Cornwall to Norfolk in Tiny canvasses

I've been doing some tiny canvasses for my Etsy shop - and coincidentally, so has Sarah! (hers are gorgeous check out her blog ) We both posted at the same time and had both chosen 4 inch squares, though hers are on wood panels and mine are on canvas.

These are 4 inches square, on deep 1.5 inch sided, gallery wrapped canvas.

They work well in a group and even look nice standing up on a shelf as they are so deep.

I really enjoyed doing them and for a change used acrylics, not my usual choice of medium but it worked well for me.

Meditations

While painting I find that a kind of meditation occurs, brought about by the level of concentration that painting requires.  So as I was musing on this I came up with a plan, to do a series of paintings which would be flanked or complimented by close up studies or meditations. It seems a very useful exercise, focusing the mind, thinking about shape and colour in a more abstract way, although these are not at all abstract.

This is the sketch which I will use for the middle painting in this planned tryptich.  The place is Kennack Sands see here

So I have my plan, my sketch and now I shall begin work on the central painting... all the while meditating on the passing of a great master who died today.  Andrew Wyeth.  I shall be deep in thought.  In my mind I will be walking the lonely shore, listening to the waves booming and remembering a very fine painter indeed.

Breakers

Breaker
9 x 12 watercolour

The sea can be calm and glassy during the summer, but winter storms create a whole new beast. The power of the ocean can tear away wharves, move boulders that weigh more than cars, wash away roads and change landscapes.

Breakers, due to a storm surge, washed over Flatrock, the small town where I live, and caused 2 million dollars worth of damage one winter day in 2005. Not a day to be standing around watching the storm effects, but some did. This storm in 2007 was similar and you can see the remaining pillars of the wharf being washed over by the waves.

Capturing the movement of breaking waves is challenging as there are so many parts and values in them. Watching the repetitive movement helps fix it in my mind and lets me translate it more easily onto paper. I use a camera to catch the wave's crest and the various movements from a slow build out to sea to the moment it eases its grip on the shore and moves back out to be swallowed into the ocean again.

In this piece I should have used some masking fluid to keep the spray clean, but decided to see if I could work around it. I could go back in and add more spray with gouache or thinned acrylic, or even scratch some out with a knife blade, but for now I'll leave it.