Annual Studio Springclean!
In between walks, family time, naps, spring-cleaning the house, and fighting off the flu, I’ve been lining myself up for a good start to 2025 in my studio…
Bringing poetry into in my creative process
I’ve been enjoying exploring poetry in recent months. I love finding poems that resonate deeply or express experiences in ways that move me. And I love it when I find a poem that expresses through words something that I was trying to express through the painting I created, as happened with these collections:
Greeting Cards
I’m producing a limited range of greeting cards locally. Here’s how you can order them…
My Research Into Inks & Watercolours
I’ve been really enjoying the fluidity of inks, but realised I needed to do some methodical research into the capacities and qualities of different inks. Some dull a lot more than others when they dry, for example, which can be quite a disappointment! I wanted to compare brands and see which colours hold their colour best as they dry.
Research into Protective Coatings For Artwork
Cath Duncan Art Copyright 2020
Research into Protective Coatings For Artwork
A final protective coat is so important for the longevity of artworks. There are so many options these days for works on paper, as well as works on canvas, wood, or other surfaces where vulnerable mediums like water-based, chalk-based, mixed media, charcoal, etc have been used.
Choosing your finish is pretty technical … use the wrong one and you may smudge the charcoal or the water-based medium may bleed… a disaster on a piece that was finished and looking beautiful before you applied the protective coat!
The search for a surface that's imperfect, beautiful, ALIVE..
One of my sticking points this past year has been a new-to-me feeling of dissatisfaction with canvas as a surface. I’ve been feeling drawn to surfaces that feel more natural, textured, “imperfect”, absorbent, “alive”, like wood and papers. In comparison, canvas feels manufactured, almost plastic, dead.
Studies of the colours of St Ives
I love the colours I found in St Ives… silver and yellow ragwort, soft sands, warm rusts, sages, aquas, cool greys, and deep browns.
These studies I created today are an initial exploration of the colours and I’m also noodling over the mediums I want to use too… I’ve used acrylic inks, coloured charcoal, water-based pastels, and oil sticks for these studies.
Finding My Creative Flow
If you’ve been reading my newsletters, you’ll know that I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting, learning, reflecting, and writing this year, following a soft yet persistent whisper that’s been calling me to learn the things I need to learn so I can make the art that my soul wants to make. The thing is, despite a lot of art-making and a lot of learning this year, the art I’ve made has been all over the show, I haven’t made much art that I love, and I haven’t had the foggiest idea what this “art that my soul wants to make” looks like!
Touching Vitality
Our hike and swim at Nanjizal Beach, Cornwall is still on my mind and inspiring me creatively as I continue to look for ways to express what it meant to me.
Collage Play With Paint Tester Scraps
These prices were made using scraps of the cards that I do colour and drawing tool testing on while I’m creating art. They’re a fun way to explore abstract compositions, and notice unconscious marks I make.
Noticing My Habits So I can Push My Comfort Zone
One of the wonderful ways that a daily art practice helps me grow is that with regular art-making it's easier to notice if you have habitual ways of doing things. Of course, when you notice a habit - just as in life - you always get to decide for yourself whether you enjoy the habit and feel it serves you, or whether you'd like to expand your comfort zone and change up that habit.
Sketchbook Study: All the Greens of Prussia Cove
One of the wonderful ways that a daily art practice helps me grow is that with regular art-making it's easier to notice if you have habitual ways of doing things. Of course, when you notice a habit - just as in life - you always get to decide for yourself whether you enjoy the habit and feel it serves you, or whether you'd like to expand your comfort zone and change up that habit.
