Hello and welcome to my contemporary Art blog. An inspirational goal for many artists is to make paintings that create themselves. Fun metaphors aside, this blog post is about a recent work titled 'The Dream of a Golden Tree'. It uses oil, Cold Wax, bitumen, pumice stone, enamel on a 80 x 80 cm Canvas. Read more to discover how I created the painting and my inspiration behind the work. Share your thoughts about this artwork on my Twitter or Instagram, I'd like to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Blog Sections:
Materials Used, Size of Artwork and Painting Technique
This image is something of a departure for me in that it is very much a graphic rendering of a Winter tree with a pronounced emphasis on drawing and linear qualities. The general process is relatively organic with the first layers applied with a brayer using a compound of cold wax, pumice stone powder and enamel paint. Thereafter, a scoring technique not dissimilar to the etching process helps to create a rich patina and fine surface texture.
Gold enamel has been alternately trailed, poured, painted and spattered across the surface, followed by thin washes of diluted bitumen. At intervals, the top layers have been partially erased and reinstated using rags soaked in a mix of turpentine and linseed oil.
In painting, my goal is to produce a work that appears to have created itself, hence the title of my post 'Modern Art gives birth to itself". To achieve a degree of spontaneity you have to paint without excessive control, deliberately restrict your awareness of what is happening and embrace chance.
There is an element of 'zen' about this and you must be thinking I probably wouldn't be out of place in 'pseud's corner' in Private Eye, but please bear with me. The concept of taking back control is as misguided as the Brexiteer's oft-repeated mantra. Absolute control is a mirage and is likely to produce a restricted and stifled outcome. This is why I use relatively unconventional tools and materials; they don't automatically respond to dexterity and fine motor activity. In this work, a heat gun has accelerated the stages of drying and simultaneously generated unique shapes as the enamel melts into the wax. A sander partially obliterates the top layers revealing the patina of earlier stages echoing the appearance of erosion and the passage of time.
Slideshow: Photos of artwork/Close-ups
Inspiration from Laura Simms
'The dream is the portal between worlds that springs open to us at night, and maybe open all the time, but easily ignored or forgotten in the comings and goings that consume and distract our waking life. What is not visible is rendered fantasy. What can be offered by the dream is a reminder in the form of pure image: immediate, symbolic, without obstructions of concept and prefabricated opinion. In this story, adapted from Jewish sources in India, a King who is impetuous and swayed by the urging of his three jealous wives, banishes his fourth and favourite wife. He sends away the one who his heart values most'.
What appears to each in the dream is not an actual tree, but a sacred tree, like the golden trees carved in the great synagogues that adorn the Bima where the Holy Torah is kept hidden behind curtains and doors adorned with leaves and trees, eagles and golden crowns. We are in the world of symbols and nature, a mythic reality where image speaks louder than words.
The tree here is unconditional love, the spiritual and physical joined, and the reminder that sets King and Queen each on their journeys We are reminded of creation itself, of the original trees, of holy hidden places that must be remembered and sought again and again and not forgotten. The image of the golden tree brings to mind the Song of Songs, where longing engulfs us and urges us to open. “I sleep, but my heart is awake.”
- Laura Simms
Upcoming Exhibitions and Art Fairs
I will be exhibiting abstract landscape artwork inspired by the Fenlands in Britain at the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead, London this May 5-8. I will be exhibiting with Linton 59 and Darryl Nantais Art Gallery is representing my artwork. I do hope you can be there and see my artworks up close.
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Art Buyers and Collectors: How To Buy This Artwork?
If you like this artwork or have seen others that you like, you can email my Art Representative, Karl, at The Darryl Nantais Gallery Ltd on karl@linton59.co.uk or get in contact via the contact form on his website https://linton59.co.uk/contact. Please add the name/title of the artwork in your message. It may have already sold, but if that is the case, don't worry, you can request a commissioned piece and get a painting you will love.
If you would like to contact me directly with any questions or comments, feel free to use the contact form.
Shipping and Packaging
I ship paintings worldwide, and they are professionally and securely packaged for National and International courier services. They are delivered to your home in a reinforced box within 3-5 days of your order. You can buy my art online and order a painting or request a commissioned piece by contacting me directly using the contact form.
Thank you for reading my contemporary art blog. Please take the opportunity to look at my collection of paintings in the online gallery. All of my paintings are original artworks on high-quality canvas frames. If you are interested in purchasing a specific painting, please get in touch to check current availability or to discuss a commission. Please contact me.
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