Painting flower pots and plates: The value of hyacinth bulbs and a vivid imagination
Pots & Plates
A small tin flower pot, stuffed with hyacinth bulbs, was bought one gloomy February morning. It was chosen for the front door step to herald the dawn of spring, adding a much needed pop of colour to the otherwise grey gloom. As it happens this cheery bunch sparked a new botanical fine art collection complete with bold shapes, luscious fronds, fancy china plates and dainty gold details. The finished work represents a desire to explore strong tonal contrasts and richly textured surfaces. It’s also a body of work that helped me climb out of the depths of isolation.
Creative calendar
February also saw the start of the Nicholas Wilton Art2Life free workshop, an annual event providing an overview of principles he teaches in a three month long course called the Creative Visionary Program. Both events have been firm fixtures in my creative calendar over the past couple of years, providing a huge wealth of knowledge to my art practice. Little did I know that this particular year three hyacinth bulbs and one art principal would be the corner stone of my learning.
Simple distractions
The story behind the Pots & Plates collection is quite simple and as such has been part of it’s charm. The free workshop happened to coincide with a bout of family covid. Still in the days of self isolation, we were hunkered down feeling grim and sorry for ourselves. Determined not to miss the positive power of Nicholas’s particular brand of creative energy I needed a straightforward project to see me through the week.
Having to keep a close eye on the families ailments the kitchen became my studio. Limiting my materials to a relatively mess free palette including one A3 sketchbook, a posh furniture catalogue for collaging, graphite and colour pencils, a favourite wax pastel and sneaking in the dregs of an abandoned paint palette, when no one was looking, I was set for action. The subject would be the pot of hyacinth bulbs, brought inside to cheer us up as the front door wasn’t getting much action.
Becoming stronger
Of all the principles discussed in the free workshop it was value contrast the stuck in my mind. Actively using light and dark shapes to build a dynamic composition and balanced picture. It may have been the fact I had so much time on my hands or more likely working with the limited palette that helped the principle sink in. Each day the subject and general layout of the pictures remained the same and each day the work became stronger.
It’s a strange sensation knowing you’re producing some of your most considered design work while physically succumbing to an illness you have no control over. Suffice to say we all got better and I was left with five collage pictures shouting to me “you’ve got this value contrast principle nailed, now go and make sure you can do it again.” The five collages from the isolation week became my studies for a whole new collection.
Answering questions
Eight square paintings later (five 30.5cm x 30.5cm and three 50cm x 50cm) I’m feeling energised with the development of this intriguing collection. Each picture using the same subject mater to answer a variation on the same question. How can the shapes of a faceted pot, square counter top and organic form be grouped and activated by the introduction of a circular plate motif, while using value contrast to produce a compelling image? It might sound like a lot of elements to bring together however in my mind it became as simple as arranging four shapes together, some really light and some really dark.
Naïve imagination
The use of dark blocks of tone subtly layered with texture and over lapping shape has been an avenue I’ve long wanted to play with. The foliage sprouting from the hyacinth bulbs became my vehicle for achieving this. The plastic dish of the original still life arrangement was replaced with imagined china plates, dreamt up from a family heirloom cup and saucer that made an appearance in a previous collection.
With botanical collections I normally work with the plants and object directly in front of me, allowing me to refer to them for size, form, shadow etc. It’s been quite freeing to add an imagined aspect to the paintings. It’s meant the plate element of the collection can be read more as a circular shape with a sense of naïve perspective to it. Having long been inspired by American primitive and folk art paintings I’ve enjoyed the playful dynamic of the flat plates and their intricate detailing.
Colour value
The colour palette was born out of a desire to see how certain bright colours can hoodwink the eye into thinking they’re a stronger value than they really are. Neon paint is a particular favourite of mine and is clever at doing this. It’s luminous dazzling shades demand attention, yet are inherently light in colour value and so their perceived power is quickly diminished when put to the test. A simple way for viewing a paintings colour value is to look at it in black and white. This may sound a bit counter intuitive but it gives a very clear indication of how balanced a paintings design is.
Believe it or not design is a far more powerful principle to get right than use of colour. This is hard to say for an artist who absolutely adores colour, but I believe it to be true. However I also think there is plenty room to play with this principle and explore how different colours behave when they’re strategically placed together. How light or dark a colour is relative to another and how value placement effects the design of a painting is an interesting subject to explore. It boils down to a lot of looking at your work in black and white and then being able to unpick and understand the colour/value choices you’ve made.
Story telling
As part of the development of the collection some of the paintings were completed with a limited palette. Hint of Mint and Grandma’s Kitchen are essentially painted in black, white and shades in between. Tiny amount of pale blue, mint and plaster pink are there to soften and warm the narrative. Other paintings in the collection have been created with predominantly light on light tone with small accents of dark or mid tone shapes added to create contrast in a bright scene.
The three largest paintings in the collection focus predominantly on the relationship of light tones grouped on a suggested counter top. The darker shapes that spill into the void beyond the edge of the counter reply on texture and the occasional highlight to bring them forward. They are all stories of texture and delight to be enjoyed from across a room and read in detail, up close and personal, so that all the layers can be appreciated.
Take a look
As this is my first conscious attempt to manipulate value contract and colour tone together there’s been a steep learning curve. One that I plan to delve deeper into as the rich results of this line of enquiry are extremely satisfying. I’m proud to share the Pots & Plates collection and invite you to take a closer look at them in my portfolio. A selection of the smaller paintings are available to purchase in the shop and a studio visit can be arranged to view the larger pieces using the email address below. I look forward to hearing from you.
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