Yesterday was a great day of life imitating art and glorious colour.
This magnificent tree was on my walk to my favourite haberdashery store. Where I needed to buy a spring green thread.
I just caught the tree in his skeletal form before the sunshine brought on Spring growth.
I was also on the search for some orange buttons. My favourite navy blue cardigan has contrasting (non-contrasting) dark brown buttons. Every time I put the cardigan on I feel the energy drain away from my soul . Dark Brown with Navy Blue! Make at 140 saved the day.
Now things are much more joyful.
Joyful too was the end to a recycling project. I store bigger, older canvasses in the garage. I had three, all the same size that I was planning to paint over once the weather improved. A couple of weeks ago I discovered that the local mice had started a recycling project of their own. Two were unusable but one was in perfect condition. Their nests must be in glorious technicolour. I haven’t painted many large paintings since the Covid lockdowns. Smaller watercolours or prints have been my thing since then. I wondered how two years of painting small would have affected painting big. I also now live in an urban and maritime environment rather than rolling countryside. My subject matter, this week, was a curious mix of urban and natural.
We live in an area with lots of old concrete built as defences for the Naval Dockyard and Port of Plymouth. Some of the older concrete is a bit battered and breaking down. Nature manages to find a way of rehabilitating the ugly angular shapes. In this picture Sea Holly fills the gaps
How has two years of small watercolour painting and some printing affected the bigger picture?
Confidence I think, in painting with colours that I would not naturally use much of , and accuracy in creating layers. Spending time with the bobbers, some of whom are obsessed with turquoise and blues. Just for comfort’s sake, I hid my favourite reds, golds and purples in the underpainting.
Erygerum and Concrete is ready for some Summer exhibitions. I am so glad the sun is out and life is full of colour again.
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