Let's Talk Art Blog

I've been having a tidy up in the studio in preparation for Noosa Open Studios (6th - 15th October) and came across a couple of 10 cm x 10 cm little canvases. I can't think now when or why I started them, but they obviously got left behind and subsequently buried in the general creative chaos. And since tidying up is my least favourite activity I stopped to have a play around with them and see if I could take them on a new miniature journey......

"What inspires you?" This is a question I'm preparing myself for, with this year's Noosa Open Studios nearly upon us! It's a question I ask myself on a daily basis. I could give you a hundred answers that include everything from sweeping landscapes and fallen leaves to emotional experiences and waste cardboard packaging. But that doesn't make me sound very focused.... which I admit sometimes feel I ought to be.

My sketches have taken a bit of a back seat this month with all my time and energy going into finishing my bigger paintings. But I've had 'muted colour' on my mind as we've been working our way through various colour exercises at the Tinbeerwah Art Group. So with some paint leftover on my palette I decided to ask myself, what happens if I mute or de-saturate all the colours in a sketch?

"Reconnect Your Drive" I've been getting this error message every time I open up my computer over the past few weeks. It's remarkably persistent with its big red warning triangle and loud pinging notification sounds. At first I just ignored it, then I got a bit frustrated with it. And then the penny dropped.

I spent a wonderful morning with the Oils & Acrylics painting group at Wallace House exploring 'Space' as our Element of Art and 'Focus' as our Principle of Design. We explored positive and negative space and two different ways we can create focal points and areas of emphasis in abstract art, with colour and contrast placement. Check out our album from the morning - I think I may have a few collage converts on my hands!

I'm still adding to my growing collection of colour sketches on paper. I started to see organic shapes in this sketch from the very beginning which informed the way it turned out! A fair bit of colour play without any particular direction in mind beyond starting with blue, pinks and a green.