Friday 27 August 2010

Our Backyard



Oil on board 10 x 10"
Bridget Hunter 2005

Talking about paintings and emotions again!  This small work is in the present exhibition but isn't for sale. The memories of time and place are too precious,  having been done at my old home at a time of great loss.  Being in our garden on that particular day and recording it in paint was a way of getting through,  though strangely, I don't think this is reflected in the work. I loved the view up towards the back of the house and the slightly chaotic nature of the garden planting. I remember working quickly to get the image down as fast as possible before the clouds changed the tones of the shadows.
I recently saw a painting by Maggie Hambling of her mother on her deathbed and found the image has stayed with me - I find it a painting of great beauty in the way the artist has handled her subject, a tribute almost from daughter to mother. Maybe others would read it differently.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Emotions and a cliff.



I read that emotions play a large part in successful painting - that we need to have some kind of emotional response to the subject. For me it's usually light conditions that have transformed a colour and I feel the need to record it in paint. But can emotions also have a negative effect? There's a place that I've sketched in pencil and watercolour and have tried to use these to make a painting. Its a strong scene,  a place of crashing sea and soaring birds and deep aubergine cliffs. The work in oil started well but I've reached a complete standstill - because my emotional response to the place has changed. Initially it was a happy place for me but now all my emotions are negative because of later negative memories . My brushstrokes reflect this and do not dance. The creative process is blocked. Yet, visiting an exhibition of works by The Glasgow Boys I saw a watercolour showing a horse being gored at a bullfight, by Joseph Crawhill, who abhored the cruelty he believed he was seeing. Its a very strong image and shows his emotional response. So should I persevere at present - or wait until a future time when I hope I can remember my initial response to the colours and strength of the place instead?

The exhibition, The Glasgow Boys, is at The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow - and is breathtaking.  www.glasgowmuseums.com

Thursday 19 August 2010

Les Charrieres with Blue Shutters.

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Acrylic on board 12 x 10"  .
Bridget Hunter 2010

This painting was done plein air in Burgundy, using acrylic which, even though I was working in shade, was drying very fast and needed fast working - I much prefer working into wet paint! Les Charriers was a beautiful old house where we stayed for 4 nights run by Florence and her artist husband. Everywhere, inside and outside, there were painting subjects. I've tried to capture the shabby chic Frenchness of the building which I found so appealing. But I have only included part of the front of the house. I've got some photos of the interior and would like to try using them as source material for other paintings.This painting is in the exhibition but I adjusted the angle of the stairs, after this photo was taken and before it was framed, realising it wasn't quite right !!
Sold

Saturday 14 August 2010

Exhibition opens!


Our exhibition opened today and it was very well attended. People were really kind and we were all thrilled by the positive comments. Two outcomes for me were that  a gallery owner asked me to take part in a mixed gallery artists' Christmas exhibition and that I sold two large paintings. What a day!

Friday 13 August 2010

Landscape in Burgundy with vines.



Oil on board  30 x 24"
Bridget Hunter 2010

The exhibition opening on Saturday looms closer and I want to take all my works back and try again!
I think of Van Gogh saying  "Just dash something down if you see a blank canvas staring at you with a certain imbecility. You don't know how paralyzing it is, that staring of a blank canvas which says to the painter : you don't know anything." That's what it felt like knowing I needed all these paintings by a certain date- dashing it down. This work was framed while still damp ! But luckily its a Scottish habit to frame under glass .

Tuesday 10 August 2010

The Loire in July



Oil on board  28 x 24"
Bridget Hunter  2010

The exhibition - Six Ayrshire Artists - starts this Saturday in The McLaurin Galleries, Ayr. We six were asked to illustrate a business calendar 3 years ago with  paintings. This led to great friendships, which has, in turn,  led to a joint exhibition featuring 10/12  paintings each. Having just recently returned from a trip to France the whole thing has been a frantic painting and framing experience. The others have been far better organised! But I always put myself under this kind of pressure. Will I never learn? However, France has given me new source material and the painting above is going into the exhibition. The Loire valley was vast and parts of it had grain fields which stretched way into the horizon. The impression was a deep yellow under a bright blue sky. I was able to do some watercolour sketching and used these as references. Tomorrow the paintings go to the gallery where we'll meet, try to instill each other with confidence and then have much wine for lunch. Its a scary business, exhibiting!

Wednesday 4 August 2010

France!










Did it! Drove 3168 miles round France. Memories - good wine, great coffee, picking and eating fruit from trees, sunflowers, painting in the shade, being made welcome, long lazy meals with great conversations, being lost, finding wonderful shabby chic small hotels, glad of having a car with airconditioning, diverse landscapes.
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