Lotus Land - another diptych

Lotus Land

Diptych 12" x 24" - acrylic & collage papers on canvas - $125

I think the title and the highly expressive 'candy colour' palette together suggest an imagined place "where people need only think about enjoying themselves, not about work or achieving anything". 

I admit that I did not start out with this title or visual idea. As with the previous diptychs I had no photo or specific place but simply began by drawing horizontal abstract shapes and lines across the two canvases with the highest line becoming the defacto horizon. I then added some beautiful mottled turquoise blue collage paper, and the blue-green-yellow analogous colour palette was then established, to which I eventually added pink. 

The landform shapes and planes resolved themselves slowly, and for a time I worried that there was not enough value contrast, but decided that was fine in view of the varied textural painting surface. There is lots to look at in these two little canvases, and from a distance the colour palette is not one that can be ignored.

Uphill Climb

Uphill Climb

12" x 16" - acrylic and collage on canvas - $100

An abstracted landscape with Asian 'washi' papers.

Mirage (diptych)

Mirage    

diptych 8" x 16" (each panel 8"x8") acrylic & mixed media on canvas  $125

I seem to be on a roll with these small format abstracted landscapes painted across two or three canvases. In this latest diptych I used mostly acrylic paint, but also added some beautiful Japanese decorative washi papers and inks. I love how the design and the warm palette of reds, oranges, yellows and magenta came together. Cheers!

Regeneration

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Regeneration

24" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

I am so happy with how this painting turned out. I love the palette, the brushstrokes and the abstraction of form. It's based on a photo I took a few years ago of 'some trees in a clearing', that was not particularly striking or unusual but did offer compositional possibilities. The painting went through several stages with some thinking time between. Regeneration, the process of renewal, restoration and growth. For all living things, including us.  
Sounds good to me.  

Highlands

Highlands   

(Diptych 12" x 24", each panel 12"x12")

acrylic on canvas - SOLD

I am REALLY having fun painting 'imagined abstracted landscapes' across several canvases and then presented as a diptych or triptych. They have provided some welcome relief while painting larger works, and I think (or at least hope) that the smaller works will inform my larger paintings in a positive way. Time will tell I suppose. The title is really in reference to the hill shapes, or 'high lands'.  I have been to Scotland but have only seen photos of the purple heather on those hills, so there is a little creative imagining here. There's lots of great colour (think spring -it's coming) on these two small canvases and textural marks that enliven the surface too. While I try my best to ensure the colour you see in the paintings here is accurate, the paintings are much better in life. For instance the vermillion/orange on the right panel is a touch deeper and really beautiful. Have a great day!

My Winter Needs Colour, What About Yours?

My Winter Needs Colour, What About Yours?

Triptych 24" x 10" (each panel 8"x10")          

 acrylic on canvas -  SOLD

I have made several attempts recently, to paint across three small canvases, with each canvas working as a single composition and when put together as a triptych, forming a larger work.  I worked both non-objectively and representationally though fairly abstracted. While I felt that many of these small paintings worked individually, it was a challenge to have all 3 canvases work together successfully.  However, the triptych above does work in this regard and I am very happy with the result. The landscape composition is 'imagined' and the intense palette is in reaction to the white of a northern winter. There is lots of variety in the treatment of the surface with flat opaque colour areas, transparent colour areas, scumbling, scraping, and ink marks. 

left

centre

right