What’s on the easel…
…so to speak (I don’t really use my easel ;P).
I use the floor, the bench, in fact, if you look around my studio all solid horizontal surfaces are covered in the process of making art. Sometimes even the dining room table - much to my husband’s disdain! This is messy, yes, but it’s mainly to do with the way that I paint. I like to pool puddles of paint and let it dry without the influence of gravity pulling it down the surface and making it run.
I haven’t written a blog for a while because at the moment I’m in the thick of preparing for my next exhibition “When the heart is happy it forgets to grow old”. It’s at Darwin Visual Arts Association from 1st to 24th Sept 2023 - my first exhibition in my home town Darwin! I’m both painting and making mixed media pieces for this show. These little pieces start with a print of one of my original photographs underwater, and then I paint and sew over the top to create beautiful textures with shimmery embroidery thread. I can’t wait to show them to you framed - they are just gorgeous and really popular with my clients who just want something small to energise a smaller space in their home.
“When the heart is happy”, Kerry Inkster, 2023, Mixed media, 29.7cm 42cm.
Alongside my humming sewing machine and piles of thread, I’m also working on some extra large paintings. These types of paintings tend to sell overseas - but I haven’t made any for probably a year and wanted to get these out to my clients. They take an AWFUL lot of energy - sometimes I wonder why I decided to paint in such a physically demanding way. It’s just as well I do so much yoga!!
Here’s a “Work in Progress” hanging on my balcony - I love to sit here with a cup of tea and just look for things I need to change. The pets like to get involved - trusty Collie Sam is supervising in the background.
Unlike my mixed media pieces, I don’t exactly have the luxury of easily viewing the painting in its entirety whilst painting it. I’m having to hang the paintings on the veranda of my studio under the passionfruit vines. Here I get to see it in natural light and sit and ponder if I’m happy with its progress. It’s quite an undertaking making large works. Of course, working as an artist in the tropics presents special difficulties - so although this is easy in the dry season it presents quite a challenge being able to do this in the wet. It’s a dance with nature!
I’m looking forward to getting my exhibition fully together and being able to show you - so watch this space.
Plus I can’t wait to have a rest!!
