a ‘work in progress’… acrylic/mixed media on canvas, 80x80cm … another in my explorations of the abstract imagery of the mining area near Cape Cornwall. You might have noticed the inverted commas back at the start of this post … well … I can’t decide yet if I should do much more to it or what the nature of the further work should be. A common dilemma for artists I realise.
But, although I like how it’s looking just now, I’m also aware that it’s a bit of a crossover, with a large abstract section but also more representative upper parts… and this is why it’s been hanging on my studio wall for a few weeks now. Do I leave it largely as is, perhaps with some subtle colour toning/glazing in the orange lower areas; or try to reconcile the abstract/representative areas? Is it acceptable to leave it as is? I’m aware as an artist, this is ultimately down to me, but constructive opinions would be gratefully welcomed.
Mari French RI : contemporary artworks 
I like it rotated thru 90 degrees clockwise – you get the sweep of coves and the big ochre shape alludes to the great snaking lizard peninsula …
interesting idea Elaine, thanks for the feedback 🙂
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Thank you! and for checking out my blog. Your magazine looks very interesting and I will be submitting artwork for the cover comp 🙂
Visually, it is very interesting the way it is. That it consists of different areas with different properties creates an interesting tension.
The top part may be interpreted as representational, something like a landscape with buildings, but this interpretation is not necessary. One can just take it as a pure abstract. You may have had something in mind when you painted it, so you are thinking of it as something, but the viewer does not know that. He might also see the landscape with a tower or chimney or something like that, but not be able to extend that interpretation over the whole painting. One can not unify it into one uniform description and that keeps the mind going.
One association I had are pictures in geology books showing landscapes with the ground below cut open to see the different layers (by the way, I would leave the brown areas as they are. That they are without texture looks nice) However, this interpretation itself brakes down in the left lower corner.
The geologic layers below our feet in turn could lead to a symbolic interpretation (all the unknown structures below our world). Of course, I am making such a mental connection because I am currently thinking about how our everyday world is emulated by some underlying system (what one could call “underground” in a figurative sense) that has much more properties than that as-if-structure running on top of it. Our theories about reality are always incomplete and below what is described and controlled is a rest of that underground from which new things can bubble up. I am calling this rest the residuum.
But these are thoughts I am projecting into the picture because I am just thinking about that topic. Somebody else might think of something totally different. In any case, the picture is thought-provoking because you cannot just put it easily into a simple box. I would leave it like it is, or only do very little again.
Thank you Nannus, once again you have come up with a really interesting and thoughtful response to my query and work. I very much appreciate your insight. Your impression of the geological underlying structure in the work is very close to my own whilst painting, although, as with most of my artworks, I rarely set out with a particular outcome in mind, they develop from accident and serendipity with the materials. Your point re others seeing the work differently to how I do is a good one and one that I need to remember! so easy to forget! 🙂
Again, many thanks, for reading my posts and for your always valuable insights.