sunset

I'm painting again. As much as I enjoy playing with oils and watercolours and drawing and ... well, I'll have a go at anything, but acrylics keep coming back as my favourite medium. I think it's because I can't fuss too much because of the speed at which it dries (which was also something that attracted me to watercolour), but it has plenty of depth and intensity of colour. Both these factors have big advantages for a style I'm playing with - intuitive painting.

Intuitive painting involves letting go of control of a painting; just experimenting with colour and form and seeing where it takes you. It's about the process - and the end point may not bear any resemblance to where you start. It's ok to try something, then change it; to paint over it and try something else. It encourages you to try new techniques, new materials, new methods of applying the paint. 'Mistakes' are something to embrace and follow, to see where they might lead.

And the painting that emerges can take you by surprise! Even as I was working on it, I had no idea where it was going. The flowers emerged on the last day of painting - I thought I was done, and then I read something that said that when you think you've gone as far as you can, try introducing something completely different: a new colour, a line, a pattern ... and that's when the magic happens. So a painting that was mostly red and yellow and gold suddenly grew a garden of purple flowers.

Oh, and it's for sale. Acrylic on stretched canvas, matt varnish, unframed but edges finished with a black fabric tape. 28 x 22 inches. $AU350.00.