Snow of Memory

Snowy Walk, egg tempera on panel, 30x20, 

I was asked how I worked recently. Did I draw, did I work plein air, did I use photos? I use all those strategies but I don't work in a straight line, visualising an outcome. I begin with something I want to try out and then things happen and I need to make choices and find ways to solve problems. 

I have tried to keep the snowy light in my head so that I could make a little series of pictures of walking in the morning light. I did some drawings and took some pictures and tried to look and look. I looked through paintings and kept two books open as I worked on this: Wolf Khan, pastels and particularly: Looking towards St Peters (1963) and Bonnard (Phillips Collection exhibition) Piazza del Popolo, Rome.

Wolf Khan, Looking towards St Peters

Pierre Bonnard, Piazza del Popolo, Rome

The place and the situation are a collage of memories, stitched together to make a believable moment. The figure with the hat was added later and I removed some things that were distracting. The moon was a happy accident.  a drop of water that removed the tempera.

The Figure in Context

 Conversation with View, 23x16, egg tempera on panel

I painted a landscape of Manningtree months ago and I couldn't resolve it.  I finished it, but it wasn't resolved so it sat in my box of incomplete egg tempera panels.  When I visited the Bonnard, ten days ago, I particularly loved the figures in context and the way he paints light. So I wondered whether the idea of  'light behind' would work in this case and whether some figures might complete it.

I printed a photo of the panel and drew some figures in with a pastel pencil so I began.  what i love about working on egg tempera that has set is that you can actually wipe off the bad drawing and it reamins exactly the same.  It is permanent! and there is a differnt kind of underpainting to explore.

Clearing Snow

Having used the pure pigment of gouache, these Akua intaglio inks are a bit pale by comparison, but I thought they might be able to approximate snow light in their own way, so I moved aside the oils and began.  Even though I find making monotypes so arduous at the start, as I begin to finish there is usually a sense of wonder and delight.  They take time, focus and luck. I love rubbing the paper with the wooden spoon , lifting up the corner and seeing what it all means in reverse etc...