Gaye’s Studio News

Art on hold

8 May 2024

Two things are taking all my attention; quince inspiration and planning a workshop.  My quince inspired works did not evolve how I would like, so have moved to the back burner for now. The colours were wrong and I kept getting drawn to realism.  I will persevere even though I want to hide them out of site. It happens!

Asked to run a workshop focused on abstraction, I didn’t take long to agree. 20 years since I‘ve done any teaching but ‘once a teacher always a teacher’.  And I can’t resist a challenge!

My next reaction was panic. How do I engage a group for 4 or 5 hours.  I knew I needed to do a lot of preparation. Abstraction is such a broad concept with a different meaning to everyone. It includes everything from design, mark making, colour, texture, composition, mood and emotion  

Most people want to see an identifiable image in a painting, so aren’t moved by abstract painting or get distracted looking for something identifiable.

I hope if they’ve signed up they want to experiment. I want it to be fun and playful, but I also want participants to come away with something tangible.

I have decided to approach the workshop by creating many maquettes (mini paintings)  about 22cm square, as well as some practice pieces.

One of the hardest parts of abstract painting is getting started. If painting something realistic you have an image or the object or scene to guide you. In abstraction you really are faced with a blank sheet of paper.

My overall approach is to trust my intuition and build up many layers based on a response to the last layer but also taking risks, experimenting and play. At some point(not too soon) things start to resolve and then more thinking and analysing will happen.

The eye should be drawn around the work, finding differences and contrasts in shape, colour, tone, line; busy areas and quiet areas.

So where to start?

I decided on six different approaches, doing 2 of each as you can see from the second image.  

My first beginning was to cover the paper with lots of random gestural lines; different media, different shapes and marks.

The second was a blind drawing. Eyes closed and imagining the paper.

The third was to start with collage; a mix of solid and transparent papers. The first overlapping shapes within the picture plane, the second breaking over the edges.

The last three approaches are

• cropping a composition from another painting, selecting a segment that has variety but a strong composition

• drawing from life, overlaying and drawing from different angles. I chose a line drawing of quinces and a charcoal of a small vase.

• painting an undercoat over the whole paper (I chose a transparent orange) then draw loose uneven vertical and horizontal lines

These are starting points. We will then try out a dozen or so painting techniques and then apply some(or all) as a second layer. Then a third and so on; playing, experimenting, creating ugliness, creating magic moments. At some point the little paintings will start to feel resolved and some analysis will happen but that’s another story. With so many on the go you can move on to another if you get stuck.

Hopefully workshop participants will go away with a few squares to be framed up.

My plein air piece last month was painted at the Cornelian Bay boat houses. The changing light and colour was a challenge. Think it might need some more glazing.

Seascapes are now featured at Sandy Bay Doctors practice. I have 10 paintings on display including the recently framed Voice of tides 2 and Evening light - Park Beach Headland.

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.”

Carl Jung

My website is not fully up to date at the moment due to some essential maintenance.

My website is not up to date at the moment due to essential maintenance.