I can never be sure where a book will take me and this one is no different. But the project for today is unexpected.

Drum roll…

Turner did not use white paper or canvas, his whites are created by white paint. Which I am slightly averse to. True Whites in my paintings are usually gaps in the paint. Today I will be soaking paper in cold tea and drying it in the sun, for a more random 250 year old look.

These slightly mad little experiments are unlikely to make it into the public domain, even at a Turner inspired exhibition, but the way colours react in different circumstances is fascinating to me.

But none of this is where this book has taken me in the last few days.

While I was busy doing a job not involving art. I was on a parallel and self guided path of art appreciation and dabbling with watercolour. Until I decided to give art a more academic and educational  space in my life by committing to many years of part-time study doing a Foundation Degree and then a Fine Art degree. While still studying the essential science stuff for my career.

Without much research I started the journey towards a degree in Fine Art, imagining that I could immerse myself in the world of artists from Turner to the Impressionists. Not to be. Without due diligence I had signed up for a Contemporary Fine Art Degree. One of life’s awkward moments, regrettable at the time, but the fees had been paid. Turner and the Impressionists slipped from view, pushed out by Rothko and Grayson Perry and many late 20th and 21st Century artists*.

*This was the best learning experience ever, so glad I made this error.Contemporary Art really stretches thinking, and thinking makes for great pondering.

This last couple of months has been the first time I have been truly back with the older generation of artists for 20 years.

The things I did not know about Turner are manifest. In the last few weeks it has been easy to find Turner locations on the Devon/ Cornwall  border. But unknown to me my London life was very Turner centric. The number 3 bus from Crystal Palace to Oxford Street is like a Turner Experience. If only I had known when it was my daily commute.

I took this quite a few years ago because life was mimicking art.

https://www.saatchiart.com/poyatos?srsltid=AfmBOoqlBPpGody31sBnGfvkHpSZvIQoErt2Gd3VhHHeUw74brUQqcj2

Which brings me to a brand new-to-me artist.

Books really do take me on extraordinary journeys.

A ponder for another day, Turner and my daily commute. For now though I am tinting paper with Tea Bags…