320 cm x 140 cm, acrylic on linen

The canvas arrived on Tuesday and I began work on Wednesday. I had planned to post some initial photos of the blank canvas but it was almost impossible to photograph as it reaches wall to wall in my studio and I couldn't stand far enough away!

I've been working on the first few layers of acrylic, constructing the overall composition and tone of the piece. I can't wait to switch to oils and begin working the full colours into the different areas. I've been working in only three colours so far - burnt umber, mars black, and titanium white and have been using gel medium in certain areas to add some textural elements. I also started using Golden's Acrylic Glazing Liquid. It really helped smoothing out the acrylic paint and stopped it drying too quickly.

Ankon Rahman from The Age writes:

The finding that the Iraq war is cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement, contained in the recently declassified US National Intelligence Estimate report, is alarming. But it should not be surprising.

We seek to thwart terrorists — but only after they have formed the desire to terrorise us. By then it is too late.

This means the decisive battlegrounds in the misnamed "war" on terror are not Afghanistan and Iraq but the hearts and minds of those who would be terrorists. And the decisive blow will come not from a weapon, but from stopping the supply of terrorists. This will only be achieved through the restoration of hope and by ensuring effective representation and participation in the international economic system.

It is good to see these points of view being published. It is just a pity they seem to always be attached to the 'Opinion' section. Why not on the front page like the other 'terror' news?

I've become accustomed to flipping around my purely abstract paintings throughout the painting process and also once complete. It is really surprising and fulfilling to see what happens when you reverse the painting. I hadn't thought to flip around this painting as it is a bit more figurative than my others. The result gives the painting an interesting new dimension - especially if you haven't become accustomed to the original orientation.

oil and acrylic on canvas
122 cm x 40 cm
2006

I am about to start work on a 3.2 x 1.4 metre painting commission. I have been working through some ideas for the larger painting on small 22 cm x 11 cm canvases. Above is my latest and favourite miniature. I'm trying to work out a dynamic composition and powerful colours. The larger painting will be inspired by these miniatures but won't be an exact upscaled replica.

The canvas has been ordered and should arrive tomorrow or Monday. It will just fit wall-to-wall in my studio. Will post some photos once it arrives.

Dominic Redfern, one of my Honours supervisors suggested that the sublime was something that may be relevant to both me and my work. From Wikipedia:

In aesthetics, the sublime (from the Latin sublimis (exalted)) is the quality of transcendent greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation. This greatness is often used when referring to nature and its vastness.

I then did a quick Google search and came across a short article the return of the sublime: the romantic impulse by Max Podstolski. In it he discusses the return of the sublime within post-modern art. Some of the points he raised really connected with me and what I've been contemplating with relation to my art:

Artists are impelled to rebel because the establishment is always a form of tyranny which curtails artistic freedom. Even when it appears on the surface that “anything goes”, as with postmodernism, there is the tacit assumption that an artist must adopt the trappings of PoMo theory-speak to be taken seriously by the artworld establishment. If not to do so is to risk being ignored and marginalised by the pecking order, then why not quote a French philosopher or two in your next exhibition catalogue? Could be a smart move, career-wise.

And:

There is very good reason for artists with an ounce of integrity to be concerned with “highly emotive concepts” such as the sublime. For a start, why shouldn't they be passionate about their art? Isn't irony equally past its use by date, if not more so, having been done to death in recent years? As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. The flipside of the coin is that there's nothing old. The pendulum of artistic fashion swings where it will, but artists should take inspiration from wherever they find it.