Archive for April 2009
A travelling piece of silk in Doolin
Now that I have enough paintings in the secret gallery, I feel free to make some new art work. I’m enjoying making some non painted work again such as this silk wind dancer, Doolin is particularly windy so there is no shortage of movement! It is really relaxing just to sit and watch it. I have brought it around with me for years. One day I took it out of my camera bag in our yurt in Spain and hung it up there and then realised that I had repaired it with some horses’ hair, the strange thing was our yurt was held together with horse hair ropes too! I love those odd moments in life; they seem almost make believe and silly!
Digging up the Past and Planting Seeds
In progress, the bottles are starting to mount up, but there are still many more beneath the surface!
Out of the earth came this torch and cute bottle with a cork I just wished that all wine bottles still had corks not screw tops or fake cork!
After digging up about 100 glass bottles, something that was either a bomb or battery, a pair of soles, tea pots, tea cups tea spoons, a horse shoe, a pitch fork a rusty torch and a lot more, I made these three drills and planted lots of different seeds which i am hoping will grow into salad leaves. I am very excited! It is an experiment really as I don’t know what I am doing!
Some art in the garden
This are some photographs I took today in the garden of the Secret Gallery.
“Travelling forty days the roads and trails of a distant country” Mixed Media on board, haiku poems written on Travels to India and Nepal
“This Moment” Oil crayon on a concrete, rust and dried paint mould that came out of an old bucket I found while clearing out the garden to plant vegetables!
“Love, Laugh, Sing” A recycled cable holder with words written in pencil painted and varnished.
The Secret Gallery is Opening!
My Dad’s woodwork on the left and my dry point prints at the bottom and oil on canvas above.
We were going for the sparse look with just a few paintings hanging in each room but then decided to show more of the work. James has made a beautiful sign for the gallery which is going up this afternoon!
Lifting your feet off the ground and trusting!
Hearts Oil on Canvas Marianne Potterton 2009
Yesterday I sat on our motorbike, clutch going out throttle ready for lift off and James said now take your feet off the ground! I just could not do it! Maybe today or tomorrow I will get the courage and believe that I am not going to fall over. It is a bit like painting, you can either stay where you are comfortable or dare to move off to an unknown destination. Many of us like our safety zones; not getting on that frisky horse who can leap into the air plunging and bucking at any moment! All of these scary things can make you feel like complete beginner because it is an unfolding road that you have never been on before, so in a way you are a constant beginner because it is always new.
Some of the voices that are in my head when I paint and make other art are:
Begin every painting like it is the first painting you ever made.
Be aware while letting go.
Feel how feels in your heart while you paint, when it goes numb stop!
Be really quiet but listen softly (I often listen to music I like and that makes me feel while painting such as Anthony and The Johnsons and Van Morrison, No Guru no Method no Teacher!))
Do not make up anything just for the sake of filling in space, it should feel right.
Try to have faith in your own ideas and let the other peoples voices and paintings fade into the background.
Alternate your focus between looking a every detail and painting with your eyes closes, between thinking and not thinking, between controlling what you are doing and not controlling.
These are some of my thoughts on art, they may or not make any sense to anyone else.
Peace to All
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