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As I mentioned a post or two back, I recently purchased some books on drawing from Amazon, wanting to get back to the confident mark making I used to enjoy. In the last week or so I have been looking at the work of artists I follow online and have realised many of them incorporate strong mark-making in their works. Have a look at Sandra Toornstra, Martha Marshall and Rebecca Crowell. Often there is a sense of the work having many layers, something I appreciate also.

While Tony and I were away last weekend I went to Gordon Harris Art Supplies and bought, well, art supplies 😉  I wanted more mark making tools so I got charcoal, graphite, Neocolor water soluble crayons, oil pastels, Posca pens etc, all in black. Plus some tubes of black or white paint to add to my stocks. Today I sat down at my desk with some off-white Canson pastel paper and got bold and messy – Tony says I have paint on my face. (and?) Already I can feel some of the marks that were ‘mine’ while at art school reasserting themselves, alongside a new capacity to work in layers with (a little) more patience than before.  Here’s one of today’s attempts to loosen up and get making my mark, plus a cropped version to see what they would look like.

My sweet husband and I have just had 3 nights away; thanks to my sister who came and mother-sat for us. We ate, drank, slept, laughed, drove, shopped and really relaxed. Awesome.

Two of those nights were spent in Wellington and, as we often do, we went to Te PapaTongarewa, Museum of New Zealand. We had a good wander round the shop and oohed & aahed over the many beautiful objects. We had a look at an exhibition called “Collecting Contemporary”. Here’s what Te Papa’s website says – Every year, Te Papa extends its contemporary art collection, adding significant works by both emerging and established artists, as well as pieces that enhance the collection or reflect important trends. This exhibition showcases a selection of works acquired between 2006 and 2011.

My favorite piece was ‘The red heart’ by Paratene Matchitt. It’s interesting enough seeing it online, but seeing it in real life it just so much more. More detailed, more complex – just MORE. I love living where I do, the relative isolation and the sense of quiet, but I also know I have to feed the artist within from time to time. What better feeding ground than Te Papa?

I have been reading Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone – one of 3 books I treated myself to from Amazon recently. All 3 books are about drawing. Why? Because in the last 3 years my work has become a bit tentative in some ways and I miss the boldness of earlier work.  Earlier works were more about mark making and the process. I loved to feel the materials in my hand, and being transferred to the support. Mark marking – drawing. Hence the books.

I am in an exhibition in Auckland with the NZ Art Guild later this month and I was going to do more poppies or similar. Then I started reading my new books and just knew I had to produce some works that are primarily about  mark making instead. I have limited myself to a heavy body titanium white, fluid zinc white, fluid carbon black and heavy body red black. I *might* end up with a single red mark at the end; I’m not sure yet – it depends on how the work feels when I reach that point. I have done 4 layers so far and can feel the end approaching.

Tony came into my office last night and had a look. “What is it?” he asked. Nothing, I said. “Oh” was his considered reply. Got to love him 🙂

For the record, the photos are the current 20×24 work at layer four, and some work from 2008.

It has been COLD here today, I doubt it got above 12 degrees. We’ve had most of  the heaters on all day just to keep the house reasonable. At Mum’s age, the World Health Org say anything under 16 degrees is dangerous, so we keep the house at 18 as a minimum. She’s 87 in a  few days time, why risk illness for the sake of a few dollars? And besides … power bill? What power bill? 😉

One consequence of the cold weather is that I don’t use my art room, I stay indoors and paint at my office desk instead. The art room has no insulation, dirt under the concrete floor etc so it is freezing out there.  Working at my desk means working smaller, and not being so messy with the paint. I have started a new poppy painting tonight. It’s only 6″ square, which is a nice size to work on, and it’s much darker than the ones I have done up till now. I suspect that is a reflection of the dark skies outside my office window today.  It is also, at this stage anyway, a lot more abstract – but it’s not finished yet so we’ll see what happens. The more familiar I get with a subject or theme, the more abstract the work tends to become. As my head and hand come to *really* know the theme, I feel less need to make it recognizable. I like the gap between reality and abstraction, where the suggestion of a theme sits.

This is a terrible photo – flash on wet paint etc, but it gives you some vague idea of what I’m up to!

Next month Thornton Gallery in Hamilton will hold it’s annual OSFA (One Size Fits All) show. I’m entering two works, both 10×10″ which is *the* size, based on the poppies from Italy. The longer I work on these the more abstract the poppies become, which is what I would expect to happen over time. As I get more and more familiar with the shapes and colours, as they sink deeper into my brain, what my hand produces is less and less photographic. It’s a process I love. I’m really enjoying creating these, with their splashy splattery backgrounds and their streaks of red. Perfect for doing on a cold winter’s day. Here’s the latest, titled “Remembering poppies – Florence”.