New work: "Regrowth"

"Regrowth"
Mixed media on plywood
1200mm x 400mm
by Carolyn McIntosh

You can view some images of this work in progress 
in previous blogs by clicking here  and also here.

Materials used: balsa wood, artist's quality acrylic paint,  glue, sealer and varnish. 

Tree painting, creating texture with paper doilies

I've started work on another tree painting. That's now three artworks that I'm working on that have tree imagery.... so I guess that it might become a series of works of textured trees over the next few months.

Tree painting, in progress with fabric, towel and torn paper doilies

Tree painting, work in progress close up

I've discovered paper doilies - that they might make great texture on my canvas. I'm playing around with this.  I googled for inspiration and have found that many artists and crafters have used them in lots of interesting ways.  There's a link on this site to my Pinterest page so check out my Made with Paper Doilies board and see the amazing creative work using a humble paper doily or two, or tons of them! 

I'm off to paint!

'Regrowth' work in progress

Here's images of my current work in progress - the tree saplings painting, 
shown in the photos below in several stages of progression.

'Regrowth' 

acrylic paint, sealer, balsa, wood glue.

'Regrowth' painting, stage 1
Applying texture - balsa wood.

'Regrowth' painting stage 2
Applying first wash of colour

'Regrowth' painting
More colour and details

'Regrowth' painting detail
added more texture

Que sera sera!

Neil Elliott's workshop January 2012

Photo above shared from the blog of fellow artist Michelle Reynolds thanks Michelle!
I'm back to work in my second mixed media painting workshop run by the talented Neil Elliott. I am in the the top right corner of the photo above focussed on glueing strips of fabric and tissue paper onto my canvas.  It's great to be back to work after holidaying in January and painting again.  Great venue, great space, lots of light and be working alongside other artists creating, sharing techniques, ideas and encouraging one another.

Tree trunk painting, first stage

Here's what I've started working on in Neil's workshop, it's a sideways shot of it.  Neil encourages you to build up a textured surface prior to paint application - I'm really enjoying working this way.  I've glued layers of fabric strips, lace and tissue paper to the canvas then sealed it with a coating of gesso. 

Large tree at Pemberton, Western Australia

Tree trunk base, Pemberton, Western Australia

The artwork that I'm working on is based very, very loosely on the photographs above from a short weekend break in Pemberton, Western Australia in January this year.  I was completely humbled as a mere tiny human being walking alongside these giants. My breath was taken away by their majesty.  I couldn't wait to be painting,  expressing how I felt about them! When you walk amongst the forest trees, it feels as though there's a transference of energy to you and that they're speaking to each other in the breeze.  Perhaps it was just all that clean air available to my lungs!

And here is the first wash of paint, a mix of midnight blue and payne's grey, has a moody tone.   I said previously that this artwork is based very, very loosely on the photographs as I will allow the work to evolve in whatever manner it wants to.  My mind isn't the driver, my intuition and my heart is!  It's often a difficult process to give your mind a rest and allow your feelings to take over and express themselves, it's so hard to let go of thinking.  

Layering and texturing and glueing with fabrics gives your brain an archived 'cog' to unlock that remains from your childhood days of when you were cutting and pasting. Ahhh those were the days when you had not a care in the world!  Glueing, the initial playing stage is a great step that leads you to let go, take deeper breaths and open your heart.  The Doris Day song is the motto here, 'Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see..." one needs to allow whatever may come to the canvas and let it evolve.  

So this artwork might end up being a tree, perhaps something else or maybe one deemed to be archived as 'one of my experiments' :-)  As Neil has said many times, "Don't be precious about your work".

Tree sapling painting, first stage

Here's the first stage of another work that I've commenced.   It's a sideways shot of the work.  It's always good to be working on several canvas at once so you when your energy levels drop on one painting, you can put it aside and work on another one.  I've sealed a long strip of 7mm thick plywood and glued torn strips of Ecobalsa wood down to emulate bark of tree saplings.  This work stems from memories of walking near Beedelup Falls, Pemberton, Western Australia through an area that had lots of tree saplings growing close together.  I've glued the eco-balsa down in straighter lines than how the trees are growing in the photograph.  It was how my memory was showing the image of the tree saplings as my aim is to depict what I was feeling about them rather than what I remember seeing.

Tree saplings, near Beedelup Falls & Karri Valley Resort,
Pemberton Western Australa

So I'm off to paint now and we'll see what happens, "Que sera sera!"