abstract art – The Consulting Artist

Sometimes The Angels Punish Us, By Answering Our Prayers.

I’m in the final stages of preparation for my submission to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. In the run up to a decision like this, there’s a strong whiff of doubt in the air…will I be able to come up with anything vaguely good enough…?

At first I had it in mind to rework a failed experiment which you can see emerge here a couple of days ago, and I thought it was the one. Since then I’ve been reminded of this piece (painted in October 2017) which I am considering…

…and then with just a day or two remaining I made this, a return to my recent angel designs. This is the largest of them to date, painstakingly crafted onto an 80cm x 30cm canvas.

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I like them all. Now here I am – with too many choices, and only a day left to decide. Sometimes The Angels Punish Us, By Answering Our Prayers.

On the plus side at least I have choices to make, much better to be in that position than staring at a blank canvas at this very late stage! This deadline has galvanised me to produce some interesting work.

Footnote 1: For completeness, this is the other painting I am currently considering. Acrylic applied with fingers and a palette knife, on a 75cm x 50cm canvas.

Footnote II. Re: Winged Angels, in other news it’s the 20th anniversary of the unveiling of The Angel Of The North this week, cool huh.

Footnote III. I opted for the black and blue piece, titling it ‘The Gathering’. Let’s see how I get on…

Which Way Is Up?

This weekend I am finalising my submission for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The deadline for applications is February 14th, and as the theme this year is ‘Art Made Now’, I’m planning on delivering something current.

As you can see, in the last 24 hours this canvas has undergone quite a transformation.

I took the art work outside today – to see how it photographs in daylight. As I was putting the art on the easel – I realised I couldn’t decide which way is up. Can you?

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Here are a couple of close ups, and a shot of the work in direct sunlight. I made this art on a 75cm x 50cm linen canvas, using acrylic paint, my fingers, and a palette knife.

Walk Out To Winter

I painted this design on December 8th 2017. I was live painting at an event and it was a cold day. As the event unfolded and speakers began to tell their stories – I got a sense of the difference between how powerful an individual story can be, whilst at the same time, acknowledging how small I often feel as an individual on this spinning mudball we inhabit.

In due course – I got the chance to tell my story at the event too. I spoke about art in general, it’s power to change, coping with loss, togetherness, the free art project, doing things differently, the importance of persistence and the beauty of impermanence.

This was a really enjoyable day. I got to make art in front of some lovely people, hear excellent stories, and tell one of my own too. Huge thanks to Yetunde Hofmann and her amazing team for putting on such an excellent event.