Making it your own

Over the past few years I have done a few workshops with different artists and about different techniques, mainly printmaking and a couple of watercolour classes. I really feel that each class no matter what the topic, improves all your art work but you do need to be careful that your work doesn’t end up looking like the instructor’s.

I’m really trying to make my work my own. In the end we are all influenced by particular artists that we admire but it is important to find your own style and build on that.

I have always tried to learn as much as I can from other artists and had a go at their style just to see what techniques are involved, the difficulty and the interest it holds for me. Also I think you appreciate the work involved in an artwork even more if you have tried something yourself.

Now, building on the watercolour lessons, I’m including more mark making and some different mixed media.

So thank you to all those wonderful artists for generously sharing their knowledge.

Art is a balancing act.

When creating my artworks I find it is a real balancing act as to how much to carve away, how much pattern to create, does it look too busy or is it too empty?

At times creating art can be very frustrating. All the good ideas and intentions in the world don’t always go according to plan and the ideas in your head, that view you have in your ‘mind’s eye’ don’t necessarily live up to expectations.

This is how I feel about these two works. After many hours of carving on each, one feels that there is too much busyness and pattern work, that is a view of Heide Gallery in Bulleen near Melbourne, the other, a view of a rocky outcrop on Mt Buffalo, I feel the cloud area is just too big an expanse of white and once it is carved away there is no going back!.

I guess even the best artists in history had good results and not so good results. I remember reading about Monet, how he would slash the canvas if not happy with his work. I’m not quite at that point! Just realising how the next work can always be better and you learn something from each work you create.

what do you think?