Studio Diary - August 2022

Charlotte Wensley
Aug 14, 2022
4 min read

Updated: May 27

This month I've been thinking about the importance of having the freedom to wander and how we hold on for the ride when beginning new work....

When did you last go for a wander?

I'm not talking about an amble down the beach or a stroll down the street....

There are so many phases to pass through on my way to finishing a painting. I might begin with a vague idea about process or colours or a feeling I want to convey, the reality is though that where I start usually gives little indication of where end up. This is something it's not possible to know when I begin new work.

Creative wandering and exploration is all part of the process and the journey that each and every painting must travel to reach it's destination.

This is a journey where unbounded freedom to create something new and exciting exists.

Committing to a path of exploration and experimentation isn't always the easiest route to take. We might make decisions that lead us to a dead end, or head off down a blind alley as we focus on things that in hindsight don't seem all that important. We might momentarily lose sight of the direction in which we think we want to go.

Tenacity is the ticket, and I hold on for the ride until the painting is in it's final throes.

And to help me do this I make the following commitment to myself and to the work:

I don't watch the clock

I just show up in the studio every day and do the work. The amount of time it takes to travel this journey varies from piece to piece and I have no way of knowing how long it will take to resolve a painting, so I don't even try to keep track of time.

I leave room for surprises

I try to balance areas of 'feeling resolved and going somewhere' with areas that can still take big changes, so I can maintain a sense of exploration and experimentation right up until the point at which the painting feels finished.

I let the painting do the talking

I trust that the painting will tell me when it's finished. A point will come when the wandering is over and there's nothing more to add and nothing else to take away, balance and harmony in colour, composition and detail finally settle into place, visual arguments have been resolved and I feel a sense of arrival at the destination.

You can check out may latest wanderings as I being work on two new pieces here:

The Du Reitz Art Awards 2022 exhibition is now on at the

Gympie Regional Gallery until 26 August at the

School of Arts building, 39 Nash Street, Gympie.

It's a fabulous exhibition with a diverse offering of 2D and 3D work by well known regional Queensland artists including Kym Barrett, Susan Schmidt,

Jooli Gibbs, Trevor Purvis and Beatrice Prost to name a few.

If you find yourself up that way do call in and check it out!

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 4 pm.

I have two exciting collaborations underway at the moment, alongside my painting work. For this year's Open Studios collaborations were called for between 2D & 3D artists to create a piece for the

2022 Launch Event and Fundraising Auction.

I was to be invited by two local ceramicists to work with them on this project. I have been working on Maria's flask with relief and underglazes and on Neita's piece with traditional 2D media including collage.

I'll keep you posted on the results!

Various duos have been working together to create special and unique pieces for the event which will be held on Thursday 22 September

5.00 pm – 7.00 pm@Old Circa Restaurant, Maple Street, Cooroy

All Welcome!