New Painting|Six Eves Play Hide-and-Go-Seek
I started this painting yesterday morning. I decided to make it a landscape format rather than portrait because the canvas is too tall for my easel. That was the easy step. I then thought: hmm, why don’t I actually paint a landscape. The only time I’d ever painted a landscape from life was in Madrid, eons ago. And I must say that the only landscape surrounding me at the moment is my living room/studio, and the buildings outside. So I figured I’d just have to go with my memory and some imagination. Then this morning, by sheer coincidence and luck, an FB friend of mine, Tim Pieraccini, sent me a video he’d filmed, an interview with Sussex artist Katie Sollohub. The interview was conducted by Robert Cohen.
I had a bit of a eureka moment when I saw one of her landscapes, which was so whimsical, carefree and uninhibited by physics and fact. Immediately I wanted to rush to my own painting (I eventually got to it after sorting my place, picking up a friend, going out for a hearty breakfast, a trip to The Sultan Center, and an episode of The Weakest Link; hey, it is Friday!). Inhibition is a bit of a pesky fly you have to shake off constantly. And this time, it took Katie Sollohub’s painting to help swat it away.
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- enjoying myself again!
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- still inhibited
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- a bit of color
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- very inhibited
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- terrified. so much to think about
I am so pleased and flattered by your response to my painting! It is a fairly recent thing, this drawing from my memory. What impresses me about your work though is the story telling through use of the figure. That is something I find inspiring and liberating – I rarely let myself play with the figure to tell a story, I usually just hide elements of my story within the objects or marks of an interior or landscape (in the green landscape I think you are referring to, for exapmle, I pay homage to my late father in painting the elderflower tree he used to love making wine from; and there are other marks more personal still, though in the image they are just marks. If you want to see more I have old work on my website, and recent work on my facebook page. All the best, Katie
ps I also looked at some beautiful landscapes by Vouillard when painting my green landscape from memory
and i saw your painting :). thank you. i’m still working on my painting and have to keep remembering to stop holding my breath when i do! just be free! i’m going to definitely check out your facebook page and website!