Moma Gallery Exhibition, Painting the Edge Project

 

ESTUARY TO OCEAN- PAINTING THE EDGE

 

''Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten what you went in there for? Research by Psychology Professor Gabriel Radvansky from the University of Notre Dame suggests that the doorway itself is the cause of these memory lapses. "Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an 'event boundary' in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away," according to Radvansky. In other words, your brain files away the thoughts you had in one room in preparation for a new locale and new information.

'I think we artists can be misled by edges in a similar way. Just as a doorway can trigger an event boundary for information retrieval, too many hard edges prevent us from visually exploring the possibilities of transition and unity. When we paint outlines and hard edges we are creating barriers which are often difficult to overcome. This "stop and start" approach to painting makes it even more difficult to see how all those "pieces" fit together''. C. Anderson.

"Edges allow us to define spaces, see their boundaries as well as what flows across them, and work with these flows. They are places of transition and translation, where matter and energy change speed or stop, or often, change into something else." T. Hemenway.

INTRODUCTION

This project is about learning to see and learning to paint as we naturally see and experience our surroundings and respond to a given subject. When we're out in the landscape the eye absorbs the whole, jumping from area to area, trying to take it all in. I will try to start with my biggest brush to get as much down as possible!
 

I'm really interested in looking at the relationships in 'visual information'-line, shape, value, colour, edge etc. for creating design, composition, atmosphere and mood etc. I'm fascinated by 'edges', which really encompasses everything, values, light, colour, texture, atmosphere, mood and movement. For example edges may be lost where values are the same, local colour revealed between light and shadow or found where a hard edge brings something forward.

A favourite artist of mine said, if you make a decision in your painting it’s the right one. Just as long as you make one..!

 

The coast in A/W is a great way for exploring this concept of edges- with generally minimal and subdued colour I can focus on values, shapes, drawing and texture, without too much distraction... We'll see!

 

4/12/15

Llanrhystud coast, the point where the river flows into the sea.  This is a great spot for birds as all sorts of species are attracted to this area to feed and bathe here during the A/W.  A pair of Cormorants were feeding in this area for a long while, they kept an eye on one another and stayed close, occasionally coming ashore to dry and preen. Cormorants love to feed off rocky shores, collecting fish and marine invertebrates off the sea bottom. They winter in estuaries and inshore sea's, there is a large roost that gathers in a dead tree at Ynys Hir next to the Domen Las hide, if you're quiet this is an amazing opportunity to watch their interactions and movements as they settle to roost.
 

The day was mostly over cast but there was a beautiful moment when the low heavy blue clouds were pierced with the light of the low sun, there was a sudden high contrast, the seas yellow white foam and deep blue water emphasized by the white gulls and black crows flying by. The Cormorants were gleaming their brilliant emerald green, It was absolutely stunning in comparison to the drab day preceding. Another passer by stopped to ogle and remark on this fleeting phenomena of colour and contrast. Redshank spotted, fluorescent orange legs aglow. I love the colours of winter, they always surprise me.

7/12/15

Sunny and warm at Llanrhystud, I remained out painting until the winds reached the 50’s and I struggled to aim my paint brush and keep my board steady! Todays excursion did bring the morning I’d been hoping for; a Grey Wagtail feeding along the pebbled edge of the river in a beautiful golden morning light making the yellow of the bird glow and sing against the stones. There were a number of Pied Wagtails feeding very close to me too, I love those curious black beady eyes. Why do these birds bob? The sea had stunning golden yellows in the waves, distant pale cool emerald greens-where did this colour come from? and reflections of bright blues and purples in the choppy surface. The low sun cast beautiful shadowed browns as the waves began to fold… The sun was highlighting the rain water that had washed its muddy soup into the sea.

The surfers were riding the sea keeping the majority of birds at bay, Oystercatchers and Curlew bombed past carried by the wind reaching bullet speeds. Rainbows were emerging all along the beach in the spray off the breakers blown back from the winds. There was so much energy at work here today, in this raw and powerful landscape, the experience was intense and invigorating. Must work smaller in these conditions in future!

8/12/15
Another beautiful day on Llanrhstud beach. The tide was coming in as I watched Oystercatchers feeding directly in front of me on the slip way. As my eyes tuned into the rocky landscape, pebbles turned into Curlews, Rooks, Gulls, Rock Pipets… Birds are so well camouflaged here, to my naked eye they’re invisible, the scope is a necessity for seeking them out! Mornings at sea are the best time of day, the brilliant shimmering blues are at their brightest.

9/12/15

… a slow start, I settled before the large group of Gulls before every last one of them flew off. Tried to cross the river, the water seems to have carved a deeper route through the pebbles, I may have got across if it hadn’t been for the  cold rush to my foot as I discovered my wellie had split. Immune to any of weathers attempts to keep me indoors I carry on in my super insulated coat, snug, despite the wet foot. I sheltered below a ridge of pebbles pushed up by the sea and waited. A new set of wings catch my attention as a Lapwing appears from nowhere and hunkers down in the rocks to remain there for the next 2 ½ hours I am here, clearly exhausted, perhaps blown off course in these strong winds. Even a Brent Goose, something I've never seen, appeared for a stop off by the river’s end. My flock of Gulls slowly re appear accompanied with Cormorants. Gull’s bob on the rough waters, disappearing over high peaking waves and taking to air to avoid rough breakers before settling back down. I’d much rather surf their way.

 

‘Colour constancy’- our preconceptions about colour, the apple is red, the leaves are green etc. The mind makes assumptions at first glance- pebbles are all grey! Betty Edward's book, Colour Theory explains how to see what colour is really there rather than what you 'know' in your mind to be there. How is light affecting colour, how are colours affecting one another? These questions are best answered with a limited palette!

Painting the sea is a wonderful way to learn about colour, it is a large canvas for colour and light to shift daily and throughout the seasons. To achieve colour harmony it helps to identify the colour predominating in the light illuminating the scene. So we are painting the effects of light rather that the local colour of a subject...

11/12/15

Llanrhystud, finally a bit of normal cold weather, wrapped up properly for the first time! Coat and over trousers! If winter ever kicked in this time my goal had been to feel like a sheep! Presumably very warm! Curlew and Oystercatchers were feeding almost on top of each other despite the scale of the place. A local birder told me he'd seen 80 Curlew just south along the beach the other side of the river. Well I was happy with just the one, it seemed to stumble clumsily at times over the larger pebbles, it's eye's intent on dinner. It's long bill probed deep into the sand and under large pebbles where it would twist its head upside down to reach.

16/12/15

The sea was first veiled in a low lying mist. The tide high, the whole beach submerged. A large single wave would come curling out of this serene sea,  emerging from the softened horizon under the low lying haze. There was a brightness glowing through the cloud above and within the moments it began to lift. The tide turned, waves quickly became more frequent as the sea receded, replenishing the rock pools once more. My favourite part of the wave is that moment just as it begins to fold or break, as it rises the colours in its depths are revealed and high contrasts are created by its sculptural form. After that short moment of mesmerisation I moved south to the river mouth. I was lucky to study a Redshank up close feeding along the sea edge with comical long strides and backward glances. Occasionally it would hunker down to impersonate a pebble, craning its neck in every direction before darting quickly by foot of flight to a new spot nearby. Through the scope I spotted an Oystercatcher shortly after joined very closely by a Black Headed Gull. This unlikely pair remained companions for some time, preening, resting and drinking water trickling by from the river.