I’m loving the Mixed Media & Intuitive Landscape course I’m doing with Marabeth Quin. One of her tools is encouraging students to go back to each piece, over and over – considering , adding marks and layers.
It’s uncomfortable … I’m on the 6th or 7th pass for each piece. I can feel the pull to finish them and move to the next step. I’m resisting it and staying with her process.
Why? Because I can see and feel the change. I haven’t done the evaluation exercise yet but I’m sure there’s better contrast and brighter highlights.
Note: these were done on thin paper, so are buckled, because they’ll be glued into my sketchbook along with all the notes Marabeth encourages us to make.
Every year I do an art course to grow my skills and refill my cup. It’s a nice way to start the year. Last year’s course didn’t work out, because I got overrun with Tony, and never finished it.
I’ve long admired the work of American artist Marabeth Quin. Recently I found a new YouTuber, Hannah L Harris. She was talking about doing one of Marabeth’s online courses, and it’s one I’d looked at before. Decision made!
Part of the course involves choosing a colour palette with three colours, plus black and white. Marabeth suggests some colour combinations and I swatched out 6 of them before deciding on one. Doing the swatches made me realise I prefer a palette that includes blue or teal, and provides some light brights.
The journal I’m using to keep all the information and work in is the new Gordon Harris Mixed Media 220gsm A4 booklet. At $8 for 60 sheets I think they’re excellent value.
I’ve been stepping back into old methods and ways of mark making … no pressure, no sales, nothing but play. I’ve been surprised my work seems increasingly realistic, which isn’t my preferred style. I’ve been prepared to go with it, on the premise it would lead somewhere.
I keep my workspace relatively clear, except when actually working on something. As a mixed media artist, I feel I’m not doing enough mixing and layering. I decided to leave a bunch of supplies on my desk in the hope I’d reach for different media. My desk’s currently got paint, inks, fluro paint pens, NeoColour I and II, Stabilo Woodies and collage papers. I’ve also got a couple of new journals I’m working in.
I started a couple of pages last night and I was playing with materials while on a video call to my sister, then a friend. And there it was … bright, semi-abstract, layered. It feels like I’ve gone back to my artistic roots and also leapt forward. I couldn’t be happier!
I’ve been talking today with Pen Kirk who I’ve been creating collaborative art with for a number of years now. Pen is exploring resin at the moment. I won’t try to describe her process, that’s her story to tell, but she’s happy for me to write about today’s chat.
Pen commented “I think that’s part of my process. Learning my way through and making at the same time”. She said “Interesting aspect… I really like to have to sand them right back and then shine them up… which means taking multiple steps through grit 150-10,000”. When I asked if it was about the physicality of the process, or transformation, she was clear straight it’s the transformation.
When we explored further Pen commented her process is about adding, taking away, and adding hidden aspects. She said “It’s just too bloody easy if you don’t go through all the steps and (it) has no meaning. Like a person with no souls, who hasn’t experienced”.
Like Pen, my art is process driven. For me, it’s about connecting random parts to create meaning and visual harmony. This morning I randomly glued bits of collage onto approx 30 pages in a small Fabriano art journal. Then I go back and use the collage as the start of pieces, using paint, water soluble media, pencil, and oil pastels.
It’s rare for me to work on a piece from start to finish, or to start with the end in kind. Working on one piece at a time makes it feel precious and creates anxiety about messing it up. Working across multiple pieces brings me freedom to just do what I feel in the moment. That doesn’t mean there’s no thought in it, but it does mean I’m not super invested in each piece of paper.
Below you can see some very quick photos of a few pages I collaged onto this morning, and a few finished pages, which might not be the ones I started this morning.
L to R – cheap harder oil pastels, Stabilo Woody, soft Sennelier oil pastels & soft pastels, Neo I and II crayons, pencils. Pages with a piece or two of collage added.
I am rediscovering parts of my art practice after 5 years of decreasing art time due to Tony’s poor health. People assume, when a loved one goes into a rest home, the one left at home has a normal life again, but that’s far from the truth.
I used to do a lot of collage but had gradually all but stopped, except in mixed media. Yet collage is a low stress, low cost way of training your eye and brain to recognise what you love to see, and love to create. It’s a useful tool, but it’s also just good fun … not everything has to have an end goal.
I’ve also realised, probably due to time pressure, I was only creating landscape focussed pieces in my art journals. I haven’t been exploring shape and composition, or mark making, for its own sake.
Today I played and it felt good to be going back to a more holistic art practice. I’m seriously considering putting my Felt shop on hold after Christmas and spending the year concentrating on refilling my art cup to see where it leads in terms of work I make.
Cath Sheard Art 