Chimneys
This piece is one of three based on roof-lines in Lower Largo in Fife. I ws interested in the repeat shapes and patterns as viewed from above.
Curve
I was intrigued by the road curving around and going out of sight. It was the only curve amongst the straight lines of the buildings and roof spaces. It implied intimacy and seclusion. I deliberately omitted windows and doors in order to focus on that sense of the privacy and withdrawal from the public.
Diagonals
Following the theme of roof-lines this view investigates the 'marching' of roofs at an angle. Again repeat shapes and the rhythmic flow of the line are explored. Again windows are ignored as distractions from the relationship that the buildings have created by proximity.
Edinburgh
The project culiminated in this piece. Larger than the rest and more detailed it too is based on the relationship of buildings - their history and sense of space imposed over time. I wanted to explore the colour relationships too - the clinical grey of new builds against the warmth of older structures.
Platinum Point
I seemed to get into a very blue phase! In this case it seems apt though as the subject matter is all sharp lines, crisp edges and hard materials. This was especially evident as the day I went out drawing was a very crisp winter's day.
Platinum Point 1
Platinum Point can be viewed from Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh. It is a vast expanse of glass and metal and shimmers blue and grey in the distance. I was attracted by the harsh edges and repetitive patterns. The large painting I started off with evolved into eight more successful 'sound-bites of which this is the first.
Platinum Point 2
The painting evolved through a process of making my own print material to reflect the colours and textures of the buildings and surrounding environment, then working into the surface with paint.
Platinum Point 3
The superimposition of shapes is to reflect the overlapping nature of the buildings themselves.
Platinum Point 4
The trees that line the front of the buildings add to the linear feel of the development.
Platinum Point 5
Some of the surfaces appear quite brittle.
Platinum Point 6
By cutting the main picture up into smaller views, a quality was found that otherwise would not have been discovered.
Platinum Point 7
I particularly like the way the pieces are now open to more interpretation.
Platinum Point 8
Abstract evolves from the precise.
Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird by Wallace Stevens
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
This project is based on the Wallace Stevens poem, 'Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird'. I have always been interested in the link between the written word and the artistic representation of it. As a primary teacher I often used visual images - classic paintings such as Brueghel's 'The Return of the Hunters' and even postcards in order to provide stimulus for creative writing. There is also a link between poetry and art in the Cubist movement and the American poet Wallace Stevens was known as a Cubist writer. So here I have taken one of the verses and investigated it firstly through collage, then through oil paint on canvas. I completed a set of three paintings 50 x 70 cm in addition to three 25 x 35 cm pieces of abstract work
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
This project is based on the Wallace Stevens poem, 'Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird'. I have always been interested in the link between the written word and the artistic representation of it. As a primary teacher I often used visual images - classic paintings such as Brueghel's 'The Return of the Hunters' and even postcards in order to provide stimulus for creative writing. There is also a link between poetry and art in the Cubist movement and the American poet Wallace Stevens was known as a Cubist writer. So here I have taken one of the verses and investigated it firstly through collage, then through oil paint on canvas. I completed a set of three paintings 50 x 70 cm in addition to three 25 x 35 cm pieces of abstract work
Research
This is one of many sketches I made of the blackbird in motion. I wanted to capture its character in terms of movement.
Development 1
A development of the blackbird in flight idea. A major influence for this piece was Cubism. This is reflected in the application of oil paint which formed a series of angles on the paper.
Development 2
I currently have six canvases in progress based on this development piece. The end products are very abstract in nature but giving rise to lots of unexpected qualities.
Painting 1
This is the collage which inspired the painting. Rather bizarrely the blues of the collage turned into greens on the actual canvas. |
Two Birds
The completed piece. After a while the canvas took on a life of its own and the collage work took a back seat to allow the painting to continue in its own way. Rather than the focus being on the bird form, it is more the movement and the presence of the birds that is important for me to convey. |
Painting 2
The collage set the scene but the end result moved away as a result of the tissue paper base. I found out during this project the difficult nature of transferring effect from one medium to another. |
Single Bird
This painting finished up with a sort of abstracted woodland feel. Not strictly inappropriate but unexpected. |
Painting 3
This is perhaps my favourite composition. I particularly like the colour relationships. It seems to me very atmospheric and rather dramatic! |
Bird and Circle
This painting kept truer to the development piece as regards layout but the tail gave way to another circle in order to balance the composition. |
Small Canvas 1
This is the first of three purely abstracted pieces. You are invited to find something bird like in them! Basically they are really all about form, texture and impressions.
Small Canvas 2
A bird's eye view perhaps?
Small Canvas 3
No idea really but I like the light in this.
The Workers
This is a really a study of time and motion as the preparation for this painting was a series of very quick drawings following two models as they worked on construction in the middle of the studio. They were a blur of activity one moment and at rest in another.
Dark
The theme this year at Leith School of Art is Solar/Lunar. The first few weeks on the course found all the students on the Painting Course starting off tackling all manner of substances in the dark trying to capture ''light'. This was one of my pieces that evolved over that period of time.
Reclining Figure
This is rather unimaginatively named. This large piece was completed over the course of a couple of days in a very darkened studio. The only light was the direct light coming from the model's left-hand side. We had rough and ready materials to use giving the exercise a rather un-controlled element which was fun.
