More participants for the 'Painting in the Attic' collaboration - the deadline has now passed. I am collating the images and words and thinking of the best way to present them all. The words below in bold and italic are the artist's own words.
Liz Davidson
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| Notebooks/sketchbooks - Liz Davidson |
'I still can't find any really early work although I
know I saved a story I wrote about a tree, age about 7, but what I have kept
are all my notebooks/sketchbooks, piles of them, rounded corners where various
dogs have teethed on them and the striking thing to me, about the notebooks I
mean, not the dog, is how much writing there is in them, some, more than
sketches for work. And how my writing has changed over the years, alas not my
spelling. My art college days were the beginning of having to write ....a
lot...about your work. Being dyslexic this was agony, but I love to read and
have a great love of calligraphy, marks, gestures, and am a font freak. And
it's fun to look back over the years and see how many artist books I've made. So,
for me there is a definite link between childhood preoccupations and my work to
day"
Diana Collins
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| Painting of mother - Diana Collins |
finding one hundred words about my mother...
(the woman or the painting in the attic?)
I speak of her often
sometimes
rarely
never................................
how often do you see your mother?
never
how often do you think about her?
(the woman or the painting in the attic?)
the woman died nearly 30 years ago
the painting has a place in the attic wrapped in a shell of
other paintings
I painted her
the woman
from memory 20 years ago
when I re-imagined her
I imagine her still.
I find Diana's words and image very poignant
Teodora Totorean
'At 12 when I painted this landscape, I didn’t know that one
day I would be an artist. I wasn’t even aware that there was such a profession.
I knew there were people who created art and exhibited their work in galleries,
but I never wondered how this actually happened and what they did for a living.
I painted regularly from 5 to 13 years old. Scenes from
everyday life, flowers, fairies with long hair and big eyes, the spirits of the
trees, everything that inspired me and had meaning to me at that age.
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| Autumn Landscape - Teodora Totorean aged 12 years |
And then I grew up.
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| The mysterious garden - Teodora Totorean aged 33 years |
There are many established artists who encourage newcomers
to go back to the stage when they were children, when they drew and painted
intuitively. Twenty years later, I decided to take the advice and attempted to
break into the arts world.
Since January 2011, after years of wanting to take the brush
but finding excuses not to, I started to paint again. Flowers, nature, and
emotions – I just felt the need to relieve the creativity within that stayed
dormant for too long.
Now, I paint nearly every day with a rediscovered joy and
happiness. Every now and then I watch the old painting and I’m thinking “Why
did I ever stop?” and I promise
myself that this won’t happen again.'
'The photo is of an oil painting I did in my early twenties. It was the first time I used a
palette knife and at the time I was very pleased with the results.
I look at it now and realize how far removed it is from my current work. I now work with
acrylic paint, mixed media and do a lot of textile work. Colour plays a major role in
everything I create.'
Thank you Liz, Diana, Teodora and Ro for your participation - there are a few more participants to add in my next posts
I am truly amazed by the wonderful, rich contributions I have received and once I have had a chance to reflect on them all in more depth I will post my thoughts!
