December 28th, 2016

The Break.
Christmas is done and dusted, the rush up to it leaves a vacuum behind it that  always appears languid to me.  A Pause before we rush into the New year.
The weather reinforces this perception as summer kicks in and the seasonal drought that goes with it changes the routine of my days.
What do you do in your breaks?
Are their Summer Schools that tempt, projects half finished, kids to amuse so art takes a back seat?  Or is it, like me, an opportunity to play without an agenda, at least in part.
This week, I dragged some inks out of the cupboard, rummaged around in my plan draws and found the yupo paper that had been patiently waiting for this moment.
I learnt a few quick lessons.  Ink can go everywhere: quickly.  Ink bottles with droppers in the lids can leak if the dropper is perished; particularly when shaking.   After cleaning up and carefully pouring out some inks into a little pallet, I discovered that they dry pretty quickly as well.  My studio has no air conditioning.
After puddling around on a couple of sheets using both alcohol and water to diffuse the ink on the paper, I thought I would give a few compositions a shot.
So I went back to my almost default theme, sky through trees, and a vase of Lilly’s that I have in the kitchen. 
What made this interesting is that I tried each picture both with my left hand and my right hand.  I am strongly right handed.
The left handed paintings are a lot looser and less ordered, which is a lesson in itself.  I was amused with myself when I actually caught myself grabbing the paintbrush out of my left hand in order to finish the painting at one point.
It’s an opportunity to free up mark making when we use our less dominant hand.
I’m hoping to get back to my painting soon when the weather cools down a bit.  In the mean time when its cool I weave.  Photos soon.
Enjoy your break everyone, try and find a moment to play.
 Above is the left handed picture and below is the right handed version.
 
to edit.