It has been over a year since my last post and there has been a positive development. I am not whooping and hollering with unbridled delight, but and this is the crucial point, neither am I wallowing in the depths of despair. I have a shot at a new beginning and have placed my feet, tentatively, upon the path of reconciliation. I have been joined there by a relative stranger. He is unwilling to match my hunger for more frequent contact and I must abide by his rules, or risk a swift curtail of these small green shoots of promise. After almost twelve years apart, you would think that I could be patient a little while longer. In truth, I am frustrated and yet not surprised, by the still vast distance between us. It has been a month since our meeting and I have heard nothing from him. I want to ring him but I dare not. I must wait, as I agreed to let him take the lead in any future arrangements to meet.
As I seek to fill my thoughts or rather keep them from straying into forbidden areas, I am painting more. I have been attending an art class, for beginners, for almost a year now. It was an impulse and a challenge to myself that I began just after my fiftieth birthday. It is another, long, slow process! I had not picked up an artists brush since leaving school and I cannot pretend that I displayed any talent back then. However, I have discovered that I really enjoy producing a picture. The end product is often incidental to the process. It frees my mind as I am unable to think of anything but my brush and the paint.
I have decided that the time may be right to unleash some of my work upon the unsuspecting public, God help you. I would appreciate any comments and constructive criticism on my fledgling attempts at art. Be kind!
Having not seen you since school and therefore knowing nothing of what you "speak" I'll just wish you all the best and good luck.
ReplyDeleteAs for the art, very nice! Couldn't get them to enlarge, unfortunately, the first one (single pot) I like, it almost has an abstarct quality about the overall effect. The other, great work, especially the texture and colour in the plant pot. Are these, I take it oil or arylic, somthing I've never tried (to challanging). Constructive criticism (you asked) is watch where the shadows are, is the sun in the same position through the picture - sorry cheeky as I don't take criticism that well myself, it needs a day or two to percolate through. Great work though -was it fun?
Thanks for taking the trouble to look and comment. I've had trouble organising my layout and got so preoccupied that I forgot to mention what medium I had used! Both works are acrylics on board. The single pot was under instruction in my art class. The blue pot is from a photo that Judith posted on her fb, which inspired me. You mentioned the "S" word and you are right to do so. Light and shadow is one aspect that I am grappling with as I explore painting. It's the thing that seems to transform the picture, if it's right...if it's wrong however, well I'm hoping I will get it right, eventually! Both were great fun to do but I think I am most pleased with the blue pot, mainly because I picked the subject myself. It is a little wooden in areas but there are elements, like the pot and the step, which I feel are successful.
ReplyDeleteI was also unable to enlarge them, so I must have uploaded them wrong. However, if you right click and then click open in new window, they do enlarge. Thanks for your encouragement.
I am blown away by your fantastic paintings! Brilliant work. Especially the blue pot, which is naturally close to my heart. I cannot fault your technique, use of colour, rendering of space or anything. Having the original photo in front of me, I feel qualified to comment on Ovson's remark about the shadows, by saying that you have done them perfectly: the sun is casting shadows to the left of the objects (tap and pot) and the dark area to the right of the pipe is not a shadow but a dark patch on the wall. To avoid confusion I might have exercised artistic licence and left out that dark patch, but that's a minor point. Keep going. I'm very much looking forward to forthcoming posts.
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