December Commissions

It’s late December and out of the blue I have 2 commissions to work on.

Its about 20 years ago that I last undertook a commission!

Rather than just me and some materials, marks and unseen impulses driving them, other people are involved. They want something.
Its the same really when gallery offers a theme to respond to.

So I am listening to what is wanted, and experimenting.
In this blog it feels wrong to discuss the desires of my commissioners, but since I enjoy sharing what I’m experimenting on, here’s what is currently taking my attention.

These colours and forms are probably sneaking into my mind in part because of these new external relationships but no doubt also there are other unfathomable sources that direct me to these warm earthy colours.

Maybe this quote from Ray Bradbury touches on the unconscious layers that drive our creativity, and offer a fair sense of what’s going on for me when I am working. “Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.” – Ray Bradbury

In the summer, Hansa Yellow appeared a lot in my work. It had first cropped up in January, in response to a prompt in Cheryl Taves’ ’30 day sketchbook challenge’: “What comforts you”? After first thinking that it would be tough during the early months of each year that I find particularly hard, to identify something comforting, I was surprised how quickly, as if from nowhere came this yellow filled circle.

Sketches
For the rest of the summer Hansa Yellow continued to appear in my work. Clicking on the first image will take you through a series of sketches and works that emerged during those months of heatwave.
Now we are moving back into my toughest months, I am glad that it is still underpinning my experiments as I contemplate my commissions and a gallery exhibition in March 2023.
So… I offer my very best wishes for 2023, hoping that we can continue to progress into a kinder, more secure way of life. I thank you for your interest in my work and your purchases. Remember too that I am continuing to agree periods of loaning out work with no obligation to buy. I make work to share, and if it’s on your wall where you can enjoy it for a few months, that’s great. Do contact me if you are interested to learn more.

Recent Sketches

And I always love to hear feedback…. all feedback! I am grateful for it.

Dialogue is enriching.

If you are in Suffolk this coming year, maybe you’ll visit the studio, or one of these events:

  • 18 February I am leading a Saturday workshop for Southwold Art Circle.
  • In March I have been invited to take part in ‘The horizontal Landscape’ exhibition in Woodbridge, Suffolk at Gallery East.      http://www.galleryeast.co.uk/
  • 10 to 21 May I have a solo show at Merlina Arts, Earsham Mill, Bungay.
  • During June weekends I will be running studio events for Suffolk Open Studios.

Details will soon be posted on my website ‘Events’ page.

I’ll say farewell with this very recent experiment exploring my response to ‘The horizontal landscape’.