Artist hand and brush - evolving together

Changing brushes can be a traumatic experience...

Yes, a new brush is lovely and tempting! But what happens is it works completely differently than the old familiar brush.

I tend to work with one large brush at a time (or two at slightly different sizes), alongside a variety of small (ie. normal size to other artists!) ones. So the one large brush starts with nice long swishy bristles. The combination of acrylic paint and canvas slowly wears down the bristles - acrylic paint is actually very coarse. But this shortening of bristles happens very gradually, very slowly, and each time you paint you adjust that tiny bit to the slightly less flexible bristles, the slightly shorter reach, the slight reduction in amount of paint and water it holds.

The artist and brush evolve and grow together. There seems to be little difference day to day and it's only when the bristles are so short that painting is difficult that I notice and think "hey, look how worn down this brush is!"

But there's an attachment. Hand, mind and brush are one and despite the short stiff brush I know how to work it. I stubbornly resist the new brush.

Why?

Because it's long and sleek and flexible and absorbant! It's a huge leap backwards in technique and because the change to short has been gradual, my hand has adjusted naturally. Long bristles is a bit like re-learning how to paint, to an extent. So there's always a day or two of frustration as the paint is too much, goes too far. A bit of swearing.

Then the "aaaaah" moment. When I realise this is of course the right decision because painting is more straightforward. Layers are more consistent. It takes less time. And far less physical effort.

My shoulder will thank me later.
Hopefully with chocolate, though the shoulder doesn't usually go shopping on its own.


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The slow sea

This week I'm indulging in some undramatic sea... the quiet calm of Seasalter along the Thames estuary. Tides here go out and it's mud and cockles all the way to the Isle of Sheppey - miles of river bed.

The water is so still this morning that you can actually see the snail tracks in the silt under the water.

It matches my mood. Summer is approaching which means my energy levels are falling, my brain wants to shut down. Sunlight starts headaches. In this sense I'm the opposite of most people who thrive in the light!

For now, this seaside trip is actually not particularly for painting. My friend Lizz and I needed to do our year-end accounting so thought, why not bring it to the sea? So a giant suitcase of paperwork, laptops and harddrives... and we're snug working away in a caravan. But with the water and nice walks on the doorstep.

I'm going to channel the spirit of that one little snail on the rock in the photo. He's holding on and just getting on with things until the water rises again.




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My favourite colour: pthalo blue, green shade

Most artists have a go-to colour on their palette. "Favourite" gives it a bit of emotional context, but for me it means I love that colour but also the amazing variations it can produce!

This past couple of years Pthalo Blue (green shade) has been that colour! There is also a red shade, which actually is made from a different pigment and has a different colour.

Azure Light - light sky blue reflections

Pthalo Blue green shade is like a strange child of the violet-ish ultramarine blue + sky-blue cerulean blue. It's intense but brighter than cerulean. It's a much stronger colour than either ultramarine or cerulean, which means you only need a little bit of it in mixtures.

Meditando - strong clear blue water and pale light

I can make lovely blue skies mixing it with white. Brilliant clear water on its own. Mix it with almost any green for a perfect turquoise. Or with magenta for a great range of purples. To me it feels like the colour of summer, and the colour of deep water.

At Fisherman's Pier - a soft blue-ish turquoise

Through the Nab - ranges of purples

Do you have a favourite colour? In your paint, or in the work on your walls?

All of these paintings mainly used Pthalo Blue (GS) in their making!

Mezzogiorno - a soft greenish turquoise light

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Hints of the Nab... painting the Yorkshire coast rocks

Small acrylic paintings on paper, of Black Nab, Yorkshire coast -
squared off for painting on larger square canvases

Studies on paper for a series of paintings based on Black Nab, the rock formation at Saltwick Bay in Yorkshire. These small paintings are becoming larger canvases - with the largest painting of all just finished! Curious? It's in the May studio newsletter!

More acrylic studies on paper -
painting on the left inspired a very large new canvas

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Studio reading and research - a monthly goal

Reading is one of my most important research activities. In the past I've neglected it, "saving" good art books for when I had a nice solid period to read them. Like on my trip to New Jersey when I took a small library.

But that trip actually taught me that it's when I'm reading that my mind is working more and finds more connections (or disconnections) between the reading and my own artwork. So reading is vital to the evolution of creative work!

In the new year I made the resolution to read one art book and one non-art non-fiction book each month. This satisfies both my need for research reading and my craving for academic reading. (because I haven't decided yet what the next degree with be!)

My May reading is a bit more of a mishmash than previous months. I decided the art books will be three instead of one: I'm going to catch up on some art catalogues that have been waiting in the studio. They're not as text-intensive and I'm going to aim for reading one a week - taking into consideration I'll be away for a week doing my accounting in a caravan on the seaside!

The non-fiction books ties in nicely with a mural/installation I've assisted on at Essex Wildlife Trust's Thurrock Thameside Nature Park, where salt was part of the historical research and a main element of riverside industry since Roman times.


So May's books are:

• Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky
• Ansel Adams: At the water's edge, from Peabody Essex Museum, MA, USA
• (The Royal Maritime Museum in the UK seems to be out of stock of the book again)
• NASA/ART: 50 years of exploration, from the Smithsonian exhibition
• Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch, from the National Gallery

Care to join me?
Share your book choices in the comments!


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How to collect art - a lesson in love

Takachiho, Japan
Ink drawing by Shirley Felts

My "how to collect art" lesson is going to be much simpler than you think:

• Buy things you like.

That's it! Yes, you can (and probably will) eventually realise you like certain types of artists or art, or a style, maybe a time period, or you like investing in up and coming artists. But at the end of all that, it should still come down to:

• Buy things you like.

Here's how I collect art...

I was visiting the gallery to see my work installed for the new spring show. Went downstairs, looked at "my wall" and took some photos. Admired the lighting and how James always arranges my work so well with glass pieces! Then I turned...

In the corner, at a slight distance, was a drawing. It stopped me in my tracks.

You see, I have this image in my head of my house - my dream house. The place I'm going to be, meant to be. Eventually.  It's a dark cottage nestled in a small valley, probably in the Highlands, and with the sea nearby.

My house was there, in the drawing, in the corner.

Detail of Takachiho, Japan
Ink drawing by Shirley Felts

On closer inspection it's actually a Japanese house and landscape. But as I've been to Japan and have a bit of an affinity to that landscape too, this didn't ruin the illusion of my house.

So I went upstairs and made my offer (they were being sold by bids for charity). Apparently there were two drawings as a set, but I was so impressed that I hadn't noticed the second one! Which is equally lovely but I don't have the same emotional reaction to. (So I admit I may actually sell this one on.)

By complete chance I also know this artist, who is local. I've given her computer lessons! So this week I'm buying 2 drawings by Shirley Felts. The drawings were given to my gallery from a collector to try and selling them for charity. They are older pieces, one is dated 1965, and I've never seen her do landscapes of Japan. Her work now is mainly of rainforests. I'm not buying them because I know the artist, or because of the charity (though that made it even more tempting to make an offer). It even, by chance, falls into a specific category I try (often in vain because of my budget) to collect - drawings or studies by lifetime artists over 70.

There was a real connection, and that's the most important thing when you buy art.

Now I need to get in touch with Shirley, who I haven't seen in a long time, for a cup of tea and a chat!

Bottom right: Kishimajima, Japan
Ink drawing by Shirley Felts

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Through American Eyes - ponderings from the National Gallery London

Strange glowing salmon colours blend to umbers then green… This painting made me stop part way through the room and sit to write about "Through American Eyes" at the National Gallery in London. A gallery of landscapes by Frederick Church (1826-1900).

Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl at Sunset
Oil on tan paper, Frederick Church 1858

All the paintings have brilliant light despite grey or neutral grounds and mostly tonally neutral images. Flashes of bold colours - cobalt, turquoise, pink, magenta (this last one may be a trick of the room's lighting) - and a lot of salmon coloured highlights. Strongly lit areas in high detail, with the landscape blending beyond that.

Sunset above South Mountain from Olana
Oil on buff academy board, Frederick Church

The description on the wall says Frederick Church was considered the inheritor of Turner in terms of painting light, but looking up at the room there's a clear difference.

What Church doesn't have is an edging towards abstraction that Turner did explore. There is a consistent tightness in his work throughout the room, though admittedly this is a small selection. But people who prefer traditional realism may appreciate these more for that.

Butthe bigger impression? No foregrounds.

Much like my own painting, they seem to be all middle ground to distance. The sides are rarely enclosed by an object in the landscape but the horizontals reach out beyond the image. There are often two horizontals - the midline and a distance horizon below the sky. In the few with cliffs, these hover as a vertical just on the side of the frame, even the giant Niagra Falls painting! Which has a token unresolved foreground of rocks. Flat, flat, flat. Yet with light eminating from every painting - a depth of light. Yet without strong shadow - the mid tones and lines hold the light at a focal point.

Niagara from the American Side
Oil over albumen print, Frederick Church 1858

So is this flatness what an American sees? Or are we seeking viewpoints with these graphic arrangements? Or do we edit the viewpoint to suit our eye? Seeing the same elements in American work of various periods it can't just be coincidence.

I know it isn't seeking the places - Church went o mountains, glaciers, waterfalls. And I go to sea cliffs and caves. Though perhaps I do edit, I also know my photographs do show a unedited view that is flat and horizontally graphic. So they do exist before I edit further.



A quick visit to the "Through European Eyes" room across the stairway gives a stark comparison. Here the landscapes have a tendency to be framed - the viewpoints are enclosed by vertical elements such as trees, shrubs or boats. The horizontals aren't left to escape and carry on in the imagination, they're strictly defined by the artist. The European artists seems to want to direct your eyes precisely, while Church, and other American artists, seem happy to let your gaze wander a bit and take in a larger landscape.

Both these rooms are free for visitors, but only until April 28th. Well worth a short visit.

• Through European Eyes page
• Through American Eyes page

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