Natalie: December

Yellow coat

d3
Charcoal, soft pastels on paper, 21 x 25 cm

This drawing is my symbolic statement about the end of this project. It was great and thus the yellow colour that I associate with happiness and the image of the coat hinting at the end and time to go.

 

 

Flying balloons

d1
Soft pastels, acrylic on paper, 21 x 29,5 cm

A few days ago the whole country was celebrating Independence Day. The image of the flying balloons (taken by a local reporter) caught my eye for their absolute random and beautiful composition in the air. I simply wanted to depict this composition with paint without any changers, as I find it rather organic and unpretentious.

 

 

First snow

d2
Watercolour, soft pastels on paper, 21 x 23,5 cm

We had a first snow last week and ta-dah…. a small impressionist study.

 

 

Keep it warm (R)

d4
Soft pastels on coloured paper, 19 x 21 cm

This is my response to Patricia’s Home (November). I simply could not resist to offer up some socks! Maybe because we are in the winter season at the moment. :o)

 

 

Staring at the sea (R)

d5
Soft pastels on coloured paper, 21 x 24 cm

This is my response for Patricia’s Autobahn (November). The little black figures were quite charming and I wanted to focus on the same subject in my response. I wanted to depict peace and a “deep in thought” moment… no urban life, no traffic, no fear for pedestrians.

 

 

Fist aid (R)

d6
Watercolour, soft pastels on paper, 29,5 x 31 cm

This is my response to Patricia’s I love my broken pot (November). ‘’Let’s save this pot!’’ was my immediate reaction, so I re-produced some useful tools.

Patricia: December

Transparent Green

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Watercolour on paper, 33 x 43 cm

This piece was inspired by an exhibition poster of the Paul Klee show currently running at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I wanted to experiment with different intensities of green and combinations with yellow and orange. My piece is a lot less interesting that Paul Klee’s… I still like to look at it, as there are some interesting effects of depth resulting from painting transparent layers.

 

Transparent Blue

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Collage on board, 38 x 50.5 cm

Staying with the theme of transparency, I experimented with tissue papers. I used light and dark blues in layers and was interested in the different nuances of blue I could achieve.

 

Still life (my desk)

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Watercolour on paper, 33 x 43 cm

A monochrome study of the items on my desk. I used indigo pigment in layers to achieve darker values and partially overpainted them with white acrylics to bring back the lights. The aim was to simplify the values to dark, medium and light.

 

Christmas with cats at home (R)

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Watercolour on paper, 22.5 x 30 cm

This motif was inspired by Natalie’s Armchair (November 2016). Originally I wanted to follow up the idea of a line drawing, but then my sketch developed into a tonal drawing which I subsequently coloured. I became hooked to depicting the tonal variations of the throw on the sofa. To me, the image captures the peaceful atmosphere at home with my cats for company.

 

 

Untitled (R)

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Mixed Media on paper, 30.5 x 45.5

This collage is a response to Natalie’s Mariner (November 2016). My starting point were the metal sheetings behind the mariner and the little bolts that fixed them in place. I used craft paper which I folded and glued onto the support, then decorated the edges with dots so that it looked like a decorative seam on denim trousers. The stylized eyes are potato prints of white over black acrylic paint. My work process followed my intuition while I was trying to develop a lively abstract composition.

 

 

Farewell (My friend the pianist has died) (R)

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Mixed media on board, 38 x 50.5 cm

Visually, the piece is a response to Natalie’s Jars (November 2016), as I started out with the idea of simple elements outlined before a dark background. It inspired me to use a sgraffito technique with oil pastels. While I was building up the layers, my mind wandered off to thoughts about a friend about whose death I just had found out. He played the piano very well and also worked as a piano technician and tuner. I’m so sad that he’s gone.

 

Natalie: November

Armchair (R)

nov4
Textile, 21 x 27 cm

This is my response to Patricia’s The high bed (October). As I was deep into sewing during that time I wanted to recreate something with lines and stitches to imitate a simplified line drawing of the armchair.

 

 

Jars (R)

nov5
Textile, 22 x 24 cm

This is my response to Patricia’s Bottles (October), where I focused on the figure/ground presentation exercise by using textile and hand stitching.

 

 

Sewing tools (R)

nov66
Frottage, acrylic on paper, 20 x 28 cm

This is my response to Patricia’s Keeping thing together (October). My sewing activities could not be more appropriate for undertaking such a response… besides sewing is by definition, for keeping things together! I used the frottage technique to highlight my sewing tools and at the final stage, I put the whole paper through the sewing machine to create the fundamentally important lines.

 

 

Yellow forest

nov2
Acrylic on coloured paper, 21 x 30 cm

This is an abstract composition representing a yellow forest. I’ve just realized that my focus on yellow in general is getting a bit obsessive lately. My only explanation is that we are surrounded by the yellow trees at the moment and I am quite an obsessive person! :o)

 

 

Mariner

nov3
Acrylic on coloured paper, 29 x 41,5 cm

Living by the sea will inevitably influence the choice of subject… and this image is no exception.

 

 

A little nap  

nov1
Soft pastels on paper, 32 x 40 cm

This is my cat, squeezed into a narrow space for a little nap. What can you do… draw her!

Patricia: November

Home

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Mixed media on paper, 38 x 27.5 xm

This started out as a sketch of my backlit feet and developed into a kind of interior view. I reworked the initial watercolour painting by adding outlines and emphasizing contrast with coloured pencil. Somehow I feared that this image of my feet was offensive because it’s so private. My main interest was the light reflection on the feet, maybe I should have focused just on that and treated it in a more abstract way, rather than including so much realistic context.

 

Still life with sweet potato

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Pastel and charcoal on paper, 28.5 x 38.5 cm

A naturalistic still life drawn from nature. I feel that this kind of study is a bit boring and technical but sometimes I want to get back to skills training. I found handling the pastels quite difficult, it’s not really a medium to depict fine detail. The study was a preparatory piece for a later painting.

 

A strange relationship

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Oil pastels on paper, 36 x 47.5 cm

This piece was made in an art therapy approach. I wanted to express my feelings about a relationship with someone I once loved. The romantic relationship did not work out because we were not compatible. I tried to visually express how our personalities clashed, despite or because our similarities.

 

I love my broken pot (R)

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Watercolour over paper collage on board, 50.5 x 38 cm

My piece was inspired by the colours and the incorporation of text in Natalie’s ‘Consumerism or Merci de Votre Fidelité’ (October 2016). The colours evoked associations with the Japanese flag which inspired me to use printouts from a Japanese software manual for my background. I also wanted to have a red central object and chose a broken ceramics pot. I keep this broken pots because I use their pieces to cover the water hole in planters when I set new plants. It hadn’t occurred to me that the broken pot was also visually interesting.

 

Autobahn (R)

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Acrylics and collage on paper, 30 x 39.5 cm

This piece was inspired by the vertical stripe shapes in Natalie’s ‘Dark Forest’ (October 2016). I associated linear perspective in a landscape and came up with the idea of a roadway. The initial composition was very graphical and looked lifeless. Therefore I added some flowers to the greens and the cutout of the people crossing the street. I think the result is a fun piece. I’m not sure what to make of it.

 

Cat sleeping on the radiator (R)

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Ink wash over charcoal on paper, 28 x 38 cm

My response to Natalie’s ‘Anonymous’ piece (October 2016). I took up the idea of a dark silhouette and tried to express the cat’s posture through the silhouette of her body.

 

Natalie: October

Anonymous (R)

october-2
Textile, 17 x 19 cm

This is a response to Patricia’s Rejection of identity (September). The piece was so powerful that it could not be ignored. In my response I wanted to tackle anonymity which I wanted to represent in the most symbolic manner as possible. The subject of anonymity has two sides and could be controversial, i.e. it could equally be used for protection and for damaging actions at the same time. I used red block to represent two signs in one presentation simultaneously, i.e. ‘’hiding the identity’’ and ‘’not allowed to hide the identity’’.

 

 

Gold fish (R)

october-6
Watercolour and soft pastels, 21 x 30 cm

This is a response to Patricia’s Fantasy Aquarium II (September). It reminded me of a children’s story called Gold Fish by the Russian poet, novelist and writer Alexander Pushkin (18th century). The story is based on the moral of ‘’stop being so greedy’’. It’s about a poor couple, where the man went fishing  and caught a Gold fish who promised to fulfill any of his wishes if he would let it go. He let it go free, but his wife was not amused and sent him back in order to ask for a new washing bowl (translation for the 21st century – a new washing machine!). The bowl was delivered, but the wife was not happy. So, long story short, she sent him a few more times… keep in mind the fish gave her a huge palace, made her a royal, but the woman was still unsatisfied! This time she wanted to become a Queen of the Sea and demanded the Gold fish become her servant forever… i.e. so she doesn’t need to send her husband for requests anymore. It was too much for the Gold Fish to deal with and it decided to teach her a lesson. So, it asked the ma, at this point no less abused by his wife, go home in peace… the end of the story… it gave back his wife her shabby house and broken bowl asked her to get lost. The moral is obvious, one needs to know when to stop and appreciate what one already has. This is Pushkin (!) and the longest description ever for my response! I guess I got a bit carried away…

 

 

White forest 2

october-5
Hand embroidery, 8 x 13 cm

Once I finished White forest (R) it sparked the whole range, which naturally turned out to be a series of different forests. I love when such moments occur as they turn out to be the most productive and exciting times.

 

 

White forest (R)

october-4
Textile, 18 x 19 cm

This is a response to Patrica’s Landscape with Tubular Elements (September). No moral story, no symbols this time just a reponce based on pure visuals. Perhaps “I just felt like it” would be the closest and best description. Now looking back, the three birds I guess were a subconsciously driven need to represent pure freedom.

 

 

Dark forest

october-3
Textile, 14 x 17 cm

This is part of the ‘’Forests’’ series that was completed in one day. With this piece I let myself to be as relaxed and experimental as possible combining textiles that I wouldn’t even think to sew together for a garment. The element of being surprised paid off (well, for me anyway). However, it wasn’t an absolutely chaotic procedure. I kept in mind a representation of the deep forest with some sunshine fighting through mature and thick tree trunks.

 

 

Consumerism or Merci de Votre Fidelite

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Textile, 17 x 19 cm

…It’s a vicious circle… it’s emotional… let’s talk about shopping… I hate it… full stop.

Patricia: October

The fish

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Materials collage on cardboard, 22.5 x 30 cm

I continued with the “Aquarium” strand of ideas started in the September submission. Here I made use of leftover paper machée which I had spread out to dry in the shape of a plate. I cut them into triangular shapes to represent the skin, arranged like shingles on the support. I wanted the fish to be a bit glittery and wrapped it into a shiny, transparent little cloth. The fish face, some bubbles and sand for the ground was added for decoration.

I’m quite happy with the symbolism of the image. The shingles could point to the rich interior life of the creature which is covered, at the same time revealed, by the transparent skin overlay.

 

The woman

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Painted materials collage on board, 35.5 x 28 cm

An experiment with textured ground: I glued a piece of a knitten sweater onto board and used it as my painting ground. It’s an imaginary portrait and I recognize myself in it, the quiet observer. The style reminds me of Marc Chagall’s poetic phantasy worlds full of longing for something far away.

 

Bottles

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Charcoal on paper, 35.5 x 27.5 cm

A still life made in my kitchen.

 

The high bed (R)

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Mixed media on canvas, mounted on board, 38 x 51 cm

This painting was inspired by Natalie’s ‘Old ship structure’. I made a simplified composition with an imaginary object standing in a landscape to experiment with paint quality: Plain, textured, and heavy body. It’s a painterly alternative to my materials collages.

 

Keeping things together (R)

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Painted materials object, mounted on board, 49 x 39 cm

A piece that’s hard to explain – I followed an intuition which I did not really understand. Technically, the piece is two layers of Kozo paper around a piece of chicken fence, connected with double-faced stiches in red band. The paper is painted with blue and green watercolours. The entire structure is three-dimensional – I shaped it into several waves and bumps, so that it’s lifted from the support and only connected to the board at three points. It was inspired by Natalie’s ‘Imaginary trees’ for the stitching and additional painting of the surface, but otherwise the piece is a mystery to me.

 

Who is Charlie Sheen, actually? (R)

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Mixed media on paper, 35.5 x 27.5 cm

This drawing was inspired by Natalie’s ‘Catching a lamb’ – I started with the concept of ‘people’ and set out to sketch some folks. Currently I enjoy watching ‘Two and a half men’ which features Charlie Sheen, and chose this for a start. I tried sketching from television, but this very difficult because of film cuts every few seconds, and my first two sketches remained very vague. Then I switched to a photo for a third sketch on the paper. To bring out more clearly the portrait from photo which has more likeness, I dimmed down the initial sketches by overpainting them. The resulting composition conveys how I perceive the lesser known, difficult parts of Sheen’s personality, they are like demons luring in the dark. I imagine being with Charlie Sheen, you never know who you’re actually talking to.

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Natalie: September

Old ship structure (R)

s1
Soft pastels on paper, 26 x 37,5

This is a response for Patricia’s View Towards Queensborough Bridge (August). What attracted me the most in Patricia’s study is the cleanliness and simplicity of the quite ambitious scenery, together with the pleasing sense of depth. I wanted to keep the ‘’marine’’ theme going but for my subject, so I choose an old and rusted ship. It is hardly recognisable as such as it looks more like an old house on stilts but in reality, that what was left of it. I was drawn by its colours and positioning, as well as the calm surroundings.

 

 

Pouring milk

s6
Soft pastels on paper, 23 x 26

The inspirational image was taken from the local newspaper in Kazakhstan, during the national celebrations. There is a custom here to install traditionally decorated Yurtas on the central streets where they serve some local dishes that are made specifically for such days. In order to create a very special atmosphere, food, treats and many other goods are sold by sellers dressed in the national dress. It’s a truly special experience for everyone, i.e. not just for the tourists, but for the local people too.

 

 

Catching a lamb

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Charcoal on paper, 26 x 37,5 cm

This is a continuation of the local traditions and celebrations depiction. This time I was after the fast movements and motions, thus people’s faces are not developed.

 

 

Happy boy (R)

s2
Charcoal on paper, 26 x 37,5 cm

This is my response for Patricia’s Girl from the 1950 (August). I simply wanted to respond with a smile in return.

 

 

Imaginary landscapes (R)

s4   s3
Watercolour and hand embroidery on paper, 20,5 x 30

This is my response for Patricia’s Stripes (August). Patricia’s lines reminded me of a map that is displayed at any Underground and I wanted to experiment with such lines, but in a less controlled manner. I used watercolours and let them run in order to form natural and organic shapes. I had no particular idea what I wanted to achieve as I hoped to be surprised by the result. I manipulated the way I applied the shades though, i.e. I worked wet on wet, as well as wet on dry.

 

 

Imaginary trees

s5
Watercolour and hand embroidery on paper, 20,5 x 30

This is another freestyle and experimental study. The trees became trees by pure surprise (i.e. due to medium leaks and finding their own way). All I had to do in the end is to add some hand embroidery to intensify and suggest the elements of tree.

Patricia: September

Fantasy Aquarium I

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Watercolour and ink on paper, 30 x 46 cm

This started as a watercolour doodle where I explored mark-making using just the two colours magenta and yellow in liquid watercolours. Then I followed the shapes and forms that developed with ink lines to create a sense of definition. The result reminded me of strange underwater creatures foating in water, hence the title.

 

Fantasy Aquarium II

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Oil pastel and watercolour on paper, 30 x 46 cm

Taking up the aquarium topic from the first painting, I took a different and more literal approach. I remembered the goldfish aquarium I used to have as a child and created an underwater scenery with different kinds of fish and some sand and stones. The oil pastel elements served as a resist when I painted the blue wash on top to represent the water.

 

Self Portrait

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Pen and watercolour on paper, 46 x 30 cm

Self-portraits tend to be a difficult subject for me, both technically and emotionally. The idea was to overcome the hesitation by making a quick and unpretentious sketch, not worrying too much about likeness.

 

Rejection of Identity (R)

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Painted materials collage on board, 54 x 42 cm

This self-portrait was inspired by Natalie’s ‘Expectations’ portrait (August 2016). I took on the idea of emotional expression and developed the piece intuitively as a materials collage which was then painted. The face was created from toothpicks and paper machée, then overpainted for a more human-like appearance. It’s a visual representation of how uncomfortable I feel in my skin in my current professional identity, while trying to pretend that I’m playing the game.

 

 

The Friendly City (R)

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Painted materials collage on cardboard, 28 x 38 cm

This piece was inspired by the visual elements in Natalie’s ‘White house’ (August 2016). Geometric paper shapes were glued on styrofoam, then cut out and assembled into a citiscape. They were decorated with green tissue paper for trees and bushes, and with painted paper butterflies, to create a friendly and joyful environment around the austere geometry. It is my response to being in the big city of New York, always searching out the spaces with greenery which make the city livable.

 

Landscape with tubular elements (R)

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Painted materials collage on cardboard, 41 x 30.5 cm

I responded to the visuals of the long tubular shapes in Natalie’s ‘Inside the cupboard’ (August 2016) and transferred the abstract concept into an imaginary landscape. In my piece, I focused on shapes and textures and tried to include interesting visual and haptic contrasts.

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Natalie: August

Tragedy

Au6
Charcoal and soft pastels on paper, 21 x 29 cm

There is no particular story for this sketch other than a study of emotions. I wanted to depict a real devastating state of horror with simple lines, but it turned out to be a real struggle. The mouth area proved to be the most difficult task. I ended up with certain features all over the place…just like my mood at that time! By the way, this is not a self-portrait as I worked from a photograph of a stranger.

 

Imaginary flowers (R)

Au1
Watercolour on paper, 27 x 27 cm

This is a response for Patricia’s Grasses Studies (August). I gave myself absolute freedom and almost doodled the watercolours. It was a most enjoyable activity.

 

Expectations

Au2
Watercolour on paper, 27 x 28 cm

After having the joy of working with watercolours for the Imaginary Flowers, I decided to try the same approach as for the facial expressions study and see where such free marks approach would take me. I think I ended up with a face full of expectations…coincidence? I will certainly come back to such approach, as I find it rather exciting.

 

Inside the cupboard

Au3
Watercolour on paper, 18 x 36 cm

This is a study of the domestic environment, which is usually hidden from the eye, and yet some hidden structures are the most important installations of our daily life, e.g. rain water and WC pipes! These pipes are in my house and I actually painted them in different colours in real life.

 

Reading corner (R)

Au4
Acrylic on paper, 13 x 18,5 cm

This is a response for Patricia’s The Studio (August) study. A small area of my reading corner, amidst my favouirite blue wall and the yellow sofa.

 

Yacht house (R)

Au5
Watercolour on paper, 26 x 30 cm

This is a response for Patricia’s 77th Street (August). The view is not from my window though. I came across this beautiful house while I was searching for the Modern Architecture a few years ago and I fell in love with this property since. It is located right on the beach in the Crimea. There is no way I could possibly afford it as we are talking about several millions…what a pity.

Patricia: August

View towards Queensboro Bridge

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Watercolour on paper, 25 x 25 cm

An Urban Sketching approach, depicting the bridge over the East River from Manhattan to Long Island City. I’m experimenting with coloring my sketches only partially to set accents.

 

East River at 92nd Street, Manhattan Upper East Side

IMG_5899
Watercoloour on paper, 25 x 25 cm

Another Urban Sketcher’s view over the East River close to home. There are quite a few steel construction bridges in the area. I might try to draw them from closer one day because I’m finding them fascinating.

 

Girl from the 1950s

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Watercolour on paper, 25 x 25 cm

Sketched after a photo by Frank Larson, North American photographer whose work has only recently been discovered. While the photo depicted a sweet girl, the sketch brings out a certain wickedness in her traits, which I found quite interesting.

 

Blue movement (R)

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Mixed media on board, 36 x 45 cm

Experimenting with mixing materials into paint and using paint in different opacities. The piece was loosely inspired by Natalie’s ‘Abstract composition with yellow 2’ (July), in the leisurely approach to composition.

 

Stripes (R)

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Oil pastel and ink on paper, 28 x 38 cn

Inspired by Natalie’s ‘Drifting boats 2’ (July), where the stripe elements were my starting point to experiment with strong colour contrasts between oil pastels and black ink.

 

Transparent circles (R)

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Watercolour on paper, 25.5 x 45.5 cm

Inspired by Natalie’s ‘Cherry Stones’ (July), I used round shapes for an abstract composition.

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