Projects and Plans
It’s been a little while since I’ve posted anything, and also a little while since I last picked up the paintbrushes. This is partly due to my taking a bit of time away from the studio, but also because when I have been working, it’s been to stretch new canvasses and study composition exercises while I consider a new theme for a series of larger paintings that I want to begin.
The largest and by far most ambitious canvas that I have plans for is now toned and ready to go. Its dimensions are 145cm x 125cm and will accommodate a full-size seated portrait of James, my husband. It will be a major piece for the theme that I have given the working title of “The Year of Loss”. I may yet develop this into something more positive and reflective of loss and rebirth – “Lost and Found” perhaps – I’ll just see how it goes.
The motivation behind this theme is basically my response to a year that, for me, has been an incredibly difficult one. Together we have dealt with some of the big ‘rites of passage’ in life, and while not all of them have been bad, in some way each has involoved an element of loss, and a need to grieve and adapt. I will go into more detail as I proceed with each piece of work and present them on the blog. Fundamentally I will be continuing to work in the tradition of portraiture or still life, and in that way I want my work to remain open to whatever narrative each viewer attaches to it. I will simply put forward what my particular meditation was whilst planning and working on each piece.
Returning to the planned portrait, I have an idea of a composition in mind. It will be a seated pose with a plain background, but with the incorporation of some kind of tabletop and still life consisting of a chess game in play. James is not a chess player himself, but the portrait marks the first anniversary of his father, who was an avid chess enthusiast, passing away. It’s a very personal imagining of the continued relationship with a loved one who is no longer there, as well as being a more obvious Vanitas piece inspired by the very strong visuals of Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Seventh Seal’.
This is all still in the planning, and the scale is certainly going to be a lot more challenging than the paintings I have been working on recently. Everything could easily change and all will be in a state of flux until either I’m happy with the results, or I’m not and the canvas is scrapped or reused. It’s a painting that I’m sure I’ll pick up and put down over many weeks, so sporadically I’ll post progress – or never mention it again!
In the meantime, here are some studio shots showing the space I work in, the blank canvas and some of the portraits by other artists that I am particularly interested in at the moment, studying each for their devision of space, pose, colour palette, and occasional use of still life items alongside the sitter.
