Subject matter, what is my current starting point and how am I using it to inform my practice? Patterns found within the landscape, I trawl Aberystwyth beach just staring down at the pebbles under my feet, waiting for one to pop out at me. I am looking for colour, patterns, uniqueness and shapes. But why pebbles? For as long as I can remember I’ve always had a small collection of found pebbles on the go; when I was younger I vividly remember owning a plastic tupperware filled to the brim with pebbles, rocks and shells I’d found on the beaches in St. Annes, Lytham and on my many holidays in Wales. I can’t pinpoint how long I kept hold of all of these rocks, but I remember feeling very sentimental towards them. I loved holding them, especially the smooth ones. I would pour them all out of the Tupperware onto the floor and slowly put them back into the box one by one, inspecting and holding each one as I went. I am only able to recall one pebble from the collection. It was a simple grey pebble, about the size of my big toe, with a fossil delicately pressed into the surface. I was so fascinated by this pebble and its history; what was it a fossil of, how old was it and how was the fossil created.
Other than this, I’ve never really had much interest in geology, it has always been fascinating to me but I’ve never thought about it in depth and to be honest, I’m not necessarily thinking about geology in depth at the moment either. Whilst my paintings are beginning with a pebble, I don’t see them as being about the pebble as such, I focus more on the process. Currently, for me, painting is an exploration, taking something pre-existing and using it to find and create something new and exciting. And what better way than to use the natural landscape and all its commodities as a starting point.
Inner Glow
Acrylic On Canvas
65 cm X 65cm
Above is the first official painting I've actually 'finished' recently. I write 'finished' in quotations as I'm still unsure whether it is resolved or not. There are parts to it that I like, such as the layering and the ghost like lines, but compositionally and representationally I'm unsure whether it is fulfilling my artistic intentions. It has made me think more about what I'm trying to achieve with my paintings. What do I want them to say or do for the viewer? In comparison to this very soft, hazy painting I'm also working on a more angular work which is pictured below. It is far from being resolved and is only in its early stages but I thought it might be nice to have a documentation of it at it's current stage.
Untitled (Work in Progress)
Acrylic on Canvas
70 cm X 50 cm
I'm enjoying painting this work at the moment as I'm playing about with my paint application and layering. Working out how I can create depth in a 2D image. I'm excited to see where I can go with this project and how it might change or develop as time goes on. I'm currently waiting on an order of two large square canvases! Hopefully, some exciting stuff to follow.
Hi Scarlet! It's mollsportfolio. I really like the Untitled work. I think it's "unfinished" nature (it's layers, bold layers and preliminary layers showing through still fresh) allow it to demonstrate a deeper understanding of paint than the finished work. If I was to give any advice I would say try to keep as much as possible of the original layers contrasted by the built up bold brush strokes and use your pebble imagery to take it from there. Really looking forward to seeing what your Exhibition looks like. Don't stop painting 🧡