  state of deconstruction and show ample evidence of human use over a long period.

The photographs were taken at Landguard Fort which is on the River Orwell in Suffolk UK and was built to guard the entrance to Harwich harbour.

The first fortification on the site was built by Henry VIII in 1543 and has been rebuilt and modernised several times over the years, much of the current structure dates from 1871.

The fort was deemed to have no further military purpose in 1956 and was sealed up and left to disintegrate.  In the 1980s local interest was aroused and the fort was consolidated by English Heritage in 1997/8 in whose care it remains.

There is reputed to be paranormal activity at the fort from time to time!!

Found Abstracts

A recent posting by Nancy Neva Gagliano has motivated me to look through my collection of ‘found abstracts’ and to post a few of my favourites.  I get a special thrill when I find one of nature’s abstracts that really speaks to me, especially if it is of a minimalist nature.

                                         Untitled

This was part of an old door that was being thrown out of a house that my son was renovating; I find the colours very appealing and the sheer simplicity just perfect.  I feel that this photograph must have had some influence on my recently posted painting ‘No Title’.

                                       Untitled

At Wymondham station in Norfolk UK, there is a siding with one or two near derelict railway wagons parked in it, this image is a detail from one of these.  The colours and textures attracted me, and the bolt head is in just the right place.

                          Melegis

This is one of my special favourites; it was photographed in the small village of Melegis, which is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Andalusia, Spain.  To me it is the epitome of Abstract Minimalism.

                          Triangles

I found this little arrangement around the old fishermen’s huts at the tiny fishing port of Brancaster Staithe in North Norfolk UK, I thought it was a rather pleasing composition and it is exactly as I found it.

Solstice

A week or two ago I started to think about a painting to mark the forthcoming winter solstice.  I thought that it needed to be fairly bleak and minimal to reflect the weather we might expect for the next few weeks and so after a few false starts and alterations it is finished (I think), but I do not guarantee that there will not be some changes.

                      Solstice, mixed media in canvas

I have also finished the painting that has been languishing in my sidebar for some time as ‘Work in progress’.  I have to confess that this has not turned out as I had expected, I think it is much too sinister but I thought it was beyond rescue and as it has been on show as ‘Work in progress’ it seems only right and proper to come clean and show it to you.

                      Untitled, mixed media on canvas

Ground Naturale 1

In the summer of 2007 during the month long Open Studio event in Norfolk UK, my wife and I visited the studio of Susan Gunn and what we found there took my breath away.

                      Ground Naturale 1  61cm x 61cm x 7.5cm

                                 Oils, wax, pigment & gesso on canvas & board

Susan’s work is minimalist in both colour and form and yet is deeply moving and inspirational.  Using traditional gesso and encaustic she has developed a technique of controlling the cracks and fissures that occur which, despite her flawless craftsmanship, give the work a timeless feel.

                       Sacro Terra Study 2007  61cm x 61cm 4cm

                                Genuine 22carat gold leaf, encaustic waxes, pigment and

                                gesso on finest linen & board

We bought Ground Naturale 1 there and then and have since bought another smaller work from Susan’s Norwich Castle solo exhibition in the autumn of 2008.

             

                     Black Wide Straits, 2008  76.5cm x 76.5cm x 4cm

                               Oils, wax, pigment & gesso on canvas & board

To see other work by Susan Gunn including some of her very large work click here.

No title

                       Acrylic, gesso, muslin on framed panel, 15” x 15”

At last I have plucked up the courage to post this, I worry too much about what other people will think.

No explanation

No excuses

No title

Wabi-Sabi No.2

In his book on the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic Leonard Koren states,

Wabi-Sabi represents the exact opposite of the Western ideal of great beauty as something monumental, spectacular, and enduring.  Wabi_Sabi is not found in nature at moments of bloom and lushness, but at moments of inception or subsiding.  Wabi-Sabi is not about gorgeous flowers, majestic trees or bold landscapes.  Wabi-Sabi is about the minor and the hidden, the tentative and the ephemeral: things so subtle and evanescent they are invisible to vulgar eyes.

I often dip into this small book to keep my Wabi-Sabiness topped up and on reading this passage a day or two ago I thought I would browse my photographic images for something that would illustrate this statement. I have always favoured things in a state of decay or deconstruction over those in a condition of growth or creation so it was no surprise to me to find many more photographs depicting the former than the latter.

I thought these three photographs fitted the bill rather well and as it happens all three were taken in Andalucia, Spain.  I find that Spain, particularly in the rural areas has far more things Wabi-Sabi than anywhere in the UK where a great deal of tidying up goes on much to the detriment of the Wabi-Sabi hunter.

gHy

Following my recent rather ‘busy’ collages I thought that I should create something more minimal that would be more to my usual taste.

After several days spent occasionally adding an element interspersed with long periods of gazing at it I eventually reached the decision that this one was also too ‘busy’, and so began a period of deconstruction.

I methodically removed and /or repositioned various elements until I reached the stage you see here, which I was reasonably pleased with, as a matter of interest I have taken 5 items away from this and I feel that it is much improved for it.