Blog

Named after Shakespeare's, Queen Mab, I've painted a totally wild garden, which I feel could be the home of the fairy folk, using abstract techniques. My goal was to create a work that you really want to enter but you know that you shouldn't.  So many times we are attracted to things that we know are not good for us but the excitement and possibly the danger element overrule our common sense.  

I have been working on a series of works that explore the tension between line and colour. I have also been exploring the tension between the simple beauty of nature and the overwhelming awesomeness of the natural world. 

  Well, I had every intention of making a semi-abstract painting representing spring on a brook with a lake in the background. Sometimes,  for me, making a painting is a lot like reading a novel, I'm never sure exactly how it will end.

   I have used a ton of abstract techniques including pouring and blowing paint and adding acrylic ink. I only wanted to hint at trees, rocks and the water but with the weather we have been having in New Brunswick it was just too tempting to be able to enter into this spring world and live there a while. The wild techniques I have been developing seem to work as well in a realistic landscape as they do in an abstract. Who knew?  That is one of the most amazing things about what I do. Every day I learn something new or I get better at something, or, as today, I learned how to use something I had developed, in a new way.

  The sides will be painted a solid colour, either black or dark blue and after the protective coats of Krylon (varnish) are applied hanging hardware will be attached to the stretcher bars allowing this work to be displayed "gallery style". For those of you who like frames, if you purchase the work and wish to add a frame, I do not mind.  

  Please feel free to ask questions or make comments on this or any of my works. Painting can be a lonely job and I really love feedback.  I have been asked to remove prices from my works. My prices are reasonable, just PM me and I'll let you know the cost of the work and shipping charges (if applicable).

  I finally finished this work. I've been using the paint and acrylic ink in different ways in smaller works leading up to this one, I have been asking, I wonder what happens when...   I feel I've made a few new techniques for myself and I love the way they all went together in this work.  With this work and quite a few I've done lately, I did have to put the painting away to "rest" for a while. I was going to add some flying birds and was trying to decide between doves and crows. When I went back to the work, I realized that neither would add to my message. I was unhappy with the trees but when I went for a walk in the cemetery next to my studio, I realized that I have been more than a little influenced by the twisted elms that grow there. 

   I am happy with this piece. I have painted what I was trying to express as well as I am able. I love the depth and the colours. This will be one of the works in my June exhibit at The Charlotte Street Art Center (Fredericton).