green and red

The first of these paintings was made as a test. Did the tempera block paints that we had selected for the children at school allow them to mix all the colours they needed. Turquoise, ultramarine, vermilion, crimson yellow and white. With the addition of black ink the answer was yes.

The paint is lovely to work with. Nudging colours through different temperatures with so little fuss. From wet to dry they change – so every stage presents a slow reveal. Layers disturb one another so solutions have to be found. I don’t think work can be made with intention alone.

The paintings became a series based on the incidental things that we tend to notice – even as we are engaged with the grander business of living life with purpose. They are like a pulse. As I look over them I know the depths of significance that they have for me – and enjoy the fact that that significance has a strength as slight as the moment was brief. They are paintings of light and bubbles and water vapour and air. The stories will vanish. It’s funny.