I recently took a dive back into my first love; acrylic paint. I had given it a break for a few years because paint and young children don’t mix. Instead I opted to paint with watercolours, digitally paint, or draw. Although I do still have young children I have been able to manage some quality paint time. It feels great to jump back in with something so familiar, there’s nothing like putting paint to canvas. It is a totally different experience to the other mediums I use.
The first one I did was on a small wooden panel (6 x 6 inches). I have been finding inspiration in birds lately, we happen to have a Pigeon that has nested on our balcony and has laid some eggs, we often check on them and give them a little food. I love birds in general, but I especially love owls (anyone who knows me knows I’ve been obsessed for a good 10 years), Ravens, and Hawks (we actually have one that lives around us, it often snatches other birds right out of the sky when it’s hungry, kind of morbid but it seems to like to do this in front of our windows… maybe I should be afraid). Anyway, these flying creatures have caught my attention and I enjoy painting them. They also come with a whole bunch of meaning, folk-lore, etc. which happens to also be something I like to work into my art when I can. Everything I do has some sort of meaning, whether it is obvious to others or something more personal to me, there is usually something in my work that is much deeper to me than just an appealing picture.
I ended up creating “Raven” (Available for purchase here). Using darker colours to bring in the darkness of the bird and adding in some pops of colour to bring out the richness, deepness, and often reflective nature of the feathers. The added colour also plays towards light and dark, opposites are another subject I like to work into my work; the juxtaposition fascinates me.
You’ll notice in much of my work I like to play on things like light and dark, good and evil, life and death, fin and serious, etc. In fact, I have been on a bit of a roll with these acrylic paints lately. The next thing I painted was “Life and Death”. The title is self-explanatory and there is lots to look at in this small piece. This time I put paint to canvas and played more with that juxtaposition I love so much, colours, subject matter, meaning, serious and fun elements all tangled together in this intriguing piece. “Life and Death” measures 12 x 6 inches and is available for purchase here.
Now that I’ve worked out some of the rust I am excited to go bigger! It has been interesting to see how my style translates into different mediums now that its developed and different from when I was painting before. Art is certainly a journey and so much of us is put into our work. I hope you all enjoy! I’d love to hear about what you’ve been working on lately. Be sure to let me know in the comments
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Until next time my Creative Friends!
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