Shaking it up and getting out of my comfort zone...
Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 5:58PM Every now and then, I get a niggle. Niggle, niggle, niggle. Get the paints out, it says. No, I respond. More niggling, more resistance. As a child, you couldn't keep me out of paint. Poster paint manufacturers must have loved me. I had no fear of the stuff, only free thought and a willingness to get messy. Paint, paint, paint.
I'm not sure when 'paint' turned into 'niggle'. I'm not sure if it was the complete lack of instruction in the medium through my education that scared me away from it. I'm not sure if it was the overwhelming awe I felt when seeing the work of others and the endless wondering of how to unravel their processes, each time coming to the conclusion that I couldn't do it. But, sure enough, paint became the enemy.
It still is my nemesis, but the desire to confront my demons sometimes gets the better of me. Today was one of those days. Big slab of wood, an idea, and several tubes of hell. I got stuck in. Five hours passed. Within that time, I rediscovered the joy of the immediacy, the challenge of working colour quickly, the power to run with experimentation and the antagonism that the messier result always offers me. And I enjoyed it.
The Distance Between Heaven and Hell (shown below after the first sitting - shonky shot courtesy of my iPhone) is a work in progress......
Shona McQuillan