Right: the finished painting.When I packed up my bags for a week at the art school on the island, I really had no clue as to what to expect. I was very excited, and googled the paintings made by Maria, the teacher of the course. Her work was very intriguing, and I was curious to see that I’d take away with me. I brought along my usual materials, and prepared a few canvases - just in case. But in the back of my mind, I was hoping to be inspired in a new direction. And I did.
For me, this week became a week
of thoughts. Of considerations, ideas and motifs. I spent the first day studying art books in the library. Going for walks in the stunning surroundings, while I though of my “art situation”. What did I want to say and express? Which stories did I want to tell? I had some really good talks with Maria. It was interesting to learn more about her work process, as well as hear her ideas as to what direction my work possibly could/might take.
I feel that everywhere I’ve lived, has added something new into my paintings. My year in Denmark has been a very busy and interesting one, showing work and making new work as well. I thought it would be great at this point, just before going back to Guam, to bring something new and concrete with me. Things to consider in the tropics, where I am really not expecting to make much work this time around. So Maria and I talked a lot about ideas and twists in visual storytelling. What makes a painting interesting and intriguing? Maria showed me her sketch books which were full of simple and often slightly bizarre ink drawings. From these coincidentally arose sketches, she’d (after filling out a whole book) pick out a few, and base a whole series of work from them. But first she would arrange a photo session to recreate the images with real people, often friends that would pose for the photos. I was inspired by this work method, although I probably would never work this way specifically. But learning how other people collect ideas, I find very interesting and inspiring.
On our second day, Maria brought me and another fellow artist to the “red school”. A building that house another group of (very young) students. She’d already asked them if we could take some photos of them, and luckily they were a good sport.
Four girls helped us out, and we spent a good half an hour taking photos, have them pose in various ways, played with light/ shadows and angles. Basically just playing around with different ideas.
We took a ton of pictures that we brought back to our studio and looked over. Out of all these countless photos, only one really caught my attention. I cropped it, so only two of the girls were to be in the painting.
So later on, still on day two, I slowly started my painting, and this same piece was to keep me busy beyond the week. I went trough a lot of considerations during the process, tried various practical ways (suggested by Maria) to get the drawing onto the canvas, and all the time keep the details within the “frame of the photo”. I worked on the first portrait, and it was really coming along well. But the second one gave me all kinds of problems, I don’t know HOW many times I started over. It was never good, and since I was very happy with the first portrait, this was really frustrating. I talked to Maria, and we discussed my idea: to repeat the first portrait on the second person. That is what I decided to do. But, before I got to this point, the week was over, time to say good bye to everybody and pack up our things...
When I came home, the half finished painting were untouched for a while. I placed it in a spot where I would see it often, and suddenly I was ready to continue to work on it.
I like it now it's done. I feel it is different than my other work, yet I can totally see myself in it. But I don’t know if the break was a good thing. I think I would have worked better, had I finished it at one time. By the time I worked to finish the piece, I was getting ready to return to Guam, and had a lot on my mind. I guess I didn’t feel entirely a 100% into it, during the last part. A bit of a shame, but that was just the circumstances.
I did take a lot away from the course. Maria gave me tools and ideas to how I can continue my work, while also thinking of things to do, to move it in a new direction. Sometimes a push from an outsider is desperately needed. I’ve often found myself stuck in my own painting world, not being able to find a way out and look at it objectively. I think this is a very typical artist issue!
Below: the photo I worked from.
