Aceo 'A Tower Of Love'

What the public want

It's always been a delicate balance for me.Trying to guess what will sell against what I like and what I hope may sell.

I hardly ever get it right.I have had no choice but to follow my heart, and paint the things that inspire me the most.

Many a piece I have completed, and thought Wow!, that will fly off the shelf.....Hahaha!, I thought after relisting it on Ebay for the 3rd time.

Then other paintings I have considered throwing in the bin, as I did not want my name attached to them, and have gone on to sell, incredibly well.

I shake my head in submissive abandon, as I just cannot guage what other people really like or want after all these years.

That's why I paint for me....Now this piece above (Aceo entitled 'Follow Your Heart'), I really, really like...Hmmm!, no fortunes to be made off this one then !!!!!!!!!!

It's always interesting to me, my own limitations to painting Aceo's, being that I'm confined to such a small area.

It certainly focuses the mind, as there is no room for superfluous imagery to get my message across, and it helps produce an efficiency to my work.

The downside, is it keeps me out of practice of bigger sweeping scenes, that I sometimes feel I need to produce.I can get locked in very easily to a macro view of the world.Nothing bad in and of itself, just frustrating for a while , when I need to switch viewpoints.

Still, I have a real love of painting these Aceo's, and that isn't going to change until I feel I have explored a lot more territory with them yet.

Imagination is equal to limitation.

I finally decided that I have found the palette that best helps me to express myself.It has taken a lot of searching, and certainly not on the concious level.
I can discern many an artist on their colour schemes alone, and now I can also define myself accordingly.
This is where the real work begins, as I have to now maximise my potential with the hand I have dealt myself with.
We are all responsible and accountable to ourselves, and the choices we give ourselves, and how we choose to run with that, are what will ultimately make or break us.
There's no hiding from that.

Folksy,whimsical, Naive....What?

I get many different descriptions of my work, ranging from Folksy art to Whimsical.

I'm not quite sure what it is.For me, it just is, what it is.I don't like to pigeonhole it into category.

When I first started to paint, I tried to paint in the very traditional way, but somehow my heart was never really there.

I do however love to view traditional watercolour, especially from many of the purists, and I look on with awe, and inspiration.In fact it is a passion for me.

My work just developed down the path it did, because I was following what eventually became natural to me.

Art should always be , in my eyes, an expression of what's inside of you, and however that manifests itself is I think the right way to go.

That's not to say one should be lazy in not experimenting and trying out new ideas, or reaching out of your comfort zone.That , I feel is how an artist develops.Pushing ones own natural boundaries.

My work may not suit the tastes of watercolour purists, but it certainly suits who I am.

If it really has to be categorized, then perhaps it should just be Chris Larkinism.

Imagine

It took me years to realize the potency of ones imagination.

A person doesnt have to sit at the top of Everest to know what the view looks like from there.

Is it the same to have merely imagined being there, and acting as if, in your minds eye, you were really there? Feeling all the sensations that you think you would feel, if you really were there.

I think a person can. What's better still, I think you could actually have an even better and more intense experience than just passively taking in the view of what's actually out there in reality.

Of course that raises the issue of reality.Everything we see, hear, touch, smell and taste is filtered and perceived so differently, none of us ever will get to truth.

Is the scene in the painting above, real or imagined?

Sometimes, I'm really not quite sure anymore.

Maybe that's the point of me being an artist.Bending reality to fit with the model of the world I would want.

Just because I see it in my head, doesn't mean it's not real.

Is it?

Colour is a huge driving force in my work, and I'm forever trying to achieve a full on intensity to my paintings.

Very often you can be forgiven for thinking I am being slightly lazy by repeating many elements in my work.

Yet, if you look closely, you will see all the variations of tone and colour if you put those works side by side.

I am always experimenting by placing different colours against each other and then noticing the effects on the paintings as a whole.

Of course there are mant formulas for placing colours i.e complimentary colours against their primaries, but there are more subtle ways to this also.

The fun is in the experimentation for me, and trying to paint that elusive piece that stands out from a mile away.

One day, I will succeed....I know it.