Maybe Matisse Will Help...

I've been trying to sort out my shed - and have a good clear out - but got a bit stuck - the horrid wet weather made it difficult to move paper goods about - and then the hot weather meant it was roasting in my shed and the garden demanded attention (can't have that new lawn ruined by being ignored). 

But these are merely excuses, the blunt truth is that I have not been making much over the last two weeks.

Anyway - here are just a few of just a few more that I have been doing...

Going to see the Matisse Cut-outs exhibition at the start of next month and can't wait to be inspired up to the brim

Life's Tenuous Balancing Act..

A few more pages from the sketchbook.

These seem to be about balancing shapes and colours - they remind me of a simple geometry-based computer game Henry used to play as a young school boy. 

Interesting how the dark edges around the paper affect the composition further...

So far I have been cutting up found papers in a random stylee - but the other day I took a number of close-up photographs of textures and colours around the home... My artwork has always embraced the ordinary, domestic and homely, so printing and cutting up the photos might be a nice way to employ these aspects as part of my new direction:

A Few New Little Pieces

Nowadays I sit in the evening, resting my heels, working in my sketchbook and on small pieces - that I create in pairs.
This is the most enjoyable way to spend time.
Here are some of the 'pairs' I have worked on over the last week or so:

Something A Little Bit Different

Looking forward to an exhibition with a difference. This is where the home becomes the gallery - in the style of Jim Ede maybe...

I feel very privileged that Helena Golanó has asked me to submit five new pieces of work for her upcoming exhibition event in her beautiful home.

In the invitation, you get a little glimpse of Helena's light and airy space and the way the furniture compliments her interesting and eclectic mix of prints, drawings and paintings adorning the walls.

With her discerning eye, Helena has collected the work of British and European (mostly 20th Century) artists. 

Helena is a writer, curator and art consultant ~ based in Barcelona until her move to the UK four years ago.

You will see that the main exhibition is of Rupert Mallin's 'Art in Boxes'

I met Rupert over 20 years ago, when I first moved to Suffolk - and we bump into each other every so often at exhibition previews - so it will be good to see his latest work.

I found some images of his pieces in boxes on the web to get an idea of what treasures to seek out next week...

I Dream In Green And Floating Triangles

Actually, I have realised that - although not so good for my waistline - an enforced period of rest does mean that the pressure's off. 

Thus; composition through 'playing' and 'dreaming' in an A3 sketchbook is productive - for the mind, the body and the well-being:

Bowls Of Iced Water Are My Friends....

Here's a thing. 

I spent an evening with my aching Achilles elevated, cutting up pages from a magazine or two. 

I simply cut fairly random shapes - mostly dictated by the shapes colour and texture on the pages.

Next I created a backdrop in the form of a not quite plain white piece of A3 paper.

Hey ho - then I played...and snapped, with my phone, as I arrived at different potential solutions for composition and layout.

Interesting how the shapes fit together to become something recognisable - or not - and how they suggest what they might be, when alone or joined with one another.

Anyway - here they are:

The dilemma - I only have one set of shapey-shapes - what to do?...