Wednesday 10 September 2014

Return to the studio.

After weeks away, it's good to be back in the studio.  

I'm always struck by how important travel is to my artistic self.  Forcing me away from routine, from the familiar, from habit, and putting myself in the way of new input always shakes things up in a productive way.  Especially if I've been in a creative rut, which I have been for a while.  

But, I managed to finish a collage last night and I'm quite happy with it.  I've returned to bookbinding and wanted to find a way to incorporate miniature books into my collages.  Still so many possibilities there.  




This new collage has these words on it:  


"She collected things; some forgotten, discarded, stolen:
fragments of a love letter, dead flowers from a locket, a child's first dreams;
and sang them into her book of shadows, to become songs for her own subtle magic."


(She'll be going up in my Etsy shop tomorrow.)   

With my abstract oil paintings, I've come to realize that the paintings which I've been most pleased with are often the direct result of  exposure to a different environment, whether it's the North Sea or Dartmoor or a village not far from where I live.  

On my travels, I spent a night in Skerries, a fishing village on the Irish Sea.  The photos I took there are inspiring thoughts and visual imagery which are going to make their way into my next series of paintings in oil and cold wax.  I'm finding that I was as inspired by the old fishing vessels as I was by the natural environment.   I started on an underpainting last night.  









In November I'll be returning to Ireland to participate in a workshop taught by artist Rebecca Crowell.  I've admired her work for some years, and she's a bit of a pioneer in the cold wax medium.  I'm looking forward to the classes and to finally meeting Rebecca.  


And, I've begun to revise the first draft of my middle grade / young adult novel.  It's set in Eighteenth century London and it's been a blast to work on.  I can't wait to see where it goes with this first round of revisions.  



I've been pretty silent on this blog for...erm...some time, but I hope to return to regular posts.  The autumn is always a good time to get started on things again.  


6 comments:

  1. Welcome back! It's nice to see a returning artist make another go at adding into the visuals of the mind. Thanks for opening up your store once more, and may you continue to do that for a very long time. All the best!

    Dominic Terry @ Mobile Marketing Allies

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  2. Love the rusty metal ships and how you use that inspiration. Mini books, too :)

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    1. I adore rust! And the weatherbeaten, rust-eaten side of a ship is incredibly poetic.

      It's easy to become addicted to making these mini books!

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  3. Welcome back Lynn! The effects of the elements on everything is endlessly fascinating...... I love the colour and textural combination of rusty metal,weathered wood and paint. Interesting photos!

    Making mini books looks fun....
    Ruby

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    1. Thanks, Ruby! Those two short days in Skerries left such impressions. It used to be weathered rocks and rough skies and water that made their way into my paintings, but now the effect of the elements on items that we've made and use is fascinating me. I'm curious to see where this goes.

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