I am having a week of annual leave and as a way of relaxing and switching off I decided to tackle a large canvas and create an abstract painting. I had no idea of what it would look like when I started on Friday of last week (my day off). I thought a bottle of Clerics Cure India Pale Ale would help me to relax into it. A blank canvas, from my Christmas present, was a bit daunting. I had never done anything this big before. But I thought I could lay down the foundation ready for the following week.
I simply put red, yellow and blue on my pallet and started putting colour on the canvas using a 1” household paintbrush. It was great fun just spreading the paint. I liked the result and was initially hesitant to cover it up.
I took the yellow and enjoyed doing some swishes. And then some dabs of yellow. And here ended the first day. I looked at my creation and I was pleased with it.
The next day, having taken some advice from an art group on Facebook, I added some pale blue. I thought they should emanate from something, hence the big yellow circle. Next the yellow and red waves at the bottom and the additional strokes down the left side and a bit of red in the circle. When it had dried I added some white highlights. And here ended the second day. I looked at my creation and I was pleased with it.
When I awoke this morning I was thinking about the top right hand corner of the painting, unsure of what to do with it. I thought of stars, but then that was putting too much meaning into the picture which was already resembling a sun, the wind and a red sea. I used the Northumbria Community morning prayer and was delighted to see what the psalm and Old Testament reading were. It seemed to fit my picture so well:
Psalm 148:3-8 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,
Joel 3:14-16 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
So, stars seemed to be in order. However, I started by going back to my first thought of orange dots – splatters using a toothbrush. But I couldn’t manage to mix a bright orange. So I used white. And some drops were a bit big – so I spread them and low and behold stars were created. And in the upper blue section some clouds appeared out of drops of white paint that I spread. By this time I had some gloves on and so used my finger to spread some colour on the bottom right corner. Was it finished? I wasn’t happy with the amount of red in the top left swirl.
After waiting for it to dry I touched the corner up with some red, added some yellow to the top left, some gold and silver highlights and a little more red at the bottom. It is finished. Here ends the third day of work on it. I look at my creation and I am pleased with it.
However someone on an art Facebook group says it is all on the same plane and I should consider foreground, mid and background. They are right but I am not sure what to do. Will leave it a while and see if anything comes to me.
I had thought it would be mixed media. So will look out for some bits to stick onto it, perhaps….. but for now I’m leaving it.
Elizabeth Jones' Diary 