Category Archives: painting

#Divorce and the #afterlife – a painting proposal

Memories:

Dead birds and rubber gloves, stolen kisses, pouches of Chinese fresh drinking water, broken dreams, sections of discarded fishing nets strewn across the tourist beach, lovers in the darkness groping for the dark, hands first finding spaces, then they find there mark, my father, my ghost, my hopes and dreams, stinking of rotting carcasses and seaweed, paintings of objects, places, people and dreams. I think I am back!

Interiors:

Life has changed, I have lost the familiarity I had of interiors, objects and experiences (but this is actually very liberating).

People:

Support and understanding (love even). Waking up on sofas, stumbling back to my temporary home. Meeting new people who have inspired and have opened my eyes to new (and not so new) things. Love, hope, care, faith, determination…

 

Wistman’s Wood:

Wistman’s Wood is a magical place (I visited again last weekend) it is where pitted stone becomes knotted oak and the moss and lichens weld everything seamlessly together. I have found calmness and a really odd inner strength in that place. I’m not that into ‘finding God’ or ‘finding myself’ but it is a place that forces these contemplations and ideas (punching you in your back) into your consciousness, making you wake up and get on with it.

I have struggled to regain my ‘voice’ with my painting, I have however been inspired by a series of events that have given me a jolt (made me truly feel again) and believe in myself. The self doubt has gone and I have realised that I should stop bleating and get on with my life (and my Art).

Divorce is a gut wrenching thing to go through – there is always that cloud hanging over your head that smothers you with an overwhelming sense of failure. Yes it is tough but…

I have begun a series of paintings based on the things that have inspired, disappointed and shaped my afterlife after failure:

 

Related articles

Train journeys and rediscovered paintings

Just been to a house in Wimbledon and on the wall was one of my paintings. An interesting rediscovery after a long train journey from North Devon.

An oil of a knife, a pair of scissors, a spoon on a tiled surface. I must have painted it about ten years ago. I’d forgotten all about it.

original post created on an android phone using the wordpress app

More darkroom accidents – The Orient Express – Innsbruck

Veronica Henry

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Here are a few more images that accidently got solorised in the darkroom. Some of those above look like they have been created by a pinhole camera. The one below was… The pinhole camera used to take this photograph in … Continue reading ?

Still life painting – Pentax Espio 120mi

Bottle and Glass - Pentax Espio 120mi by 35mm_photographs

Still life painting is something that I have grown into and I am inspired, not by the great masters like, Caravaggio who applied his form of naturalism to still life, but photographs.

Using the camera to – set the composition, the precise aspect ratio, depth of field, the distance – is a great tool. I then use these images in conjunction with the real observed objects.

The photograph above was taken using a Pentax Espio 120mi, which I obtained from a charity shop for £1.50. I used Ilford HP5 Plus a 35mm black and white film. More on HP5  here?

The quality of point and shoot 35mm film cameras is rather poor if you compare them to modern digital SLRs but…

The warm quality and retro feel of the images are perfect for my paintings.

The Pentax Espio 120mi is point-and-shoot, mid-range, 35mm film camera (also called a compact camera) and is a still camera designed for simplicity. The Espio is an autofocus unit, having automatic exposure settings options and a built in flash unit.

Flowers Vase and Bowl - Pentax Espio 120mi

Design initiatives make this a small and flexible camera – notably the physical size and overall quality of finish make this camera a stylish baby. It houses a good quality zoom lens (38-120mm), with plenty of features that enable a variety of picture taking settings.

The focus and exposure system on this easy to use camera is an improvement on earlier Pentax compacts, giving sharp results and a decent contrast of tones. One of the most useful applications available on this model is ‘backlight compensation’ setting, which enables you to take a photograph using natural light in the background and flash in the foreground, giving an even tone across the image. Panorama mode is included in this little package which gives a different aspect ratio from most other cameras.

Caravaggio‘s Basket of Fruit (c. 1595–1600) is one of the first examples of  -pure still life, precisely rendered and set at eye level.

Sketch in oil paint 2012

Oil sketch on board 2012 (smaller than A4)

I’m not sure why I have painted this image but…

We were given a potted pepper plant and I have loved watching the peppers grow, changing colour from green to red. I took loads of photos of it but decided to see if I could paint it in oils. I have done three versions of the same plant, two on board and one on canvas – the image above is the first sketch.

An oil sketch or oil study is an artwork made using oil paints, abbreviated in handling and looser than a ‘finished painting’. Originally these were created as preparatory studies or modelli, to gain approval for the design of a larger commissioned painting. They were also used as designs (working drawings) for specialists in other media, such as printmaking or textiles. The concept of a free-flowing painting became acceptable as an independent (finished) work, with no thought of it needing to be ‘finished’.

Sometimes you just have to get back to basics and do a simple still life – returning back to the basic skills of painting a real subject is an interesting exercise – even if not very rewarding.

Sketching: Other common tools for making marks include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses…

It could be argued that photocopying machines and printers can create sketches.

PeppersThe photograph above was taken with my Pentax K1000 35mm camera.

Related articles

I have begun painting again

“Reflections Ilfracombe Harbour Jubilee Day 2012”

The composition of this painting is based on a Union Jack and is a combination of screen printing and painting.

The reflections in the harbour in Ilfracombe always amaze me – the dirty sea water mixed with the vivid colours of the reflected boats, the bobbing flotsam and jetsam, the sunlight and oil spills.

My current preoccupation at the moment with 35mm film photography as taught me to look at things again – capturing the odd moment or peculiar juxtaposition.

Ilfracombe Harbour

The photograph above of Ilfracombe harbour was taken with a Pentax Spotmatic 500, a classic 35mm camera in June 2012.

Lens flare and a slightly over cooked vintage feel, scratches, dust, and fibre strands – 35mm film is far more fun than digital.

Pentax Spotmatic – SP500

I have just bought and received via eBay a Pentax SP500 camera. I  put a new battery into it and the internal light meter worked straight away. Unlike the Pentax K1000 you need to switch the light meter on using … Continue reading ?