Artists Blog

“Whispers” Acrylic on canvas 100cm x 100cm (40″ x 40″)

Years and years ago I remember the absolute horror I felt when someone stuck a 3inch hake brush in my hand and said “A whole painting with just this brush.” It was watercolour,I did it, but hated it. I never picked up a big brush again, unless it was to paint the house or undercoat a canvas. Well recently I have been feeling I need to “loosen up”, and take a break from the fine work with 20/0 brushes.

This acyrlic painting has so many layers of watercolour-like washes, with me battling to get away from fiddling. I would feel good about a section I had been working on until I stepped back away from it. If I couldn’t see brushstrokes at 20 feet away I wasn’t happy. Back to the big brush to paint over details. Also, as this was for an a exhibition recording a particular place, I needed to identify it with the city landscape in the distance. Painting city buildings is definately NOT in my comfort zone! In fact I can’t ever recall having painted landscape structures at all.

It wasn’t unitl the final stages of the painting that I allowed myself to go down to a size 5 round brush.

Exhibition on now until August 7 at Belmont Forum

Here are some of my original reference photos, taken at the Swan River foreshore in Belmont. My interpretation is not a direct copy of the photos, but more my spin on the colours and atmosphere I felt. So different to how I usually paint!

Lots of squabbly chatter from the White Cheeked Honeyeaters around the foreshore.

Just around the bend of the river is the Garratt Road Bridge, a lovely old wooden bridge with lots of character.

Rivers have been in front of my lense a lot lately – painful as it initailly was, I can feel more “Big Brush” paintings coming on!

Lots going on – time in the Hills, the beaches and the boys even spent time back in FNQ.

I’ve been head down, bum up working on 4 pieces at a time – fun, but demanding. 

I also been experimenting with synthetic textures for the first time – modelling compound and structure pastes. Sometimes mixing with paint and other times applying it first then painting over it.

Textures are what’s got me going at the moment, and there is inspiration everywhere. At Burns Beach there are limestone rocks with so many different weathered faces:

Rockpools and waves also keep me fascinated. Almost got a good dunking filming this sequence:

But back to the artwork… this piece also saw me using Structure paint (by Matisse Derivan) for the first time. More like thick buttery oil than acrylic paint. I could even carve into it sgraffito style to reveal metallic paint colour underneath.

Knitting needles so versatile with structure paste!

Also new to me was having to varnish the piece. Up to now I’ve always used paints with an inbuilt “sheen” of their own. As the acyrlics I’m using now dry with a flat matt finish, a spray of varnish was required to “lift” it. Not easy using aerosols when it drops below zero degrees at night!

Unvarnished on left, varnished on right.

The completed piece. (40cm x 75 cm / 16″ x 30″)

Over the next few days I’ll post all my “catch up” pieces.

Stay warm everyone!