Newsletter: February 23
New this month: Audio content to accompany the newsletter! Click below to listen while you read
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New this month: Audio content to accompany the newsletter! Click below to listen while you read 〰️
Walking up on Brimham Moor has definitely been a real inspiration this month!
I’ve been really focussing on planning and making this month… quite a bit of studio time and lots of walking and collecting ideas and visual information. I’m also running a workshop at the lovely Lund Studios next month so I’ve been preparing for that, in fact tomorrow I’m heading over there to look at the area and recce possible spots for painting.
My newsletter is always about what I’m thinking and making, and this time the thing that’s been on my mind is time. I think that might sound a bit crazy, so let me explain.
My current work is a collection of abstract paintings, which come from noticing the amazing skies we’ve been having here, especially at first light, very early in the morning. So amazing in fact, that I’ve taken to running out in my PJ’s to get a photo, before the moment is gone. The skies have had wonderful and sometimes unexpected colours and shapes in them, which got me thinking they just might make a group of paintings.
Sunrise over Nidderdale
From the initial idea, it’s taken quite a while to work out how the collection might look, what form it might all take. I started with a couple of rough ideas in January, and have been slowly developing them; currently working on 6 pieces in the series.
I realised early on that sunrises and sunsets can look very ‘twee’ and a bit obvious, which I really didn’t want, especially as I like my work to be a bit different…I want it to be thoughtful, and to make the viewer do a bit of work to understand what’s going on. Because of that I decided that the group needed to go really pretty abstract…I also liked the fact that we had a lot of dark lowering skies, which create a sort of sandwich of dark sky and land, with a small window of light. This turned out to be the beginnings of my new collection.
I’m going off track a bit, but there is method in my madness! So back to time, the point is that it has probably taken me around 4 or 5 weeks to get to that point of clarity. Which doesn’t mean I was doing nothing but thinking; I was observing, sketching, colour mixing, and also getting on with other things, whilst mulling over the new work, almost subconsciously but certainly in the back of my mind. The photo above shows a sketchbook page where I was planning rough compositions for the 6 canvases I had prepared, and the one below the family of base colours I’m using and some of the swatches for this series.
The next images show work in progress after third, and fourth layers, with blocks of opaque colour, overlaid and placed in contrasting directions and angles-this gives a sense of movement and emphasises structures in the landscape…. The right hand image also shows s’graffito marks which I love to use to create difference, add detail and often texture too. The next step will be to finalise colours and values and add complexity with translucent glazes.
When I started work on this collection, I had a previous painting in mind…by way of a bit of guidance and inspiration. It’s a recent piece depicting a steep pathway between fields, close to where I live; an old drovers path in fact, but one I had painted in a style that I thought might work for this series. Here you can see the same blocks of colour overlaid to give movement and suggest structures in the landscape. It’s got quite a different feel, but just having it on the studio wall is really helpful. In this case, I’ve held on to this particular painting, but I find if I’ve already sold the piece, a print out, works just as well. I also have a ‘team’ of hero painters, whose work and methods I turn to over and again for inspiration…there is a whole bunch of them; Turner, Paul Feiler, Diebenkorn etc…(I’ll write about them another time), but for now it’s just worth saying how useful it is to have painters you study as back up. Oh and just to explain, diving deep into, how the artist’s work has been made; composition, use of colour, value changes-really trying to understand how they work(ed), really is one of the best ways of pushing your own work forwards. I also find these painter ‘friends’ offer strength and inspiration at times when the dreaded imposter syndrome rears its ugly head, and self doubt creeps in! This is absolutely not about copying somebody’s work, but about learning and growing your own process and practice…it’s a centuries old method and it works!
*The reference painting is one of my favourites actually, it’s called ‘Which Way?’ and is 30cm square on canvas. It’s available now, just look on the paintings page to discover more, or click on the image and follow the link.
in the painting above, you can see I’ve stylised the sky and landscape shapes, so that they appear as blocks of colour, which are overlaid with each other. The colours are quite subtle and not necessarily expected, especially the Burnt umber hues… the pops of orange are there to echo the sunrise colours and also to add accent and contrast to both the softer and darker areas. As the layers have been added, I’ve scraped back into some of the blocks to create a softly textured effect, and translucent glazes add to the subtlety and variation. It’s still on the studio wall as I need to come up with a title, so I’ve mocked up a contemporary white floater frame, which I think works really well.
Just to get back to thinking about time, and by way of a little bit of hard-won experience, I would want to say that making anything creative takes time; time to work out what on earth you’re going to make in the first place, and then time to actually make it. I can be impatient with myself; getting frustrated at how long these things take me…I’m definitely NOT a quick worker, but I am learning to let the work take the time it needs.
Rushing the process almost always leads to disaster!….so don’t do it(I say to myself!)
*This painting is 41cm x 41 cm and the whole collection should be finished over the next few weeks. I’ll be offering them first to my subscribers in the next newsletter, so keep an eye out if you’re interested…oh and do subscribe if you haven’t already!
I haven’t been out and about much this month, preferring to make the most of precious studio time, but I did have a quick trip to the Yorkshire Museum in York, which has some amazing artefacts in its collection…I really loved these stunning carvings and the quirky cockerel. It’s worth a visit if you’re in lovely York!
Yorkshire Museum: https://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk
As always, I love receiving your comments and feedback, and any ideas for things you would like me to cover.
I would love you to have a listen to the audio that accompanies this newsletter, please excuse the umm’s and ahhh’s, and let me know what you think…be gentle with me!!!!
Meantime, take good care and see you next month,
Jo xx
All text, images and artwork copyright ©️Jo York 2023