ART ARTICLES

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Blank Canvas Syndrome
Colour Your World
Art Space - Daily Examiner November 12 2005

Blank Canvas Syndrome

“My breakthrough came very late in life, really only starting when I was fifty years old. But at that time I felt as though I had the strength for new deeds and ideas.”
Edvard Munch Norwegian Symbolist / Expressionist Painter, 1863-1944

I am inspired and I am ready to take on a painting based on my visual diary, sketches, collection and experience. I have managed to get a space in the house that has a semblance of privacy and solitude. My need to be creative is overpowering, but I need to get the washing up done before I start.

Music on, pencils, paint all organized my diary placed beside my easel. Yep ready. I stare at the blank canvas, long and hard. I rotate the canvas landscape format - perfect for the Pippi Beach idea that will portray the solitary nature of the beach in winter and which symbolises the solitude that some people crave and others despise.

No, I flip the canvas to portrait format. Ah that's it the portrait of my big Nana, based on the photograph I took all those years ago. It seems to typify how special, caring and considerate Nana was. She has around her some of the objects that remind me of her - the teapot complete with knitted koala tea cosie, scrabble game and granddad. I get lost in my thought and begin to laugh about the funny things that Big Nana and we kids used to do.

Back to it. No! I do not feel that confident to get the image of Nana right, not yet. I want to do Nana justice and this subject matter needs more time to prepare. I will leave it for another day.

The CD has ended and I am still thinking about what to paint. How does an artist overcome Blank Canvas Syndrome ? I have sketched, planned, collected and photographed, yet I am still caught in a struggle of what to actually paint.

I need to be inspired by other artists, motivated by their skills and subject matter. I allow myself the opportunity to investigate the work of artists to help enhance my visual development - Abstract or figurative? The simplification of my subject or a faithful reproduction of my subject, there is a lot more to it than that. I have lots to think about.

I take time to consider the work of an artist that creates a realistic representation of their subject. Gary Winter's ‘Clarence Fisherman' is the one I select from the many at arthouse australia . A slice of life on the Clarence, I can almost smell the fish guts and the river. I feel that I can almost walk onto his boat from the old wharf. I take time to look at the details in his work, the treatment and detail of the fisherman. The rust on the boat and the reflection on the water, all these features help to make me feel that this fisherman is actually breathing and the tide is coming in. It is very inspiring!

Colour Your World

“Colour has taken hold of me, no longer do I have to chase after it. I know that it has a hold of me forever. That is the significance of the blessed moment, colour and I are one, I am a painter.” Paul Klee (1879 – 1940)

arthouse australia believes colour is a great starting point to broadening your ability to appreciate artworks.

For centuries all painting had been based on three primary colours, red, blue and yellow until science taught painters that though these might be primary in pigment, they were not primary colours in ‘light'. They learnt that the primary colours of light (illumination colours) were green, orange-red and blue-violet.

You know when you look at the grass at your feet it appears green (local colour) but if you look at grass covered hills in the distance they appear blue. This is due to the veil of atmosphere, through which we view in the distance, and the blue we see is an example of atmoshpheric colour.

Colour is a very important and powerful tool that artists can utilise to develop the essence of their work. Imagine the ways in which an artist can use colour: To create mood, symbols, to evoke an emotive response, or to create the impression of space.

The artist has a plethora - a bloody lot- of colours available, the use of colour depends on the artists intentions. A harmonious* or a complimentary* even a warm or cool colour scheme could be used by the artist. What suits the artist needs, the subject, meaning and overall effect of the work? The artist has a lot to consider with colour.

From artists studying nature they have found that to be able to reproduce actual hues of nature they need to consider – the local colour, the atmospheric colour, the illumination colour and the complimentary colours. This new approach to colour brought about a new palette and a new technique.

So why has artist Peter Lane selected these colours in his ‘Sunset Pelicans at Wooli ‘ painting? How does his use of colour effect you? Does it create mood or drama? Is it expressive? Is it symbolic? Are the colours true to life? What colour scheme has he selected? Why?

Art Space - Daily Examiner November 12 2005

Space is the breath of art. Frank Lloyd Wright
 American Architect and Designer, 1867-1959

I am having a minimal moment. I look at my home the art displayed within and the tug of war that is produced by the visual elements that co-exist in a space. The clutter that is sometimes created through no fault of my own - it is just life, a build up of memories, momentos and other peoples' interaction with you.

Considering the amount of visual activity that we are bombarded with on a daily basis thank goodness we only retain just a small amount of what we see. I am always refining and delving into the ideas behind how artists work and when an artwork is finished. Consider the difference between a work that has all the elements perfectly attuned and a work that has been examined and worked upon just a little too much.

When does an artist know when to stop? How do they balance that moment with action? How tempting is it to continue on a piece until you realize that you should have stopped half an hour or four colours ago. It is so tempting to continue that you may be swept away in that creative moment and loose the creative battle.

Ruth Rich's work Dancer 1 has provided me with an artwork that on one level is simple in composition but complex in technique. A very special personal moment that we are a part of, she does not know we are here. The dancer is so involved in her craft that her energies are directed to the pose. The graceful placement of her hands, the extended fingers, the balance, the feminine quality of the human form, allow us to experience that second of perfection.

Ruth Rich has made it clear she knew when to stop. The red background allows the dancer a heightened focus and gives her centre stage. The dancer has a space to exist within, unencumbered and vital. The modeling of the dancer, the treatment of shadow and only the essence captured of her hands and feet tell us all we need to know. No more, no less.

I have decided to visually de-clutter a room by using Dancer1 as my guide. I will go minimal and allow an artwork of mine to have space to breath. I know it will not last long as the rest of my house will remain a visual jungle and that is the aspect I love. There is no right, no wrong, ideas aplenty and space is a major part.