#cjs20 day 23

The artist for day 23 of #cjs20 was John DuVal, a painter who specialises in watercolour. He captured the light and the feel, more than the details, and that appeals to me. Initially I wasn’t going to try it, even though I do landscape painting. Tony asked why not and I didn’t have a good reason! I’m pleased I did because actually his approach suits me.

I visited Pukakaiki, on the West Coast of the South Island,  in December with Alan and was fascinated by the rock formations. This small watercolour is based on one of the photos I took.

The art in my head

In November I spent a few days in Greymouth and Hokitika, and visited Hokitika Gorge. The shapes and colours have invaded my mind & are appearing in my art.

When I did my final (4th) year at The Learning Connection a few strong marks emerged, including a sort of curved power pole with a cross beam, normally in cream. (I can’t find an image of these works anywhere)

I’m finding those marks have reappeared in a new form – this time as a cross with some tiny hatchmarks near it, a cross and some hatchmarks inside a circle, and a curved pair of parallel lines with a cross beam. The circle / oval are featuring too, and are fairly new to me in terms of consistent use.

I’ve shown below some works from 2008, and some of the new works I’ve been doing, which are gelli prints as a base with mark making in subsequent layers. Looking at these, the connection between the 2008 marks, and today’s marks, isn’t as obvious as I thought it would be … 

(in other news, I think my scanner glass needs a good clean)

2008 work

2008 work