Momentum - and running out of steam

Anyone who follows me online may have noticed that I have been very busy in the studio over the past few weeks, and completed a number of semi-abstract / abstract landscape paintings. These acrylic and mixed-media works arose from my sketches over last summer and through the winter.

My sketches are a sort of visual shorthand; they probably look a bit of an obscure mess to anyone else, but they take me back to the time and place where I created them, and remind me what I found interesting / exciting / intriguing back then.

A collage of some of my sketches - some of the sketches also being collages

In the studio, I browsed through these sketches and took elements from them to inspire the paintings I produced. Each panel and canvas was its own adventure and I felt a kind of momentum driving me on.

"Ceiriog Valley #1"

"Weathered"

 

"Weather 01"

And until Sunday, that was how I was working. But on Sunday afternoon, I started a new painting and found that I was subconsciously reproducing something I'd done before. All the excitement and energy was slowly ebbing away. I was running out of steam. So I downed tools and stepped away.

I'm now therefore focussing on admin tasks, preparations for a forthcoming life-drawing demo and workshop, and blog writing (obviously). And for the next day, or possibly longer, I'll continue to keep away from landscapes. And then I'll brave the elements, get out sketching, and start painting again with renewed energy.