I’m starting to finish the geraniums series….

And I’ve been taking snapshots of the beautiful autumn colours.

Want to see?

I have continued with working on my series of paintings of geraniums.  I’m starting to finish them now. Unlike some of my earlier works I want to tighten /tidy up some areas of the paintings and that’s meant more time being meticulous and tidy and observing closely for a long time in order to get these paintings where I wan them to be. That’s a change as I usually enjoy being very loose and expressive. I think its because the early stages of this project were about drawing and then I moved into mixed media then painting and that’s seems to have brought more precision into the work.

These paintings are a reminder of things I enjoyed as a child. Memories of my mother having geraniums on all the windowsills. Then combining that memory with my current day - having them on my own balcony and in my studio. I love the shape of them, the smell and the textures and the way the light falls on them. During the painting of these works I have become more and more interested in how the light bends through water and glass making strange and wonderful shapes and colours. And I always, always love colour. Painting these geraniums has been a delight.  I’m planning to get them finished by the end of this year including the sealing and varnishing.

In the meantime, I’m trying not to get too distracted by some new ideas that have arrived whilst I have been enjoying the beautiful autumn colours.  I continue to be interested in looking closer and have been studying the autumn leaves as they change and drop off the trees. Autumn will have passed by the time I’m ready to start something new so these ideas may go on hold till next year, so I have taken a lot of photos out on walks. I am particularly interested in the transition between shadows and light.

I love being in nature and the unseasonably warm November days are incredibly beautiful but they also sadden me as the heating of our climate proceeds. Its made me think about ways I can lessen my impact on this wonderful world.  Eating less meat, traveling less. Avoiding flying. I love seeing my home place at all seasons of the year. Getting to know it intimately and learning which places look at their best at certain times and in certain weather. All my art is influenced by where I live and the things I see regularly, and of course my feelings about those things, memories that are triggered by those things. The more closely I look the more I find that has beauty.  Its always been there but looking has helped me notice it more keenly.

What do you love about your home place?