The new works

This New series of work is just pure joy and fun to create, that is not to say that it has not arrived without the basic or some specific requirements such as elements of composition and pallet, of alchemy, chemistry, mystery and even a hint of the magical in relation to how the colours bend and gel together, where differences exist in relation to my thinning and thickening of paints one colour will push another aside or simply 'mix in', as well as the practical  mixing of paint and thinner, there is also my relationship with the canvas, the paints, the space, birds feeding at my window and soft rain dampening down the sounds beyond, contrary to the energies within the work, my personal and work-space is borne of a sense of separation from the world in a place of Peace and creative saturation. 

It is quite a prolific period for me, much painting time has been sacrificed for the Castle Project that needed a period of priority, now, with a bigger window and much achieved the Castle can be without me for a few days tho even while working on the castle I have still managed to snatch a few moments for trials and practice either in small canvas pieces or in thought, now with time to paint  I  take what I have learned and discard what hasn't worked to produce these works.

That is not to say that the trials and experimentation is finished, I still have to work on the surface texture.  When first dry the surface area of the painting is '' glass smooth '', over the days and weeks the underlying paint will dry slowly and as part of that process, the surface 'wrinkles and buckles' forming tiny points of reflected light along the ridge that remains; I await to see how these images appear once that process is complete, if unsatisfactory I shall have to find a way to fix the problem.

  Currently these works are unnamed, they all give me an emotional response though it is not that which I respond to most, it is the imagery that exists within the eye of the viewer, there is so much within each painting, men in boats, small animals, people, landscapes and a multitude of other entrancing details, each one a very personal scene.
Till that time, best wishes
andrew

week ending 6 July 2011

It has been a great 3 months progress since my last post, The Mural is on stand-by at the moment, in a turn of good fortune and with only a couple of weeks to go before the expiry of a planning approval for a doorway to be cut out and fitted for the premises next door The Joshua Tree Restaurant received a notice approving the works, It would have been otherwise awful to have installed the Grand Design only to have a part of it ripped out, so, for now I have gained extra time to commit to other projects.

Aside general pottering about, bits of experimentation and a few trials of life I have two projects on the go, the First, and my primary concern, is the Kendal Castle Poppy Installation for which there is a separate Blog and its own Facebook site now in active and regular use.

I started a 3 week proactive marketing strategy which was in the form of targeting selectively individuals and groups and requesting their support through friendship, since that time I have allowed the site to grow in autonomously through its own viral nature and have been both satisfied and pleased with the result.

In the period following, around 3 months now and as I write this, the site following and popularity has increased to a wonderful figure somewhere close to the 800 mark with a second level following in well in excess of 2,000.000 and that is a very conservative estimation.

On the practical side there have been 16 visits to the castle, as many meetings, good press coverage and great local support on the street, from individuals to Local businesses; currently I await the structural survey report which contributes to acceptance of the project by English Heritage who oversee the care and welfare of the UK's prime historical buildings.

My other project is a more personal one as I continue my explorations of paint and canvas with the splash and pour influence of Jackson Pollock, an influential painter from the 1950s and one with whom I share many traits, sadly and for the most, his powerfully negative aspect.

small ( 12" x 4") experimental piece

To Date I have finished 5 Medium to large canvases, each one with a subtle difference than the style of perhaps his most commonly associated works, each one taking me on a tiny journey, a stepping stone onto the next piece; I expect to continue this series over the next couple of years while taking small forays into other exploratory directions, reconnaissance trips into, perhaps, once visited though still nonetheless unknown territories, of sculpture, film and photography.

All history is contributory to my life of learning new things, of revisiting and revising old ideas;  it is most surprising, when looking back in time with a better informed mind, it is then that you find an alternate world, things missed the first time around are now found, things that had been ignored, much of which had no relevance at that moment and only now fit into the bigger picture.

So much time is spent looking back that I only have half the amount of time to plan ahead, it is a slower pace of life but speed is no longer of importance, so, watch this space and thanks for reading.