Colour Field

After the jpeg trauma yesterday and as my eyes were beginning to glaze-over consulting the photography manual last night - I took a break and looked at one of the colour field paintings I did last week (based on the garden photo colours) and played around with the image for a while using Gimp and fractals.


There seems to be differing advice about compressing and decompressing jpegs ranging from absolute disaster to no problem - so the day ahead will be spent in the company of the printer to see what I can rescue - deep joy.

I've only had the camera six years...

I have mentioned several times on this blog that photography is safe from me but I wonder if I am safe from it. Here I was tootling along taking a few snaps of this and that when the fancy took me and then all of a sudden I hit the wall of realisation that there's a world of difference in the little old 4x6inch photo, what gets posted to the webpage or what I might like to have reproduced for a larger canvas. Yes, there has been a slight niggle in the back of my head somewhere that I ought to do some research on this matter but we arty types get busy with the creative bit.

Today, I wanted to take a look through the portfolio for this year and although I have been so much better at documenting work, for a lot of it I did not save the original image only images ready for the web. This is not a problem for work I still have around the studio but for work that has gone into the world, I am left with jpegs. Not the end of the world but it means a few days now of checking what formats the work is saved in and spending evenings in the company of the photographic manuals for some basic information on file saving for nitwits!

The small canvas above is one of the 'Fired Earth' landscapes in spray acrylic paint - hand manipulated to give it texture. This was the last of a series I started late last year and finished last month.

Garden Photos IV & Other Stuff

Blustery day outside and a couple of hours to spare before an appointment this afternoon. The garden is starting to look August weary but still lots of colour to be found out there and I am busy collecting as many shots as I can before autumn sets in and the perennials die back. The sunflowers above are just about to 'go over'.

I have been using the colours of the garden to paint some simple 'colour field' works on canvas and paper and enjoyed not particularly thinking about anything other than the juxtaposition of the colour. Will photograph and post later - nothing particularly fantastic but a joy to have the opportunity to simply play with paint.

On a more serious note - for me anyway! I reluctantly made a decision not to take up the option of the Professional Printmaker's programme this year. I had to stop last year for family reasons and although I badly wanted to start it again this term, the 'family reasons' are ongoing and would just make something that should be a rich and invaluable experience, a major stress. I've had the tears and tantrums but feel relieved to have made a decision - for this year at least! The Print Centre is such a vibrant place to work and the output is of such a high standard that it has been a difficult decision but I will keep up with printmaking in the studio here and catch up with the Print Centre workshops through the year.

I am feeling more relaxed about workload now. There are things I want to do with my own professional practice this coming year which will be easier outside a formal educational framework.

The Garden Photos III

A busy family week and in between visitors and travelling, I have been pressing on with the garden photos and thinking about using the images. I am enjoying grabbing the camera and getting a few shots as the flowers appear and its good to do something positive when I just don't have enough time to spend in the studio.

I like the fact that flowers are so unfashionable in the artworld, naff, twee, kitsch and all that stuff. Sometimes, you get sick of 'the concept' and sometimes you just want to see what's going on under your nose and not have to explain the 'outcomes' and intellectualise everything.

I'm not in a bad mood - honestly.