....Happy New Year!

 

A very belated Happy New Year! I had almost given up on this blog, or at least decided to give it (and myself), a rest for a while, but neither of those things seem that easy so here I am. 

 

I’m currently trying to make some new large paintings for a forthcoming exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in May. It’s quite a difficult space to hang work in, although it appears fairly generous, as it is narrow, and I can’t use all of the walls (but this is something I want to try and wrangle with them), so I’ve decided to make 3 large canvasses, each one 200 x 150cms, specifically for the space. ‘Site-specific’, as they say. I also want to attempt these larger paintings as a personal challenge to create some more ambitious and formally complex paintings that explore my current preoccupation with lorries and transit hubs found under the motorway. So far, however, I’ve only made one, ‘Artic’, represented below, which took me about two months either side of Christmas to complete.   

'Artic', oil on canvas, 200 x 150cms, 2015-16

I’m pleased with it, particularly my use of materials to create and describe different surfaces and textures, something which has become much more of a concern as I have developed these lorry pieces, and one of the things I’m enjoying most about making them. This week I have put the stretchers together and stretched the canvas for the other two I hope to make, but time is something of a continual issue I find myself battling with lately, and, despite having pretty firm plans for both the other two paintings, I am worried about whether I can complete them in time. I do have a vague, slightly crazy, contingent plan if it all goes pear-shaped, though.