Silk paintings
The joy and sweep of applying inks on silk.
Experimental
There is nothing like getting to know your medium through really playing with it. Play is essential and when I observe children, I realise being in a relaxed state and 'just' playing is how we are all programmed to learn. I have tried to encourage this approach in my workshops over the years!
Encaustic wax
In 2019 as Artist in Residence at the Hall I was very aware of the many layers of time in this remarkable place that had been home to 4 generations of the Moulton Family. So I explored the visual layering of time with encaustic wax as the images placed first, accrued more wax - the memory and trace of them becoming more hazy with time passing.
Spray painting
The engineering talent of Alex Moutlon was all around me at the Hall where they still make Moulton bicycles. I wanted to celebrate the inventiveness. There is a beauty in engineering as in art and the shapes and suggestion of movement got me excited. I had black and white spray paint in the studio and could play with layering using the bicycle parts as stencils. I loved the changes in focus and the effects of light and dark.
Experimental
Oil paint on plaster
Light is almost impossible to render with paint as it is whiter than white paint. As I was painting for the series of works on light in the Tithe Barn, I was taken with painting with oils and graphite on plaster. I was doing a lot of sculpture at the the time so had plaster powder around. I wanted to be able to scrape back to the white plaster, after having a freedom with the paint.
Gelli printing on tissue with encaustic wax
Gelli printing is great fun and wonderfully tactile, almost massaging one's finger tips in the process. I was introduced to it by Jennifer Douglas. For this series, I printed on tissue paper and then used hot wax to layer and seal the paper. The further down the layer, the more wax has been applied and the softer focus it will be.
Photographic abstracts
I have always been passionate about photography and cameras in general. They help you 'see'.
This was a series produced from closer observation of the cliff faces at Harlyn Bay in Cornwall.
In 2019 I collaborated with the amazing Bristol poet Deborah Harvey. It was a very interesting process creating a collaborative 2D piece for exhibition - finding the balance between the poet's 'mind's eye' with the rather dominant visual nature of photography.
Abstract & Semi-abstract
Layering oil paint, using different tools and mediums to change its consistency.
With a palette knife in one's hand, you feel brave with the paint. The trick is to mix your palette up first and then go for it!
Scraping into the paint is an effective way to create line. Juxtapose that with the blur created using a rag and there is some energy about the piece.