Over the past few years, I’ve been feeling the pull to focus more on my personal expression as an artist through exercising my strong sense of intuition to bring forth subconscious messages and ideas through varied use of colours, mark making and symbols.
Naturally I have always been drawn to nature, animals and organic forms as my connection and respect for all of the life on our planet and beyond is what I’m truly passionate about.
In these photos I’ve shown from start to finish how I’ve been allowing the messages to develop one step at a time. Instead of having an initial idea and final image that I want to create, I allow the art to pour out of me with very little or no planning at all.
I start with two or three colours that I am drawn to in the moment when I begin to paint. I love to begin by moving the paint around on the surface with my bare hands to create a real physical connection and flow of energy into the essence of the painting. Once the surface is covered I will often see images that come out which I will emphasize or I will move on to another technique and keep adding layer by layer until I feel a symbol and/or a subject (here it’s the horse) emerge in my mind. In this case I have used masking techniques to create the horse silhouette and then more layers and alternate techniques/mediums until I feel the image and the feeling is complete.
Often I have no idea what the message is about until part way through or some times long after the painting is finished. Creating in this way is full of so many surprises, gifts and learning which is also what drives me as an artist. I grow with each of these gifts and I feel eternally grateful that I can share them with others as I feel the messages are not just meant for me, but for all of us.
Below are photos of my process from start to finish.
First abstract layer of colours and marks painted in acrylics with fingers.
Additional layers with coloured pencil lines and intuitive shapes masked with tape..
Another layer of paint over the masked shapes.
Masking tape removed to reveal the layers below.
Additional intuitive marks and patterns added.
Placed horse silhouette cut out of masking tape.
Added another layer of translucent and opaque paint to create the horse silhouette and create more depth.
Masking removed and final details added.
