A Need for Colour 

& Printing the Innate

The quest continues, the colour relationships become more informative, subtle nuances that speak to me and demand that I listen. The importance of a line and the apparent pull of two colours on one another becomes fascinating and frustratingly, highly elusive. There is a magic in all of this, I can almost touch it but just as I nearly have it in my grasp, it moves away, a tiny segment presents itself on the canvas demanding attention and I feel duty bound to respond. Joy, Pain, Elation and Despair - it's all there, it's a roller-coaster ride and a very steep learning curve. I do know that in order to move the imagery forward, sometimes it needs to go wrong, when this happens you are forced to reassess and to learn to trust your instincts. 
With this in mind, a new group of images have begun.

Highly organised working space

Starter for Six

Images begin to suggest themselves.

Changes emerge.

Everything is in a state of flux, what I have to say and how it's said is not fixed and should not be fixed.



This is naturally difficult and open to failure.
 

I recently saw the Prints of Wilhelmina Barns Graham which was a real uplift, her use of colour and gesture resonated with me and Lynne Green who has written a number of books about WBG gave a very insightful talk. Another uplift came after Lynne Green had seen my work and made some favourable comments. All this came at the right time, sometimes it can be difficult to sustain belief/ energy when immediate references are not always there, this is particularly true when not working in a collective studio environment.
As usual the following images are open to reworking but at this moment ...

stage 10

stage 12

And finally - Printing the Innate. I have been fortunate to have received funding to embark on a series of etchings at Edinburgh Printmakers.  In my application I asked for the opportunity to fully immerse myself in a period of research into the potential that the ‘process’ of Etching offers. By default Etching is process dependent, from plate preparation to final printing, including the stages in- between and believe that a minimum of 10 sessions is needed in order to allow me to explore the ‘magic’ that can occur. I can't wait!

Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards: South of Scotland 2013

in partnership with Creative Scotland