Let the Paint Do the Work

.BEGINNINGS:  I've: had an enormously satisfying month experimenting with paint on paper. My art teacher once said to me -Let the paint do the work - it sounds glib but he was so right. This phrase became part of my art practise. I often spend happy mornings moving colours around with rollers and palette knives to create unusual effects. But I can't mess forever. Once the primed medium is dry, be it paper, board or canvas, it is time to get to work..

So what can I see in the above sheet of coloured paper?  My friend saw an angel of death but I've just walked the dog across the moors and so a wild pony comes to mind. The image takes a while to tease out but with the softer palette of oil I can use the marks to create an image.

Roots oil/acrylic on board - almost complete

THE MIDDLE STAGE: Here, I am working on board. An image of roots around a rock has sprung into my mind. Last week we walked to Carn Euny the Iron Age settlement behind our home where there is a marvelous tree with all its roots exposed and wrapped around a huge piece of granite. I store this visual memory but will travel where the paint takes me now I'm in the studio. 

In short - this process is like turning my memory inside out and shaking the contents onto the studio floor.

COMPLETED WORK: After a long conversation on the phone to my friend about the desert and the people of the desert I thought of the women and began to pull out images. Life drawing classes go a long way towards these final studies and although I go with the flow of the paint a little anatomical knowledge is very helpful..

Just as you can see shapes in the clouds or a Madonna in a pizza so you can create mystical subjects on a primed board. It's a very satisfying way of loosening up in the studio and sometimes the results are unexpectedly pleasing!.