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June 2014

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Is it finished?

Here is another update on the status of  the “gentle” work-in-progress that I told you about last week. You see I managed to contain myself and stay soft.

Half an hour ago before I started writing this update, I thought  I had finished the work and I was going to apply the final coat. The thing with me is that I never know when I have finished a piece. I can go on forever being finicky but there is a moment that I  just know  I have to stop. One, for the sake of not messing up the entire work  (which I have done many times by the way) and second, because I don’t know what else to do. It  feels very good when you can step back and confidently say “Done!”. It is rarely like that though. However once I let go and let the piece be, it somehow puts itself together. I know it sounds a bit strange but it’s true. I am facing this dilemma again and I feel that I need to go back into this work. I might. But for now I will keep staring at it on the white wall to see if it asks me anything more. Feel free to let me know what you think.

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“gentle” work-in-progress & aqua nails

It is a sunny cool day at the studio and I have been taking my time musing on aqua, mint, very gentle turquoise, soft neons and pearls. Usually I create depth by using darker underlying tones (here there is still some of it) and work with much richer tones and a high contrast palette. For now I am exploring layering of the soft tones all the way through with less contrast. I am also softening the neons with lots of white and I really like the tints it renders. It still has the shine but much softer.

My mantra these days for the few pieces I have going on is GENTLE!  I keep repeating it loud (my studio buddies can attest to that) in an effort to channel my impulse of doing something loud into softness and gentleness. Let’s see how far I can contain myself. I don’t think too long. As you can see the palette has even infected my nails. But no, I am not going to collage the nails into this. I will post the pictures of the completed piece for you as soon as I finish it.

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2.5 meter marathon completed

I finished my 2.5 meter marathon  a while back and here are some images for you. The piece is titled the age of innocence. It has an upbeat yet innocent look to it. The fresh neon orange was so prominent and captivating that it didn’t call for many cut-outs. As you can see l am still exploring the possibilities of the neon colour palette and I find it interesting that the energy and light of these colours push me towards using less collage pieces in my new works. I had prepared for a major collage work but I must have only used 5 or 6 pieces. I am very attached to my cut-outs so it is not an easy omission but the neons keep shouting less is more !

One of my studio buddies suggested we took the painting outside in the middle of the white crisp powdery snow right on the train track and photograph it under the sunshine.  It would have been a great set up for a photo shoot but by the time I finished the piece the gorgeous pure white of the snow had turned into a greyish slushy mess. So I lost the opportunity even though this winter like this piece had taken its grand time to finish. But given that imagery, I can totally visualize the type of a space where I like to see this work hung. You can see some of my wish list below (I should photoshop it into these picture for a better visualization.) So if anyone has a space with modern minimalistic vibe and high ceilings this is just the right painting!

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warming up for 2.5 meter marathon

I  am a procrastinator. I have finally accepted that.  There is this  massive 2.5- meter-long piece that I started in late October 2013 and stopped half way in between. Now the momentum is gone and I have to find my way back into it somehow. However, just like the way I used to procrastinate for exams/deadlines and  would take care of all the possible unfinished tasks I could think of, I have done quite a few smaller pieces in between. I need to get going on this massive neon madness! so I have cut over 100 pieces of patterns and shapes  for it. And  I am doing some warm-up works towards it.Here is the image of the neon -giant in progress.

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