Today's newby

Today in the studio. One intuitive painting, three ways of mucking about on the computer. I really like the different effects that can be achieved in paint apps. It can completely change the mood of a painting. Although I like the subtleness of the original (bottom) the other two work really well and can be used for prints and cards.

My paintings are constantly being inspired by Rumi poems or a discourse. I read the poem before I start to work on the final layers of a painting and just see what happens !

This is the poem in my head this morning.

My heart, sit only with those
who know and understand you.
Sit only under a tree
that is full of blossoms.
In the bazaar of herbs and potions
don't wander aimlessly
find the shop with a potion that is sweet
If you don't have a measure
people will rob you in no time.
You will take counterfeit coins
thinking they are real.
Don't fill your bowl with food from
every boiling pot you see.
Not every joke is humorous, so don't search
for meaning where there isn't one.
Not every eye can see,
not every sea is full of pearls.
My hart, sing the song of longing
like nightingale.
The sound of your voice casts a spell
on every stone, on every thorn.
First, lay down your head
then one by one
let go of all distractions.
Embrace the light and let it guide you
beyond the winds of desire.
There you will find a spring and nourished by its see waters
like a tree you will bear fruit forever.

Rumi: The Hidden Music 

Spirit of collage

A beautiful sunny spring day seemed like the perfect time to try out a new idea for intuitive collage. Starting by selecting an image of one's self, making it as large as A4 in size. Mine was taken from a photo booth photo some 30 odd years ago. A few wrinkles have set in since !.... then to finding magazine images to work with and enhance the inner goddess ! It was to be an intuitive day of experimentation mixing collage with paint.

The long narrow 'canvas' was a challenge.

The sun soon became too hot to work outside. the paint was drying too quickly.

Mirror mirror on the wall,  read what you will into the caged creature, the door way to where ? and the Carmen Miranda head gear !

A fun day with Petra. I will put up her finished piece soon.

Hold ups

What do you see ?

 Raffi had a bit of a drama last week. He 'lost' the end of his tail. Too much vigorous wagging it seemed and he whacked it right off. Poor little chap had a fairly traumatic visit to a very nice new vet on the island. He took a few day to convalesce.... ! But is now all back to normal.

Pointless :0(

Working on a series of intuitive paintings using poems by Rumi and Hafiz as the inspiration and starting point. This is a start. Quite a big canvas 120cm x 70cm. I started in the usual way and put down about 4 layers of colour. Sticking to my usual pallette and eventually covering up with white. For the birds I used a stencil - drawn roughly and then cut out of paper- to get a fairly unirform shape but just representational. The faces represent the two sides of a story. The same but not the same. Set in a field of waving stems and leaves. I have sat with this one in this state for over a week now. Unusual for me with intuitive paintings. I usualy start and finish in one day. But I felt I needed to let this one speak to me a little before I carried on.

Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.   - Rumi -

A brief sojourn by an artist to the island made a very welcome break in routine. I have become bogged down with trying to sort studio and gallery space. A few hurdles but I think I am finally back on track now. An upset in proceedings have held things up for a while. Anyway Piers' company was a very welcome interlude. He teaches a pre industrial method of casting bronze and you can read something about his work HERE . ... and if you fancy having a go his workshops are featured HERE
Anyway one of the many trips around the island led us down to Ramla bay with a couple of other friends and we scoured the beach for drift wood and the like. I found an african woman and a boat !
All jolly good fun.