New project underway

I have spent late summer and early autumn painting geraniums as part of a “looking closer “theme that started earlier this year. I’m about halfway through a series at the moment. It’s the first time I have really taken my time to “finish” a series of paintings. I’m right in the middle now.

Part of me wants to wander off and start new ideas, particularly as the October colours in nature are so attractive right now. Golds and red and browns and oranges as leaves lose their green and fall to the ground. Lilac and grey skies. Cool green grass in the background.

But despite being distracted somewhat by all that, I want to finish this series of geranium paintings. They started several years ago really. My sketchbooks contain many “blind” drawings where I practice drawing without looking at the page. I often use flowers in vases, or in this case geraniums in drinking glasses, as the subject. When I look back I can see that I have been drawing geraniums on and off for a few years now.

I like the structure of them as well as the colours. I like the way the light distorts the weird shapes of the stems when you look at the glass, especially with water in it. I like the way the geraniums in my home remind me of my mother who always has geraniums on all the window ledges. And she has them because her parents had them before her. Like cheerful family heirlooms.

This June I did a creative refresh with Alice Sheridan.  As part of that retreat, I started to notice I want to play with how near or far my viewpoint in a painting is.  I like to look closely at things and notice how they changes over time. Even my landscapes are intimate. My view doesn’t really widen out in my paintings beyond the viewpoint of someone walking in the woods, under the trees. Some of my photos are really close up. How close up do I want to get? How close is too close? How real do I want the viewpoint to seem?

And I found I was attracted to exploring this using the geraniums in my sketchbook. In pencil, then in colour, in paint,  then mixing it up. I played with collage, semi-abstract, realistic. All sorts of things. I tried drawing and painting from life, from imagination, and using photographic references. Was I more interested in the flowers, the leaves or both? Do I want flowers at peak bloom or, in bud, or wilted and falling off the stems?

In the end I found myself using a similar process to my seasonal noticing park landscapes. Using photographic references. They allow me to capture how the light falls, and also dealt with the issue of my geraniums running out of flowers now the nights have drawn in here in Scotland. 

So here I am partway through my series. I’ve been posting on my Instagram stories if you want to see how I’m getting on.