Back in the Studio....and it's freezing!

 I am back in the studio this week after taking some time out to be with a visiting friend from Adelaide. Just going to post some pics of ideas and paintings in process. I have a couple of exhibitions coming up and I am very focused.

While my friend was visiting we did a short tour of the Fremantle prison and I was captured by the deterioration on the old walls. Wonderful examples of abstract art, full of texture and subtle colours as you can see by the examples below. 

In my own artwork I have shifted yet again. My gum leaves series and also the word art I began is on hold for now and I've gone back to pure self expression using layers of mixed media, colour and texture. Two canvases are nearing completion but I have not pulled the final composition together which means I have about six different paintings in one. I've taken several pictures of each canvas and I will need to decide which parts to tone down, and which to make a focal point. This mistake happens when I spend too much time up close to the canvas, allowing myself to be hypnotised by all the beautiful details that emerge, rather than standing back and viewing the work as a whole, from a distance.
I guess the other thing I could do is take the canvas off the frame and have the smaller parts cut and framed separately.  Actually, seeing the photos has helped me see what parts of the paintings I like best. Here are some of my favourites parts.