December Paintings

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on December 15, 2015

15 Dec

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about my painting and this is largely because I haven’t done a lot of studio work since September. This combined with the fact that our computer hard drive broke down, so I can’t process my photos as I normally would. Life has been been demanding in all sorts of ways since September that I could not have predicted. I have found myself embroiled in a variety of matters associated with a number of committees and other groups that have taken up far too much of my time and energy. My resolution for the new year is clear – I’m not going to take on any more battles and I am going to spend a lot more time painting. How wonderfully simple is that?

Getting back to being creative after an intensive period of work is always difficult and I think that there is a natural cycle of creativity – a time for industry and inventiveness and a time to slow down and prepare for the next busy period. I feel like I am somewhere in between at the moment as I am thinking about my next body of work but also keen to finish some pieces before Christmas. We sold the last of my seascapes a couple of weeks ago in our gallery and this has forced me to focus my attention in this direction. I wanted to make some winter seascapes, dark brooding ones that reflect the weather at the moment which is stormy and unpredictable. I imagine myself out at sea reaching back towards a shadow of land in the distance and in another piece, the sky is the dominant feature, broiling and curling over the waves beneath. Here’s a few photos – the quality isn’t great as I took them with my phone.

I’ve kept this image small as it is slightly out of focus and this is accentuated when it is reproduced larger – insert another pledge for the new year – sort out my computer!

Both of these pieces were worked over a relatively short period. I find that the work improves as I gain confidence with my ability to express a mood as freely as possible and this often happens during short energetic bursts of work. If I get bogged down in technicalities, the paintings lose this energy. I need to give myself permission to be in the landscape ( or seascape ) while I am working and to feel what it is like to be there. This might sound like fancy, but it is simply where I am at the moment with this work.

Wound

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on October 23, 2014

23 Oct

This is another painting in a series based on the sea. I used a photograph I took last year of a cliff for reference, as it is viewed from the water. It has a cleft shaped by the formation of the rock that has been deepened by the corrosive action of the sea. I begin by looking at texture and the directions in the layers of rock, so I am starting with a skeleton of the image, made in textured paste.

Once this layer is dry, I add colour – lots of purple and grey for the cliff and tones of blue for the sky and sea.

Next I add browns, greens and yellow and just a touch of red at the heart of this cleft. I am thinking about the storms in Connemara and the destruction that took place earlier in the year. I am playing with the notion of the land as something human that can be hurt but I use the colour sparingly so that just the suggestion is there.

The colour settles once it has dried and I add just a few more details and another touch of red at the centre that I allow to bleed into the blue and the white paint of the sea. I decide to call the piece ‘Wound.’

I am curious to know what people might feel about this painting? Does it make sense as an image? Please feel free to leave a comment if you feel like it.

Return to Painting

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on September 11, 2013

11 Sep

Cover image ‘The Green Road, Inishbofin’ by R. Byrne

It’s been a great Summer and a busy one mainly due to my temporary job in the Elm Tree centre, a local mental health clinic. The Elm Tree is a truly wonderful place to work and a very special environment where staff and clients are respected and appreciated equally and where the well being of the people who attend is paramount. While I was there I cooked dinner ( for twenty to twenty five people ) during the mornings and for two afternoons a week we crafted, sewed and painted together. I enjoyed every minute of the time I spent there and I’m glad that I’ll be able to see some of the staff and people from time to time as the centre is very close to where I live.

I spent most afternoons during the Summer with my three daughters during their long school holiday, trying to balance a mixture of fun, outings, play dates and plain old rest. Now I find myself at home again with the Winter stretching out ahead and with some real time on my hands. The kids are back in school so I have my precious mornings to paint, something I haven’t been able to do since May. As luck would have it, I received an email about a painting commission just after my contract came to an end, so I’ve got an exciting project to tackle straight away.

The subject is Inishbofin ( just off the coast at Cleggan about seven miles from here ) and I’m starting with the Green Road on the West quarter of the island. It’s a spot I know very well, a stunning blend of hill, rock and heart stopping cliffs. I remember being told about how special the islands are before I visited them for the first time. It doesn’t take long to figure this out once you go – it’s like an assault on the senses. The sea is so powerfully present everywhere, the sound of it, the sight of it at every turn, the smell of it and the taste of it in the air, quite a heady thing.

My first step is to do some loosening up as it’s been a while, so I’m starting with some small sketches. I’m using the photo above for reference .

I need to work out the composition – what is important, what is not. I decide that the cliff in the background is where the eye should be led as it is the destination of this Green road and the most dramatic part of the island. I want to heighten it a little to make it stand out. I’m changing the horizon line also, to make the sea peak out at the other side of the cliff. This ‘being surrounded’ by water is very important for the finished painting and I feel that it is lacking in the photo where it looks more like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle.

So far, this little sketch seems closest to how I want the painting to look – plenty of movement in the landscape and lots of bright colour – but I’m conscious that I’ve lost the sharp incline to the right in this one. I may push the whole image to the left in the next few sketches so I can suggest this better. It’s a start but there’s more work to do before I start painting on canvas..

Island Paintings

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on May 28, 2013

28 May

I’ve begun a series of small paintings based on my trip to Inishturk and Caher island recently. It was such a thrill for me to have the perspective of the islands from the sea – all that blue/black/green in the foreground with a gorgeous slice of land in the middle of it all. I decided to work small and quickly rather than give myself the pressure of a large canvas so I chose acrylic paper, small pieces – 3″ x 4″ and 5″ x 7″

I prepared several sheets with a wash of blue and white.

Next I outlined some rough compositions and I used acrylic paste for texture.

Once the paste was dry, I went in with lots of colour – some charcoal first for the cliffs. I used paint and ink applied thickly and thinly in turn to maximise the effects that these two materials bring when used together. I worked quickly and back and forth between several pieces. The one in the cover photo ( also below ) was the last piece I worked on. I think it works best because I had figured out what I was doing by this stage. This is what it looked like when wet below.

Here is the same piece when dry – the paint has settled so the textures are clearer. The colours will brighten when I coat the surface with an acrylic varnish later, which will not effect the texture.

Here’s another piece – the first photograph below shows what it looked like when wet.

The same piece when dry below.

I’ll be taking a break from painting and blogging soon as I have a job for the Summer months which I have already started. I’ll post more about that in a little while..

Island

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on September 26, 2012

26 Sep

I’ve been asked to submit a couple of paintings for this year’s Sea week group exhibition. This annual event takes place in the nearby village of Letterfrack and is a celebration of the sea through music, word and the visual arts.

This year the theme is the Island. I’ve been thinking about how I see the islands ( in a literal way ) as a shape on the horizon line from the mainland, as a two dimensional shape on a map and sometimes as coloured images from space ( with the help of google earth ). I wanted to combine these ways of seeing so I took some photographs of the islands from the mainland and then looked at maps and other imagery (below).

I love this map by Tim Robinson – every town land, hill, island, inlet, mound and tomb is here. Every scaled inch is marked and has a name. I am drawn to the familiar shape of Omey island which is connected to the mainland by a strand at low tide.

I begin by sketching an outline of the island as a shape on the horizon and then I flatten the perspective so that the shape extends underneath as if viewed from above. I like the resulting image as it also looks like a shape that is under the water like an iceberg.

I used a broad brush to fill in colour – paint for the island shape and strand and blue inks for the water. The composition is similar to a painting I made called ‘Tinkers‘ after the novel of the same name. The choice of colour is similar and both allow the viewer to see water from different perspectives..

This is the piece as I’ve left it below. I filled in some details as if we are now seeing part of the island from the above. I put in Lough Feichin ( wonderful name! ), the large lake in the middle of the island and Tra Rabhach above it as well as some of the other beaches. I used brown ink to darken the water in places, I enjoy the way the inks react with the paint, especially where it has been thickly applied. I’ll return to it in a couple of days and see if it needs anything more.

Looking at the painting now I think that choosing this removed perspective is appropriate for me as someone from the mainland. I love to visit the islands when I can but I know that there is something about the isolation and the restriction of movement that I would find difficult..

Sky and Sea

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on August 10, 2012

10 Aug

The main interest in this little seascape is the sky. It started out like this (below).

I used lots of red at the base of the painting in an attempt to give the final sea colour a richness and depth. I’ve applied the paint quite thickly on the top part of the piece. I waited until this layer was completely dry before I worked on it again.

This is the next stage below.

I’ve given the cloud shapes more definition and divided them in to dark and light areas. I then used some charcoal to mark out the rocks in the foreground and lots of blue and white paint to describe the sea. I’m happy enough not to do too much more with it at this stage and I wait for this layer to dry.

This is how the finished seascape looks below.

I’ve used charcoal to heighten the contrast in the clouds and give the illusion of rain falling. I enjoy using charcoal with paint like this although they are not traditional partners – what do you think?

Sea Painting – Progression

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on July 18, 2012

18 Jul

I’ve returned to the coast, having painted the bog for some months now. I took some pictures of the sea when photographing plants out in Candoolin recently. This is one of the images (below). It’s nothing impressive from a photographic point of view but I like this green island shape sitting on the line of the horizon and I decided to use this in a painting.

This is how it began below. I’ve made the island the focus of the composition and I’ve just outlined where I’m going to add some rock shapes in the foreground.

This is the next stage. I’ve used ink and acrylic paint together to try and portray the water as it splashes against the rocks.

Here it is after some more work (below). I’m using charcoal to describe the rocks.

I allowed the paint to dry after the last stage. I then reworked the water and the rocks in the foreground and added some detail to the island (below). While the water is an improvement, I think that the rocks looked better at an earlier stage.

This is the painting as I have left it (below). I darkened the rocks with more charcoal and added some gold to the centre of the piece as I felt it was a bit too monochromatic. I then added some colour to the sky and tried to keep it watery to maintain a contrast with the use of heavy paint in the foreground. I also deepened the green on the island shape. I’m calling it finished at this point as I don’t think that I can take it any further. The painting process involves lots of decisions along the way – I’m always hoping that I am making the right ones although sometimes it’s better just to let my own painting instinct take over. Usually there is some kind of progression taking place (but not always!) – I hope so in this case but of course it is a subjective thing. What do you think?

White Sand Blue Sky

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on July 16, 2012

16 Jul

I spent an afternoon at Aillebrack beach last week. This area is just south of Clifden and it boasts a string of beautiful beaches, many of which are unoccupied even at this time of year. It was one of those unexpected sunny days after a bout of wet weather and so I seized the moment with my daughters and headed for the sea. This was what awaited us..

and looking out to sea..

We were pleased to have the beach to ourselves, save for some seagulls who decided to join us when we produced our picnic. Here’s a picture of them swooping down to the shore.

This one seems to be gauging the weight of this piece of bread!

We are so lucky to have these beaches on our doorstep, I believe that they must be among the most beautiful in the world. These last few pictures are of the clouds which made dramatic rippled patterns across the clear blue of the sky. I hope to be able to use some of what I’ve seen here in my paintings soon..

Return to Omey Island

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on July 5, 2012

05 Jul

I returned to Omey Island with G last week when the rare opportunity of an afternoon off without the kids presented itself! It was a glorious sunny day and we decided to walk the perimeter of the Island. The tide was well out when we arrived so we walked across the strand and made a right turn along the grassy edges. We met a small beach which we walked along before we had to climb up a bank to continue. This is the view from there across the sound to Claddaghduff (below).

Once we reached the top of the grassy mound, the view opened up to take in the rolling meadows and the sea as it wanders right out to the line of the horizon. I was immediately struck by the fields of flowers, the vividness of these tiny yellow plants ( Bird’s-foot Trefoil? ) and the sweetness of their scent in the breeze. It was a heady Summery rush and I had to suppress the urge go no further and just lie down and soak it all in! This is one of my favourite photographs (below) because it contains these perfect hues of blue, yellow and green which are my lasting memory of this walk.

Here’s the view heading West and looking out towards Cruagh Island and the Atlantic (below).

As we moved around the Western side of the Island we came across another beautiful beach (below). Looking back at this photo, it seems almost too perfect to have been real and it felt like that, a kind of earthly garden of Eden.

I took this last photo on the Southern side of the Island. The grassy slopes fall away to this outcrop of flat rock which sinks downwards towards a wide sandy beach (below).

We quickened our pace after I took this photo as thoughts of the incoming tide took over! In fact we had plenty of time. We resolved to check the times for the tides the next time and return to explore the centre of the Island.

Seascape Canvas in Stages

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on May 1, 2012

01 May

This is a small seascape on canvas ( 4 x 4 inches ) carried out in a few stages. This is as much as I did at the first sitting. The sea and land take up less than a third of the painting, so the sky is the dominant feature.

The photograph below shows the canvas as a whole at the next stage, having added more colour to create the headland shape on the horizon line and more depth to the sky.

The last photo is taken straight on and shows the final inclusion of some red paint to the headland. I have flattened the perspective slightly in the foreground by dragging the paint downwards, which has the effect of allowing the viewer to look under the water.

I’ve decided to leave it at this point. I feel that it is finished even though the paint layers are thin. What do you think?