Wednesday 24 September 2014

Around the World Creative Blog Hop Post!

I have been nominated by a fellow artist, Francisco Alonzo  (www.raeburnsramblings.blogspot.com) to take part in this project, called "Around the World Creative Blog Hop", no less.

 The rules are the same for all participants;
Answer the four questions, publish the answers via your blog and then nominate three new artists to continue the merry dance.

So here goes, my contribution to this arty adventure:

Martin Olsson's

Around the World Creative Blog Hop

1.  What am I working on?

I always have a number of paintings on the go at any one time. As my studio visits are irregular at best at the moment, it makes sense to me to have a choice of projects to return to. I never know which mood the studio will find me in.

I'm investigating colour, space and proportions in my work. Colour I find especially interesting, as a carrier of its own meaning, sufficient to produce a presence that stands up well to investigation and contemplation. 

For me, the strict limitation of expressive content is key in honing each work until just the right "note" is reached.


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2.  How does my work differ from others of its genre?

 I would have to say by my chosen limitations. The specific limitations I have chosen to work with and how this affects my possibilities to paint is probably the most significant aspect in differentiating my work from other artists' work.

 I can enjoy what other artists' create, whether they work in an abstract or figurative idiom. I inform my own work from observing what others have done, whether it's friends or characters from the art historical past. I think that the aim of each artist is crucial in differentiating between individual approaches. What is the artist aiming for? The more I look at others' work, the more this question matters.


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 3. Why do I create what I do?

 Sitting down, facing the canvas in total solitude whilst listening to music in the headphones is an intensely pleasurable experience. I would happily paint for this reason alone! As it happens, other aspects come into the mix as well. 

There is an excitement in experimenting with the picture plane, the deceptive simplicity of using but a few "ingredients" and see how much can still be done. Colour resonates with us on many levels and I find the more interesting levels are those which have less to do with 'beauty' or 'the sublime' and more with straightforward formal inquiry. Simplicity rocks.


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4. How does my creative process work? 

It's very simple. Technically I use acrylics, industrial or household paint, masking tape and a palette knife. 
The starting point is always an urge to make two colours relate to each other on the picture plane. I instigate a conversation, set the tension, a theme will grow from these simple beginnings and I just add and take away as the image develops, almost by itself.

 I choose a canvas or a board, I rarely have specific preferences at this stage, a lot is just allowed to happen. Rather than create the image I 'direct' it. Parts will play the roles they innately hold, I simply adjust, tweak and ask them to work together, with each other as well as myself. 


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Well, that was my answers in this Hop, and I'm now very happy to hand over to these three fine people and cracking artists:

Patricia Volk   www.patriciavolk.co.uk
David Smith    www.davidsmithartist.net
Tim Smith       www.timsmith.artweb.com    


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