Category Archives: January

Patricia: January

Sunrise over the city

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Watercolour and ink on paper, 32 x 24 cm

An attempt to capture the colourful morning sky using a watercolour wet-in-wet technique. I made a series of about 15 practice watercolours of only the sky until I saw some technical progress, then added the black ink for the silhouette of the houses. I was fascinated by the strong contrasts in the light situation.

 

Manhattan Highrise surface fabric (R)

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Acrylic on paper, 40.5 x 50.5 cm

Since I’m in New York, I’ve been intrigued by the surface fabric of the highrises that dominate the city’s appearance. Natalie’s ‘Apartment Blocks’ (Incubator period) inspired me to take up the topic in a painting. In the future, I’d like to develop the approach further towards a more abstract interpretation.

 

Snowed-in planters

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Charcoal on paper, 45.5 x 60.5 cm

In awe of the massive amounts of snow in this winter’s first snowstorm, I sketched the snowed-in planters on the terrace, as seen from my studio window. I wanted to depict form through the different shades of white in the snow.

 

Snowy terrace with wooden stool and planters

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Charcoal on paper, 35 x 27.5 cm

A second sketch of the snow, here with an emphasis on the graphic qualities of the composition. Inspired by Richard Diebenkorn, I started with a very basic linear sketch which I completed by adding tonal values. The composition might work nicely as a print, too.

 

Yellow, green and blue abstract patterns (R)

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Watercolour on paper, 38 x 55.5 cm

This piece is part of a experimental watercolour series where I responded to the organic flow of lines in Natalies ‘Sea rocks’ sketch (Incubator period).

 

Imaginary landscape (R)

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Oil on paper, 33 x 51 cm

This piece was inspired by Natalie’s ‘Round Stones’ sketch (Incubator period), which I interpreted with a focus on landscape composition and abstraction. I responded to the peaceful and slightly mysterious atmosphere of the original sketch and built on my current fascination with Richard Diebenkorn’s abstract, colourful landscape paintings.

Natalie: January

First Snow

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Acrylic on paper, 20 x 20

It was the first day of snow and I rushed out to take some pictures before it started to melt away and look messy. Later that day I tried to depict this tranquillity using my photos for reference.

 

Jam

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Charcoal on paper, 21 x 29

A small study of fruits and a jar before making another portion of jam.

 

In the kitchen

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Acrylic on paper, 21 x 29

With this study I didn’t want to arrange the composition, as the main aim was on depicting the objects in the way they are on the daily basis. It was a good job my kitchen was clean on that day otherwise the 21 x 29 format wouldn’t have be big enough for it!

 

Play Yard (R)

J3
Acrylic on paper, 20 x 20

This study was an inspiration from Patricia’s Pheasant (Incubator period) even though the subject itself has no connection to it. Patricia’s pheasant looked rather proud walking on its own with its striking nature given colours. I immediatley wanted to find something similar, but in non-living objects. Luckily for me the snow helped to minimise the surounding’s clutter into more basic and clear surfaces and the children’s play yard, that I pass on the daily basis, stood out even more. I decided to focus exclusively on the colours and let the structures only to be suggested. The white ground was untouched, to represent snow. What I really wanted is to depict a sence of pride I detected in the Pheasant!

 

 

Thinking Man (R)

J2
Black ink, acrylic on paper, 20 x 20

This study was inspired by Patricia’s “Marble head of a man” (Incubator period). The face looked so serious that I wanted to undertake some continuation of the story. I ended up using a photo of my husband taken a few years ago while he was sitting in the garden with a no less serious face.

 

 

Black entrance (R)

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Acrylic on paper, 20 x 20

This study was a response to Patricia’s “A shed at Muscota Marsh, New York.” I almost felt a desire to continue this theme and see whether I would be able to find anything with bright colours during a winter period. Apparently there are plenty of things around that I didn’t pay attention to before! The three yellow doors are the ”black” doors of the local Philharmonic School near my residence. It was a sunny day, the snow had almost melted and this side entrance provided greater attraction to me than the main entrance. ( ‘’Black entrance’’ is not a spelling mistake – it’s a translation of a Russian term for tradesman’s entrance and as we can see it’s not necessarily black.)