Seascape in abstract (series on Jute)

Seascape in abstract (series Jute)

Seascape in abstract (series on Jute)

The difficulty with painting is, where and at which point is it at rest, if it has only infinite possibilities, especially when it occupies a seemingly finite form, which remains unmoving and constant. We are dealing with opposites again that are inconclusive and still belong to a random system and are ever changing, that do not slow down or increase in speed. It is a permanent state with a natural velocity and a versatile chronology contained or systematised into a pattern that is impossible to surrender, because on a bigger scale, the above mentioned is flawless.

The infinite can not be defined as a principle because any part of it you take will be also infinite and there are infinitely many divisible parts or interpretations. Example; We come into consciousness and as we go out of consciousness, if we can remember childhood, consciousness was a mistake and accident. Our memories as infants are the brightest and most authentic. If not remembered, they are new experiences.
Example two; Consciousness is a mistake. Memories are bright if they are new experiences, as we remember childhood.
Example 3,4,5,6...................are random interpretations of example one in reference to the primary principle that is laid down. This was discussed previously but never really applied.

At a certain point the process is complete when there is a new set of data to replace it. An accidental decision can not exceed a new form and therefore is impossible to have substantial existence as a principle regarding the subject and theme for each individual part, which is captured and consigned to memory.

An argument for the finite is valid but impossible to predicate because of the nature of the universe. "Either it will be indivisible or it will be divisible into infinities."

Let us consider modern science. A set of whole numbers consist of two infinite parts, a set of even numbers and a set of odd numbers. In extended magnitudes a straight line is infinite in both directions. Hawkins argument: the line is distorted in one direction and in the other it is perfect and straight as 2 opposites that exist simultaneously, divisible in a random fashion. This is a rash statement which could be investigated further.

Each part is no longer a conscious acknowledgement but still maintained as a discipline, adapted and reorganised because actual infinities are quantities, therefore not a substance but a coincidental attribute of things. It is arguable whether this could be a principle, now that science has moved on.   

Into the Rainbow Vein no2

A painting does often have a final outcome but this element of the craft is associated with a product that is something done and complete, or can never be altered once it is finished. It has been known for Artists to re purchase work and continue it in the studio, because the stuff that is paint, belongs to another category, which is continually affected and has no definite end. In order for a process to continue we have to generate an accident or series of accidents that are the catalyst of a new action/actions. It is out of force and necessity that things are closed. Death is one example. In the seascapes I like to imagine that they represent a place that is finite but at the same time they show a process that is always in transition. A technical note; When the initial thick paint has been directly applied to the fabric, this effect can not be achieved on a second layer when the application is often more of a creamy consistency and the final layers are very thin and transparent. The point is the transition has already been carried through, a bit like when you boil an egg, it will never be egg yoke again! The same rule can be applied to all subjects. Portraiture included.  

In the visual arts privation, (a cause of events which are not strongly necessitated) has dominance, when sometimes it seems impossible to see a transition through, because potentiality is an actuality still in the process of forming and bears only vague resemblance to a world that is necessity driven, which is why it is difficult to justify an activity such as painting. In modern society it is often considered as a glorified hobby, unless we enter solely into commercial enterprises.

The simple actuality of change is the process of transition. It is a special kind of actuality and permanently incomplete where we are unable or refuse to bring it to a conclusion, however even though it is elusive it is not impossible. The idea is to keep moving on. The process of change can often happen through deliberation in a controlled balance towards a proposed outcome and will remain random in it's basic form. Therefore it is necessary to display the process at rest, when it is not changing, rather than allowing it to constantly shift forward, determinate towards it's own end!

The Sunny Side

Oil paint is potentially a substance that is dry. If I use it when it's completely wet I am in the throws of an actuality decided by a condition that is the opposite to it's potential. Whilst it is drying there is a tendency to keep checking if it is ready to apply another layer. This is a bit like testing the water of a bath-a pointless activity. I may as well either leave it at the first decisions or do so many paintings that I could only return back to some of them months later. As an analogy, I would prefer to jump straight into the bath and get the timing perfect.

First decisions on the canvas are adequate enough and it isn't a positive thought process to try desperately to improve on them, therefore a process needs to be established so that we are not constantly judging the work as a good painting or bad painting. For instance in my portraits, I first sketch from life, then I use a full limited pallet and later introduce white paint from photos. This is standard practise. Inventing your own process however is a lot harder, which is the task I have to face with the seascapes. I am currently trying to marry something very sculptural with a  2 dimensional mind set, which includes constructing the frames and experimenting with a heavy coarse surface, using lots of masking tape to assist in the application of  rabbit skin glue and the compositions.

However I have realised that the original theory that I coined as Successionist does still seem to apply but it was formed in an accidental way. Whether it is necessitated or not necessitated makes no difference. The masking tape on the Jute is necessary in the preparation of rabbit skin glue because it prevents it from sticking to the box frame, which makes it easier for re stretching. I am now free to play around with something that isn't necessitated. 

Painting has the capacity for being created and destroyed, the properties for which, exist both potentially and actually but not at the same time or in the same respect. The first actuality for an Artist is potentiality, the 2nd is actuality and sustaining the moment infinitely. Whilst I build a body of work I am creating pictures, therefore it is not my objective to destroy them, even though the odd one here and there ruins. However I am aware that this process could eventually lead to destruction because the two are connected, but whilst I am in the process of creativity, the opposite doesn't apply even though it is apparent. Basically there are definite goals which are the result of hard work and we put equal amounts of energy into destroying and acheiving them. When the two are mixed the process is counteractive but still important in producing a genuine work of art. It's the paintings that go wrong that are more interesting or the ones that are full of mistakes, discrepancies and accidents.

The Seascapes

The Coast

Into The Rainbow Vein

The Headland Rock

The Cave. (completed painting)

A finished painting is not only concise in its execution but is resolute as a process of decisions as well and they should all be shown clearly, even if they are the result of many failed attempts, there is after all beauty in imperfection. The materials that I use are associated with the skill of being an Artist and are often the focus of the viewer. Once established however they can never be changed. This transition is difficult and can only come about through years of perseverance. It seems that 'a formation' what ever it is, is essential to our development, for something to materialise, that describes our nature truthfully, even if we are unable to achieve a definite end as such!

Let us not forget that chance is also an important factor, the tools and materials that we use are formed organically in the language of painting and also becomes the focus. For instance the Artist Francis Bacon used towelling and a comb to create textures and cotton wool on canvas's that were stretched backwards. All of these practises were associated with his own particular artistry. 

The Cave 1

A purposeful act is a conscious act and works on the assumption that all things bar human biped do not act with a purpose beyond the basic needs, for instance food shelter and survival. Painting is both necessary and unnecessary at the same time, because without painting the Artists life is not fulfilled. It is his or her purpose alone? Let us say instead that it is the reverse. It was the purpose intended by the materials and tools, to be developed so that the Artist can use them. Example: When the guitar was invented, it was for a very specific mentality-musical, but it was the nature of the instrument to come about in the first place and what ever precursors it. Possibly the inventors of such crafts did not create the things in themselves but the things created them and so it continues infinitely. Human consciousness is merely receptive to such influences more so than animals.

When survival becomes more imperative however we protect the vital elements that keep us alive. If nature acted purposefully would it not be the intention of nature to create books, technology, paint, pen, paper for very different but equally important reasons i.e pages of a book get damp and mouldy? a cat will sit under the book case, birds on a line or in the roof-ear wigs under the rags, dust settles on the computer etc etc? The wire is a perch. For now, if we consider them for our own reasons. Note book, pen, book to study from. This activity has been used in exactly the same way by Artists and Philosophers for centuries, but then there are newer technologies.

Let us consider that nature does not act purposefully and does not do things because they are better that way because there is no purpose, just merely organisms that evolve and become more efficient and learn to adapt. We have become what we are out of necessity in order to survive. It is out of necessity that things occur and often by accident. If I am struggling with a painting, it is by accident that the brush strokes work because it is a necessity that it doesn't ruin, there is no other option. An accident that is positive can happen even though it is a more natural occurrence in painting for it to go wrong, because the stuff is so difficult to control. In fact it is more natural for nothing to happen at all-for music not to be written, novels not to be constructed and paintings never to be produced! If these things were done out of choice without the necessity, it would be difficult to sustain our interest in them. Money is a modern day necessity and so is communication and technology.

We can see why the Art world and music industry has changed so much in recent years. Everything-creation itself is by accident-the parts of the body work together because of a series of accidents that are specific to that organism. On appearance it would seem that we are intended to carry out specific functions such as breathing and eating but we realise that we're capable of pushing our human capacity towards so much more. The first obstacle however is the necessity of our actions, it is our flaws and inabilities that lead us towards the pursuit of unnecessary activities, because we were unable to function normally like the average person. There is this sense that the Artist has run out of options and has no other choice but to paint. He isn't capable of doing any other profession other than his or her Art. As we approach a state of actuality a great deal of what we are dies apart from absolute necessity."We survive because spontaneously we have been put together in a useful way." The problem occurs when something new and unfamiliar is brought into the equation and this unfortunately is one of the tasks of the Artist, to invent something different in every work s/he does. Our bodies are designed to turn out as they do either always or usually, since hands could be used for playing guitar or holding a pen or brush rather that gathering and eating, like our ancestors.

When objects are applied to my actions and choices, they often come about because of necessity, for what ever reasons are important. In order to allow a process to work, we need to understand its behaviour intimately and this is what the painter tries to do with his or her practise, in an attempt to finely tune the senses such as eyesight, hearing, touch, tactile, skin on paint etc, muscle, force, and hair, the nervous system, skull, matted fabric and odour. Things that are caused out of necessity are usually for the better. If we learn the art of spontaneity through accidents, everything else which isn't necessitated is destroyed and continues to be destroyed. It baffles me why at a mundane and more serious level they are seen as bad, negative or clumsy, when accidents could be used in a positive way.

If I allow a painting to contain its own source of change or any form for that matter, the results are often more successful, that is, the object occurs naturally. My decisions of how a painting will progress are dictated by its own specific nature. This is difficult because one characteristic of the craft is both destructive and subject to change as well. For this reason we cannot categorise it as a thing which is unchanging or a primary entity in the universe, even though it may seem at times, that this is the end purpose of an Artists endeavours.

This characteristic keeps an Artist working. It involves laws of matter that determine the activity of our decisions. When objects in the world are applied to thought and ideas they become the concerns of something not material but psychological as well. Painting when it is an honest activity is good painting. We are engrossed in the form and the thing actually is! (note, forth cause is when something reaches actuality, when an Artist starts to recognise a pattern of work progressing.) The end of a work of art has a very specific nature and is impossible to continue when it is complete. We continually go through these processes of development for each work of Art and they seem to be different every time! The final cause is crucial in nature so that a form can be brought into actuality. It is an infinite process whereby explanation contributes to our projected ideas.    

I find that I have to use sources that naturally change rather than relying on a cause which is solely derived from man made purposes. I discovered that by allowing the paint to dry slowly and at different rates that I have to think and work a lot quicker. It is remarkably intense to use this process. It seems that nature itself has its own deadlines. I wouldn't be able to complete a project successfully if I didn't have trust or faith in these practises. Linseed oil mixed with the paint on a sized linen or cotton canvas is sufficient, rather than using other unnecessary gimmicky materials. These are traditional methods where science and craft become one.   

There are four causes. Painting as a natural science falls into these categories. As an Artist I have to consider each one carefully. The purpose of any activity, is to be fully engrossed in its form and to be excited about the source of change because, form, source of change and purpose, equate to the same thing, (Efficient Cause.) If it is a system that requires the control of accidents however, its legitimacy needs to be realised in some form or another. This is why I produce paintings and painting could be the reason why I attempt to apply this principle to other experiences. I have always been curious about whether it is effective in everyday life as well.

The outcome of this random experiment was an idea based on how light alters surfaces and this became my focas. There is however only a small series of paintings that work so far. It can also be applied to other subjects, seascapes, the human figure and portraits. It recently occurred to me that the subject of light could be the dominant theme, linking several creative practices together, such as music, spoken and written word.

The Drawings(Oil Sketches)

I started by studying a grid of up to several parts. The first was as follows, (note, once all parts have reached a conclusion, 2 ideas that simultaneously work are formed, both of which can link to other less related activities.) First I placed four points on a page, which were then repeated adjacently in all directions to make 4 squares, then I drew a symbol, designed to incorporate a grid, (crucifix is one example.) On the third, the symbol was repeated a number of times, producing patterns that can be reformed into alternate structures. These 3 points were carried over to a 4th, where I started working from observation of structures that are geometric, like fields or pylons. I could then recognise parallel lines of symmetry and apply them to other subjects, which are not directly related to geometry. At this point my drawing started to go in a completely different direction.