Ghost of Winter series started from an idea inspired by dried flower heads and leaves, a piece of collage from a flower bouquet wrapping and soft fluid layers of paint.
Writing Books and Abstract Painting
I watched Portrait Artist Of The Year winners film 2022 with Morag Caister and Lenny Henry. He talked to her about writing books. About how he had to learn you don’t just write it and it’s done but that you have to go back again and again to craft it and get it to be the best it can be… and then to let it go.
Many ups and downs
What does that have to do with abstract painting? There are parallels to what Sir Lenny said. There can be so many ups and downs with an abstract. You think you’re there and then realise you’re really not at all. There is no ‘plot’. It’s not making any sense to you (I know, it’s abstract right?! But it has to FEEL right). There is no rhythm. The colours/tones are off, just as words can say what they mean but convey no feeling, have no depth.
The dried ephemera were laid onto the panels in bright sunlight, the shapes they produced on the panels were beautiful. I drew them in charcoal which is a favourite media of mine. This was sealed with some fixative and glazing fluid and fine layers of acrylic wash started to build. Between each layer, I glazed. I wanted to build up a soft, worn plaster effect.
The first few layers
The first few layers of an abstract are often free and relaxed, joyful and full of energy. You might have an idea in your mind, something that has evoked a feeling you want to capture, a place to start from.
What emerges from those initial layers might have little relation to your initial thoughts. There might be promise there, hints of something else, something else entirely.
Go With the Flow
I’ve found it’s best to go with the flow, but sometimes my head rules and I fight my intuition. The painting might have other ideas to the ones you might have initially thought of. It’s like it takes on a life of it’s own. When I’ve gone against where it was trying to lead me, it’s taken far longer and sometimes ended up a hot mess. I’ve had a lot of those in the studio…. now scrapped.
I added a subtle layer of faded colour with soft pastel.
7 Months of Toing and Froing with The Ghost of Winter Series
Take my latest series, The Ghost of Winter. I started these back in April. That’s 7 months. 7 month’s of a perpetual toing and froing. Not daily, sometimes they weren’t worked on for a few weeks. Sometimes they were turned with their faces to the wall like naughty children. Recently I have started the tussle with them again and finally they are getting there. At last, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with them. At one point I was going to give up with them entirely and paint over them. My friend Helen said no don’t! She saw their potential when I wanted to throw them in the bin.
Crafting Something Special
The past 2 weeks has been the crafting of something special to me. I hope special. These are soon to be released into the wild. I love them. Persevering with them was the right thing to do and I’m so glad I stuck with them. Thanks Helen!
Continuing building thin layers of paint and glazing inbetween. More colour was brought into the foreground. On Ghost of Winter 3, a negatively painted vase was added.
A second charcoal drawing was added over the first.
I had something here but it wasn’t speaking to me. Something was missing. I was frustrated. I ignored them for a while. Turned them to the wall! After a chat with my friend I tried again. When something isn’t going the way you want it too, perhaps it’s because you’re trying to push it into something it doesn’t want to be. I decided to listen to my intuition rather than keep on with the initial worn plaster concept.
Using thicker darker paint I started to layer over the under layers. I had been taking lots of pictures of hydrangeas and I’m fascinated how they turn from bright colours to faded flowers. The third painting had started with a hydrangea head anyway. So bit by bit, the under drawings got covered up. The worn plaster effect too. I played with inks, more soft pastel, graphite, more acrylic paint.
These 3 paintings now look completely different to how I had originally envisaged. There is so much hidden beneath the layers, fine layers that have given the surface a real depth, not in a textured way as with a lot of my paintings, but in a visual way.
Be the First to See This New Series and Hear the News
Ghost of Winter series has developed some more since the following pics. I’ll be sharing them with my newsletter subscribers first and some exciting news about the series too.
Check out my Instagram for details in the next week or so or sign up to my newsletter to be first to see the finished paintings and to keep up to date.
Sometimes all you need is perseverance and patience! If there’s something there, don’t give up on it!