Football, Flowers, Oranges and the Melbourne Light
June Studio
Footballers, Flowers, Oranges and Lemons
Mid season in the studio....
Winter has reawakened the muse in the form of footy, flowers and still life.
I am not sure if it is the nature of the June Melbourne light, or if it is the specific way in which the light falls in the kitchen, upon the footy field or in studio; whichever, it seems to inspire me each year to paint in a way that focus's on the brilliance of the colors within my immediate space.
Winter enhances color. It deepens and cools the shadows, allowing the bright colours to stand out.
A stroke of pure cadmium yellow pigment leaps high against a backdrop saturated with ivory black.
Jonquils, oranges, lemons sit atop on old table waiting to be arranged.
The orange tree in our backyard is prolific at the moment. Eighteen years ago when we bought our Californian Bungalow it produced barely a handful of fruit each season.
As well as being unproductive, the orange tree was spindly and miserly in shape.
With a modicum of care, the tree has seen some lush new growth in recent years and the number of oranges it produces continues to increase each season.....an oddity given the soil to touch, seems sandy and bereft of nutrients.
Whatever the reason, the oranges today are stacking increasingly higher in the fruit bowl each week.
I am not long back from a week away. I have noticed a clarity of light and a sharpness to the edges to things.
Bali, with its warmth and sunshine, seemed to have a muted light, creating hazier, blurred structural forms. Colours seem to mutate. Deep navy blues become cloudy greys, purples faded, bright reds and oranges becoming softer and dirtier in their tone.
I've decided it must be the Melbourne light, with its cold air and crisp mornings, that have some influence on the way I see and paint.
Meanwhile, it is school holidays, so it's impossible to get anything much done.
I get around this by filling up my sketchbook when and where possible; practising on my footballers in motion, either at the game or from the lounge suite and on occasions, writing and contributing to the The Footy Almanac.
My most recent piece, Sketchbook Review; Buddy's Fizz, is here
Catching Up
Tom at Caulfield
Oil on Canvas
2015
Family Portrait 2015
Things are constant, as usual. June is well underway even though I still feel as if the year has just started. So far this year, I have completed a couple of commissions for people. One a family portrait, a football painting and a cricket painting; commemorating significant life/club/personal milestones.
I also participated in the Glen Eira Artists Society's (GEAS) annual exhibition at the Glen Eira Town Hall, with two of my recent urban portraits. It was the society's second major exhibition, with works from many local artists hanging together in a manner that, I thought, showed a growing sense of development and confidence. Less work on display, some larger pieces as well as a variety of contemporary styles made the show a bright and inviting exhibition. I look forward to next years show and hope that we, as a group, can continue to learn and grow.
Local Girl; After School 2015
For the last few months I have been helping out on a local community art project with a small group from the GEAS. It has been alot of fun as we have been given our own space to create a work of our own in conjunction with the community groups. More to come when the project is finished.
I had a devine week away in Bali....no cooking and no housework, good company, good food as well as the odd cocktail at 5. Very little sketching was done. I hadn't been to Bali for years, so I was busy just enjoying and absorbing the atmosphere, the culture and the people. If I had had more time I would have done more in the way of sketches and watercolours. When in a new environment, I find I need time to just look and see; for some reason the compulsion to draw or create art is something that only comes after some experience or familiarity.
You have to live it before you can recreate it. It's a bit like the way we observe others endlessly taking photographs of things; sometimes you just want to say to them "put your camera down" and just take in the experience, live and savour it.; taste the experience before you record it, otherwise you don't really know what it is you are recording.
Whilst I was away a new TV was bought for the bedroom. I am not much of a TV watcher and generally have no idea what's going on in the world of television. However, this larger screen TV has replaced a tinny sounding, and tiny one that was painful to watch. The new one is fantastic and compensates for the fact that I don't like the look of it.
I've tuned in to two shows in the last week. The first being The Killing Season and the second, The Secret River. The Secret River is superb! The imagery of the Australian bush, the characters, the backing music and narrative is wonderful. I am really surprised though, that only two episodes have been made; it could easily have taken in a couple more.
This week, I am back in the studio and have cleaned it up....again. I have filled it with vases and flowers. I have moved my easel to the front of the shop. The space is filled with the perfume of jonquils.
On that note I'll end this post here and continue on in a week or two.
Look at Melbourne; Small Works on Paper
Watch my new series unfold as I take to the streets, city and suburbs of Melbourne, with pen, ink, watercolour, and perhaps oil and canvas, in hand.
The journey begins from Point Ormond, previously known as Little Red Bluff, St.Kilda
Background info:
One of the things that appeals to me about working with pen and ink directly on to paper, is the immediacy of being able to create a work.
It is very much a process of being in the moment and observing, deeply, that which is around you.
In many ways it is a form of reportage, taking notes and recording the dramas and things that unfold within that environment as they occur; things that are quite ordinary. I try to explore the connections between people and places.
A pen has the capacity to be moved quickly across a page, be it a sketchbook, a dinner menu or an expensive sheet of Arches water-colour paper. The quality of the surface matters little, the execution of line, however, is vital. Perceived errors must be ignored or reconsidered in order to complete the piece.
I see these works as not unlike fine threads, that when woven together create a larger, robust piece of cloth.
It is an enriching process, as it moves me, the artist, beyond the studio and places me very much within the sphere of action.
I become a willing participant within the work.
Follow Look At Melbourne on Instagram.
GEAS 2015 Exhibition
Details here for Glen Eira Artists Society Exhibition at Glen Eira Town Hall Gallery
Opening night: Wednesday 29 April 2015 6-8pm
All Welcome
April Tulips
Another busy month flying by too quickly. Painting is slotting itself in where possible, between the odd gaps that pad the school holidays, cirriculum days, sports days, parent teacher interview days, public holidays, sick days and staff reflection days !@!
If I had a real job, I don't know when I would fit it in.
As a break from paingting people, I decided to go back to a still life, where I can focus on colour, movement and shape.
Humming away in the background I've been working on another idea with my small watercolors on paper. More to come later.
I'll add images to this post as the tulip painting progresses.
The studio is clean and tidy, which means I can think. My framer has passed on to me another plaster window display/partition thingy which I picked up yesterday and popped in the window. I like it.
I have moved my shelf unit. I have some cards in stock and a small number of 2014 Footy Almanacs left. Let me know if you'd like one. They make great presents and a brilliant record for seasons past, with genuine voices and stories written by the fans. They're $35 each.
Art Town 2015
Art Town 2015
This is my third year participating in this community art project and exhibition run by the Chapel Street Precinct and Art Town.
Details Here
Lately Painting....
I have come to the end of two commissions that have occupied me for the last few weeks. Both are now complete, which means I can go back to the pieces I was working on last year. I am working on a set of urban portraits. Not sure how long it will take me....as it depends how much of the 'other things' there are going on in my life. (commissioned pieces not shown here yet)
With reasonably good autumn weather, I have also been out and about drawing and sketching on location. it helps me brush up my tan and gets me out of either the confines of the house, the local primary schools fete preparations and the studio.
There will be a few Melbourne themed framed pen, ink and watercolours available soon.
I have decided to separate my drawing/sketching page from this site. It is now back in its original home at www.drawinglife.me. It just seems better there as I am finding, it is an entity of its own.
My sporting themed pieces with image and words, I still submit to The Footy Almanac website. It's a fabulous spot for those who like to write a bit about life and sport... oh and yes, a bit of footy too. It is a unique space for its ability to share the communal experience of sport across a diverse community of writers, fans, sporting aficionados, sporting philistines and all that is in between. It's footy's own spice of life.
Currently in my studio window @ 1159 Glen Huntly Road, Glen huntly:-
Day on the Heath
oil on canvas
120cmW x 90cmH
Day on the Heath is racing painting at Caulfield. I have depicted the running order of place getters for the 2014 Caulfield Cup in which Admire Ratki was the winner. I think the first Caulfield Cup I painted was of the 2006 race in which Maldivian was scratched after an injury in the starting gates.
In the time since, I have consolidated my painting practise and really learnt an abundance when it comes to painting larger genre type works; both in the painting of people and in the concepts required for constructing the composition of a larger piece. I have a better understanding of perspective, although it still has a tendancy to muck with my head.
I am better placed now to move forward and experiment further, given that I have built up many grounding principles, principles applicable to all forms of art, whether it is figurative or otherwise.
In doing these paintings, I OFTEN feel like getting a big brush and slapping the paint any which way and settling for something 'abstract' and far more saleable. However, there is something in the scene, the people, the personalities and in the story that keeps pushing me forward and to see these works to their completion.
Scratching on the Heath
oil on linen 2007
110 x120cm
sold
Scratching on the Heath is an example of one of the first horse racing paintings I did. It was a bright, vibrant and fun piece of work. However, when I did it I didn't really feel like I had any control over what I was doing. I just did it and a few more. A sort of beginners luck. Some where between this and my last piece, Day on the Heath above, is where I'd like to settle...easy to say, not as easy to do. It will take time.
Hopefully it will be a considered place that holds within a degree of both control and and freedom. (... a joke perhaps)
Also in the window:-
Things On My Bench 2014.....and alot of reflections
oil on canvas
25cm x 25cm each
$155 each
Let me know if something interests you. In the studio I have some cards available and can make some up upon request using images of paintings that I have done. $7.50 each signed.
i don't keep regular shop hours so keep in touch via facebook, instagram or here.
You are welcome to share this post with interested friends.
Kate
0400444138
A Bright Start
and finally the taste of Summer; here in Melbourne anyway.
It is the end of the first week back into normal routine. Kids back at school, uni, work etc so there is now a sense of structure to the day.
The studio is tidyish again. It is a small space and it doesn't take much for it to feel cluttered. I have a couple of commissions to get on with, and I want to persue more of the urban portraits that I began last year.
First though, I have made a couple of adjustments to my last horse racing painting that I did towards the end of last year.
I have brought the second place getter up where he belongs, on the inside rail. I have also gone into the horizon where the houses were, I thought, a little bit too blurry and non descript. I have also toned down the pinkish, brown hues with some bluish/purple washes.
Here is a snap:-
before
after
Original Prints
Finals Birth; Melbourne Pub 2014
Limited Edition Original Print
paper size approx: 10 x 8inch
image size approx: 8 x 6inch
Printed on archival quality art paper using pigment inks
Framed price $325
Framed size 36cmW x 46cmH
Unframed prints also available.
Signed Edition of 10
To read about the genesis of this image visit here
Text will accompany prints.
