"Its no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then."
The Creation of a Painting
This painting’s title is a quote from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. People who know my work will know that my last two exhibitions were inspired by the story. I am now studying my Masters of Visual Art by research and I’m getting more and more into Alice.
This is oil on canvas and nearly a metre and a half wide. The making of it has been a saga. I started it shortly after we moved into our current house 9 years ago. I now had a larger studio and was able to make larger paintings. At that time it was just a tree in the landscape, with the red chair. No figures, no ladder, and no cat. The tree was inspired by a tree in a local park in Spearwood, which I took some photos of and drew directly onto the canvas. I wasn’t particularly happy with it so I put it in the corner and ignored it for about 8 years 🙂
Over the last Christmas break, I don’t know why, but I pulled it out and started painting on it. I think I felt like painting didn’t have new canvas and this one was as good as any. I added the floating figure and the ladder. After patterning the floating girls dress, influenced by the linocuts I had made, I just started to add more pattern.
Again I left it not really happy, I hung it up in my art room to think about it. A few months passed, then my friend Ros Nolen saw it (also an artist). She liked it, I was really not happy with it, and we talked about what changes it would benefit from. So newly inspired (thanks, Ros) I went back to it and made more changes. I got it to a place where I was feeling pretty good about it, so I entered it into the Busselton Art Prize.
This work has really come directly from my subconscious. It evolved. I didn’t plan it to be this way. It does have meaning though. The ladder not quite connecting to the tree, the cat, the doorway in the distance, the floating girl holding flowers, the blue area that belongs to the rest but is slightly separated by the colour change. These all have meanings;. to be interpreted as you choose. These archetypal symbols are not hard to interpret, trust your instincts. The title is a clue.
I am happy to announce that this painting was shortlisted for the Busselton Art Award which opens Friday 21st September and will be on display until 29th of October at Art Geo Gallery, 7 Queens Street Busselton. Yes it is for sale! So if you are in Busselton drop in and have a look.
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