Starting from late October, 2019, I'm in WA, Australia for a gap year and continuing my artistic practice. Maybe with a slightly different theme.
Because I'm on the other side of the world from the UK, and more closer to the seaside than I've ever been before, I'm working in a variety of different themes of seaside landscapes, natural forms, patterns, abstraction, expressionism and family photos.
I have been collecting shells and rocks from the beaches I'm visiting, as well as taking multiple photographs of what surrounds me whilst travelling.
At the same time, I have been commissioned by individual clients to produce realism paintings and I have continued with abstract and experimental art.
These are the artworks I have produced so far:
'Wedding Day' - acrylic on canvas in frame
This was a wedding photo I was commissioned to paint by a client. I continued my realism/ illustrative style of painting in acrylic paint, using a wedding photo as a reference. This again emphasizes the moment to stop, smile and pose for a photograph to last through the decades to help you remember this moment.
'Canery Islands' - acrylic on canvas panel, 2020
This was another realistic and illustrative commission from a past holiday I was part of, in the Canary Islands. Family photos are personal and visual memories to look at for reminders of events since photography never changes.
'Bunny In The Garden' - acrylic on canvas panel, 2020
This painting had two photo's as references of a garden and a rabbit, combined. This continues my interest of nature and introduces my interest of animals in my practice.
'Rose' (experiment) - watercolour on canvas panel, 2020
This painting was quick and improvised with no reference. This continues my interest of natural objects.
'Net of Colours' (experiment) - watercolour on canvas panel, 2020
I experimented on a couple small canvas' with watercolour paint like quick sketches of my favourite flower and a pattern of lines and colours. The lines and colours remind me of Bridget Riley's works.
'Scarborough Beach', mixed media on canvas, 2020
This painting was from one of my photographs while relaxing at Scarborough Beach, which is my favourite beach in WA. I decorated the border with sea shells I collected from the beach itself, to enhance the theme of the beauty of the seaside. I chose watercolour because it's a traditional medium for landscapes. The sea and the people show what a typical day at the beach is like, which is one of the best things we enjoy.
'Beauty Of The Waves', mixed media, 2020
I again improvised with this artwork. It was meant to have a different outcome, but instead I got this beautiful outcome. I used the crackle effect in this acrylic paint and thought it went well with the waves and shells because of the broken shells and objects I've found on the seaside. The whiteness represents the sand with the blue waves. I was thinking of a classic Japanese painting I've seen before when I was painting the waves.
'Untitled 1', acrylic pouring paint on canvas, 2020
'Untitled 2', acrylic pouring paint on canvas, 2020
'Untitled 3', acrylic pouring paint on canvas, 2020
I used pouring acrylic paint on canvas pages and got these 3 outcomes. I tried a number of techniques with filling the blank gaps as much as I can and also tried to leave more blankness and not treat it like filling in the spaces, therefore giving me different perspectives. 1 reminds me of the continent of Australia. The other two remind me of whipping liquids on a glass window, which would be an interesting method to try on the future.
'Holiday in Jurian Bay', acrylic paint on canvas, 2020
This was a personal photograph taken taken during a family holiday in Jurain Bay, WA. The expressions in the peoples faces body languages and gestures express how fun times are on holidays.
'Nana' (experiment), graphite pencil and canvas panel, 2020
From old family photos, I found an old black and white photo of my grandma when she was young. I liked the photograph that I just had to draw it on a small piece of canvas panel and it just worked perfectly. Even though its not my memories, its beautiful to look at from looking at my grandma now.
'Torana In Driveway', 2020, acrylic on canvas
This painting was commissioned in Australia by someone who is very passionate about their vintage torana car.history Even though it's not driven as much anymore, it's still a very valued, treasured and historical object.
'Garden', acrylic on black canvas, 2020
I worked with masking tape and painted with sponges and brushes. I also worked with natural colours of the sky and plants you might see in a garden. In the outcome, this reminded me of a garden, looking into through a window.
'What You Find By The Sea', mixed media, 2020
I again worked with the objects you'd see at the seaside, like the colours of the ocean waves, the sand and seashells. I mixed acrylic paint and tonal pen mediums for a change. How the shell's have been drawn on brown paper represent how they lose their colours in the sunlight and how the tide brings them into the coast.
'Untitled (Improvising)', oil on canvas, 2020
I improvised with oil paint and the technique of using only a spatula to paint. This is the outcome. I like to leave this up to interpretation. I hope to use the spatula technique in different ways next time and continue merging colours, which I personally like the most about this painting.
'Holiday in Exmouth', acrylic on canvas, 2020
This was another commission from a holiday photograph in Exmouth, WA. It is a personal moment to the client. fishing is a loved hobby of the man in the painting.
'Around Everywhere', 2021, oil paint on canvas
In this small painting, I again used only spatulas to paint the oil paint onto the canvas. With my collection of colours, I improvised with only a repetitive circular motion of the spatula and the colours, making a seemingly random pattern in the end. At first I thought just using the colours as they were, to see what more colours they introduce when they merge. They blend, overlap, contrast and merge with each other all in this one small painting, which is what I like most about this piece of work. It created a thick texture and formed collage as well as a abstract painting. For some reason, I couldn't leave any blankness in this pattern. I again started with an idea and could never predict the outcome. It reminds me of the wallpaper art, people use in interior design. I hope to use this idea again on a bigger piece of canvas. And maybe this idea of circular motion could be used to blend memories in photos.
'Around Everywhere #2', 2021, oil paint on canvas
'Around Everywhere #3', 2021, oil painting on canvas
I repeated this technique on 2 more bigger canva's and it looked good when these 3 paintings were placed together on a wall, as a collection. Maybe these can be presented that way as one abstract artwork. I can continue this pattern on more sizes and with more colours in the future. will try different patterns using only the spatula.
'Untitled', 2021, oil paint on canvas
This painting is the my first try on using oil paint on a more realistic portrayal of natural forms, such as flowers. The rose is again my personal favorite and I liked it better with the white blossom accompanying it. These came from a photograph of a bouquet I received as a past gift to me. I just loved the bouquet that I just had to paint it. I added the black background to make the flowers stand out more, like in the dark, their beauty shines out the most. This continues the exploration of the beauty of natural forms. I may try later on more types of flowers again in oil paint for different effects.
