Here are four new paintings out of many I’ve been working on this past while. This work has taken on its own direction and I am very excited about where it is going and the process of making it.
I went back to abstraction in a more expressive way through charcoal drawing and bringing that through to the painting. When I am out sketching for ideas for a new paining I focus on the atmosphere and details that catch my eye. My drawings are more expressive and quick as I like to get the composition down quickly. When back in my studio I found that the freedom was more enjoyable while doing these quick sketches and that gave me the urge to start the painting with charcoal and pencil, making marks and developing something to start with. I didn’t want to loose the drawing so when painting I would keep what appealed and worked as part of the painting, so some of the drawing comes to the surface while other parts get lost. This is the challenge that makes the work more interesting to make and with free gestural strokes and use of colour, this way of painting has been an exciting new direction.
With my last painting series between 2016/17 which was my explorations of the forests and trees. I saw them as reminders of time and in brief of existance. I was interested in the fragilities of the landscape and I became more focused on the dyeing trees. I really indulged into my wonders and love of being in a forest and it was like an itch I had to itch.
Derval Freeman 