Category Archives: abstract

Mercurial light in winter …

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Abstract workbook collage inspired by saltmarshes and creeks, by Mari French Contemporary Artist, 2023.
Workbook collage with gelli plate printed papers. © Mari French 2023.

It’s been a year of ups and downs, stresses and a few successes, plus a lovely new studio which has been a lifeline for my work. So, apologies to my readers for such a gap in posts, but I’m back now and progressing a ‘new’ series of work (and a few exhibitions to work towards next year). I qualify ‘new’ because while this work is still related to my ongoing obsession with the saltmarsh coast, it feels different, deeper.

Saltmarsh and creek near Boston, Lincolnshire. Photo by Mari French 2023.

The emphasis in this current work is on tidal creeks, snaking through the marsh, mercurial light reflecting the huge overhead skies; the dark mudflats around them. I recently visited the saltmarshes near Leiston Shore on the East Lincolnshire coast, across the wide expanse of the Wash from North Norfolk. The visit gave me a different perspective, and I also learned a bit more about this unique landscape habitat through the work of photographer Steve Thornton. His project ‘Invisible Carbon’ has produced many sublime dramatic photographs of the Lincolnshire saltmarshes and the accompanying text reveals much about the worth of these unique landscapes as a hugely valuable ecosystem in the fight against global warming. You can read more on his work here.

Detail of monochrome abstract landscape in acrylic on cradled panel. Mari French Contemporary Artist 2023.
Detail from new series of work in progress on cradled panel.
© Mari French 2023.

In developing this series of work my palette has become more subdued: warm umbers, soft blue-greys, indigo, a touch of pinkish siennas. I love the subtlety and it works well with the subject matter. I’m enjoying working on smooth cradled wood panels, altering them with brushed gesso before painting on them. The resulting texture and subsequent application and removal of paint is producing interesting atmospheric effects.

Abstract acrylic painting on cradled panel, by artist Mari French 2023.
Detail from new series of work on cradled panel. © Mari French 2023.

It has been productive spending time exploring the subject of tidal creeks and saltmarsh in my studio workbook, by creating collage papers with a gelli plate and assembling them; allowing experimentation with combinations of pattern, line and space and possible ways of referencing my experience of the subject. A few are included in this post.

Workbook collage with gelli printed papers. © Mari French 2023.
Workbook collage with gelli printed papers. © Mari French 2023.
Abstract paintings on the wall of the studio of artist Mari French, inspired by saltmarsh and creeks. © Mari French 2023
Abstract work on the studio wall, prompted by creeks and saltmarsh.
© Mari French 2023.

I’m really enjoying pursuing this work and to seeing how it develops. I hope you’ve enjoyed the read and the images.

Saltmarsh and creek near Boston, Lincolnshire. Photo by Mari French 2023.

Type cast…

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Detail of ‘Clearing’, mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2023
Detail of ‘Clearing’, mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2023

Thinking about the use of typography in my abstract landscape painting…

Portions of newsprint and large fonts, calligraphy and scratched lettering – I’m finding it increasingly satisfying to use these in mixed media work. Lately the challenge has been to source larger found type for recent bigger works on canvas, as the contrast in scale is important. Smaller newsprint still works as texture, but large bold lettering adds the impact I need, adding an exciting graphic element, supporting and strengthening the composition and tonal contrast. Fortunately I recently found a suitable source and swooped on it and my work table is now awash with torn out bits of newsprint.

Studio workbook with newsprint and collage. Photo © Mari French 2023.
Studio workbook with newsprint and collage. Photo © Mari French 2023.

I’ve been drawn to typography since I was a design student at Stockport College in the 1980s. I seemed to have a facility for it and loved using it as a design element in its own right.

However, recently I’ve been considering other possible roles the use of typography might be playing in my recent works; what it may be subliminally evoking:

The dialogue in my head, inner thoughts as I explore the landscape on location, and also as I conjure up my experience and impressions in the studio.

Overheard speech from other people moving through and using the same landscape – walkers, photographers, nature wardens, fishermen, shellfish farmers, etc.

The apparently wild, natural landscapes are corralled by mostly unseen by-laws, ownership and tenancy agreements, environmental legislation governing its use, and more.

The invisible incessant dialogue of phone signals, radio waves, digital information, criss-crossing the air over most landscapes, whether wireless or via masts and telegraph wires.

New work, mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2023
Untitled new work, mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2023

Of course I’m not suggesting the content of the lettering that I use is relevant (apart from calligraphy, the content of which comes direct from my sketchbooks). The choice is random, although I suspect certain portions of text may ring a subtle bell with me, or just intrigue me, when I select it.

The train of thought I wanted to pursue in this post though, is that almost all landscape is affected in this manner by human language and numbers of some kind; a pervasive element in some ways as worth acknowledging as weather and light. The realisation intrigues me and in some ways will continue to inform my work into the future. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.

‘Clearing’, abstract woodland landscape in mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2023
‘Clearing’, abstract woodland landscape in mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2023

Towards the sun …

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Turning year. Mixed media on paper 46x60cm © Mari French 2021

Happy New Year to all my readers and welcome to my first post of this year. I hope you had a beautiful festive season and wish you a healthy, peaceful and art-filled 2022. Thanks so much for following my blog.

As the year turns, like many artists I’m reviewing my work and thinking about where to take it next. I’m now looking forward to Spring, towards the sun. In my previous post (here) I mentioned my new series of autumn sunflower paintings and wanted to share with you some of my creative process.

What caught my attention about this beautiful field of faded sunflowers as I drove past last October, was how they looked like a subdued congregation deep in thought, or a gathering of dark suns, faces now turned to the earth. I took photos and gathered a bunch of the flowers to sketch and paint back in the studio.

Work in progress on the easel © Mari French 2021

Above is one of the autumn sunflowers series still in progress on the easel, in acrylic and ink on paper. I love to paint intuitively like this – obscuring and revealing layers of acrylic paint, scoring through or spraying with water, to create lively marks – so that the result is a complex accumulation of shades, hard and soft edges, ephemeral suggestions of shapes. Sometimes these are created by wiping through the paint layers with a damp cloth. Inevitably, much of the earlier stages will be covered up (or wiped away), but this is necessary for me to create the web of colour and texture I like.

Detail of work in progress above © Mari French 2021

In the closeup crop above you can see the soft luminous light this process gives to parts of the painting. Texture is also added with the use of drier brush marks, which contrast with softer blended paint (often done with the side of my hand – it’s great to get hands-on sometimes!).
This work in progress isn’t finished yet: I want to see less of an obvious separation between the creamy yellow areas and the lower blue/green ones; the sunflower heads are spread too evenly for me and some of the smaller ones higher up need ‘knocking back’ a bit to make it less busy; and I want to bring some of that lovely subdued pink in elsewhere to balance it.

Below is ‘Constellation’, another in the series in progress, in the studio, and the finished work below that.

‘Constellation’ in progress on the easel. © Mari French 2021
Constellation. Mixed media on paper 46x60cm © Mari French 2021

Many of my studio visitors and collectors tell me that they love that they can keep coming back to an artwork and still see more in it, sometimes even after years of owning the work. This is part of what makes it worthwhile for me.

Autumn encounter. Mixed media on paper 46x60cm © Mari French 2021