Tag Archives: sea lavender

sunshine and storm…

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North Norfolk salt marsh with sea lavender. Abstract landscape in mixed media painting on canvas © Mari French 2018

Saltmarsh with sea lavender. Mixed media on canvas © Mari French 2018

Despite the continuing high temperatures I’ve managed to get some painting done lately in my studio (not as much as I would like!), by getting up earlier and using the few morning hours before the heat cranks up.

Inspired by my recent visits to Thornham salt marsh on the north Norfolk coast (see previous post here) and also the ripening harvest in the local fields, I’ve produced the few mixed media pieces shown here.

Ragged Marsh at Thornham, Norfolk, with wildflowers. Abstract landscape in mixed media painting on canvas © Mari French 2018

Ragged Marsh, late summer, Thornham. Mixed media on canvas. © Mari French 2018

The work at the top of this post was painted soon after a hot sunny day at the coast with swathes of purple sea lavender carpeting the marshes. The second canvas (above) was produced shortly after a spell of cloudy, humid, then spectacularly stormy weather (many hours worth of lightning, thunder and heavy rain in one evening). Interesting how the weather change seems to have affected the colours and light in the two works.

Like most of my artworks the pieces in this post are painted mainly in acrylics with the addition of a variety of other media such as inktense pencil, watercolour pencil (fixed with a little acrylic medium), and a little Posca paint pen. One of the reasons I use acrylics rather than oils is that it lends itself successfully to combination with a wide variety of other media, which is especially good for mark-making.

Ripening barley fields. Mixed media on canvas by contemporary Norfolk artist Mari French.

Harvest. Mixed media on watercolour board. © Mari French 2018

‘Harvest’ (above) and ‘Hot summer sun’ (below) are completely intuitive works. I was playing around with paint, layering it on and wiping it off, spraying it etc. just to see what happened and obviously the late summer heat and the golden fields of barley have subconsciously influenced the results.

‘Hot summer sun’ below is a bit different to the others, almost like a linocut or screenprint. Yet, recognisable imagery from my recent experience seems to be there – hot sun, black fields or cliffs depending on how you perceive it, hints of golden reeds or ripening barley. It’s this ambiguous nature of abstracted landscape that appeals to me, leaving some leeway to interpret the imagery according to our own experience.

Hot summer sun. Abstract landscape in mixed media on watercolour board by contemporary artist Mari French.

Hot summer sun. Mixed media on watercolour board. © Mari French 2018

 

Sea lavender & dark skies…

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Sea lavender sketch, Thornham saltmarsh

Sea lavender sketch, Thornham saltmarsh. © Mari French 2018

Due to flagging and wilting in the extended heatwave of the past 7 weeks, I’m playing catch up with painting and social media etc. I’m really not good in the temperatures of 34C plus which we’ve had lately.

Anyway, enough grumbling! We had a fantastic lightning storm last night and torrential rain, so I’m feeling a bit more refreshed and don’t need to water the garden for a few days. This post is really to tell you about a sketching trip I had to Thornham salt marsh on the North Norfolk coast a week ago, when it was a bit overcast and threatening rain (though it didnt) and so much more comfortable for walking and sketching. (I did post some of these images on Facebook etc, so they may look a bit familiar to some of you).

Sea lavender and dark skies, Thornham, North Norfolk. © Mari French 2018

Sea lavender and dark skies, Thornham, North Norfolk. © Mari French 2018

I’d driven up to Thornham to catch the swathes of sea lavender that carpet much of the Norfolk marshes this time of year. But I was also astonished by the profusion of wildflowers (despite the drought, or maybe because of it) and butterflies along the paths on top of the sea defences – mallow, wild fennel, corn cockle, wild carrot and something with exquisite clover-like white and blue flowers which I haven’t yet identified (see lower left image). Feel free to enlighten me!

 

Mallow, Thornham salt marsh. © Mari French 2018
Fennel, Thornham salt marsh. © Mari French 2018
Wildflowers, Thornham salt marsh. © Mari French 2018
Wild carrot, Thornham salt marsh. © Mari French 2018

I started off with gouache, which I’m enjoying using more frequently recently, combined with other media like pencil and Posca paint pens. But I soon decided to switch to wet-in-wet watercolour as the gouache was drying too fast and causing the brush to drag. I thought wet-in-wet might allow me to evoke the looming skies and shadows on the marsh more effectively. I love the way the creeks reflect the light, especially as the skies darken.

 

Favourit bench, Thornham salt marsh, North Norfolk. © Mari French 2018
Ragged Marsh, Thornham © Mari French 2018
Dark skies, high tide, Thornham Creek, North Norfolk. © Mari French 2018
Sea lavender, Ragged Marsh.

Sea lavender, Ragged Marsh. © Mari French 2018

I’ve since been getting back into the swing of painting in my studio (only in the mornings for now, too hot after lunch), and I’m having fun putting some of these influences to use on canvas, which I’ll show you in my next post.

 

Recognition & resonance: Venice (ii)

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Venice lagoon series. Mixed media on paper. © Mari French 2016

Venice lagoon series. Mixed media on paper. © Mari French 2016

I had a creative block after getting back from Venice (see previous post here). Floundering around wondering whether I should be painting inspiration from my holiday or continue with the ongoing saltmarsh coast series. Seems obvious now, but anyway, as suggested by a facebook artist friend I cut up a pile of small pieces of Hannemuhle watercolour paper and decided to just please myself and experiment with whatever medium took my fancy, taking the pressure to perform/produce off and have fun.

To my surprise what emerged was a collection of abstract little jewel-like images in which, without too much effort, I could recognise imagery from my recent experiences of Venice and its lagoon. After a few days of experimenting like this I felt confident enough to work in a similar fashion on larger pieces of watercolour board. As you can see from the images posted below, there’s a lot of splashed about ink (acrylic and Quink), oil pastel, Posca paint pens, inktense stick and acrylic paint.

Palazzo garden
Broken reflections
Depths and shallows
Moonlit canal, Canareggio.
Canalside garden, Canareggio
Mixed media on watercolour board. © Mari French 2016

Mixed media on watercolour board. © Mari French 2016

Around the same time whilst researching Venice’s lagoon online, I was delighted to come across the beautiful and evocative La Venessiana blog/website. Set up by Venetian resident Iris Loredana, it shares seasonal family recipes for Venetian food and perfumes and celebrates the seasons and secret places of the city and lagoon. One post particularly fascinated me, giving little-known (to me) facts and background on the islands of the lagoon and the lagoon itself. For instance, I had no idea that the sea lavender that I love to paint on the north Norfolk coast also grows on some of the quiet lagoon islands (plus many more unexpected and interesting connections and resonances for me between the saltmarshes of Norfolk and Venice). Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in authentic Venice and her environs.

Approaching Mazzorbo. Mixed media on paper. © Mari French 2016

Approaching Mazzorbo. Mixed media on paper. © Mari French 2016