Yesterday I sat on the floor of my studio, paralysed with nerves by the thought of trying to paint... anything.
I looked at my favourite artists, I looked at books on colour. I looked around the room and thought how cold I was.
I then phoned Pete, who advised me to 'just paint anything'. So that's what I'm doing.
I think the evolving sub-title of 'I am' is:
'I am trying to confront my deep fear of painting. And just paint.'
Ok, once again I'm not really following the expected brief. But, as painting is the thing I'd like to be able to do more than anything, creatively, I think it's a worthwhile pursuit.
This is what I've produced so far. And I'm quite pleased with it.
I think therefore that I will continue in this vein, and just paint a series of paintings taken from some of my favourite photos, inspired by some my favourite artists, and just see where I get.
My Bird and Bucket
My original photo
It's interesting, because this process is making me think about what I really value in a painting. And, for me, it's all about colour.
I'm trying really hard to get my colour mixing right. I take ages looking at books before I choose a colour (not very 'spontaneous' I know) but I literally know nothing about colour mixing and want to learn and understand. I like landscapes, I like still-lifes, I like bikes. I like anything really (but know I don't want to want to paint people: not exciting enough colours for me, and too hard to paint!)
Some of my photos I might try and paint and some of my favourite paintings to inspire me:
Oh and I also went to the hairdressers, and discussed Tracy Emin, Picasso, the Palestinian people, Tarantino and tattoos for two and a half hours. Sure beats 'how was your Christmas?' and 'where are you going on holiday'.
