I Hear The Storm Bells Ring

I’ve had this thought about how raindrops fall when they hit puddles. The interaction of one ripple hitting another and so on fascinates me and any chance I get to watch this is cherished. The physicist in me is working out how forces are cancelled out as they meet others and things like that, but the artist in me sits and watches the patterns and shapes. It’s inevitable that two concepts like this will meet up at some point.

From the start I wanted to use black and white but a little bit differently to how I would normally do things. What I mean by this is the way in which I have applied the paint. You can see the gentle arcs and circles appearing and disappearing – these are made up of individual layered applications that are carefully placed and applied with a flat PVC blade. I have not used this tool or technique before.

It has caused me to practice much more though, I’ve had to become a lot more refined with the pressure of my hand and the fluidity of how I move my wrist. Additionally I have also had to be extremely careful with what I’ve added to the paint – enough magic ingredients to let it flow but not too much that it loses definition. As always with these new things there is an element of risk. But that’s what practice is for. To make sure that the main performance is perfect.

And so to the colours. With the exception of red it’s the two colours I enjoy working with the most. Part of that is the challenge of coming up with something new and preferably something that isn’t just grey! I think I have the balance just about right. I could work in monochromatic tones all day long.

This painting is long and slim so whilst being a little unusual in it’s overall shape it is still plenty big enough to add drama whilst being small enough to fit into the narrowest of spaces.