“Duplicity”
1/2 sheet Watercolour Diptych
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
I am not altogether sure what’s going on with me lately… but recent paintings have a distinct duality to them! I think it all began with the decision to paint diptych’s in vertical format… and from there well… you can see for yourself what’s happening!
I attribute some of the effect also to offshore Double Island… and nearby Scouts Hat (Haycock Island)… which is maybe having some sort of bi-polar effect. [Nothing serious here though folks... and nothing to be unduly worried about! grin]
I swear this place never stops. People come… people go. And I get to meet pretty much all of them. As resident artist I have a little pozzie by the main door and most people stop to talk… the rest simply smile and pass by. Either way… I like it. I enjoy people… well most of them anyway! And here at the Reef House I am getting to meet my fair share. I had an extraordinary thought the other day… perchance I stay long enough I might eventually get to meet everyone on the planet. [Needed an asprin and a good lie down after that one... Grin]
“Double Island Duet”
1/2 Sheet Watercolour Diptych
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
Earlier in the week I met a lovely couple from Southern Italy. They were on their honeymoon. He spoke English very well… she only a very little. It so often confounds me how much can be said by “not saying anything at all”. How gestures of friendship transcend the language barrier and people go on to become firm friends in spite of not having a clue what the other person just said… whilst instinctively knowing exactly what they meant! How funny is that.
It’s hard to know where exactly this experience is leading me. It’s fun but it’s also tiring. And the money hasn’t quite hit the bank yet. But I am painting like there’s no tomorrow… and let’s face it… if nothing else I shall have a good body of work for my 100 year Retrospective!
I had a phone call from another friend the other day. I met Judith earlier this year at a Freelancing for the Creative Industries Seminar in Brisbane. She rang to tell me she had decided to take up an extraordinary opportunity to live the artist’s life for three glorious weeks in November in the artist’s quarter in Paris. An apartment had serendipitously become available and she had decided to run with it. I spent the following 24 hours online researching artists working in Paris! Oh… *sigh* … if only.
I sit every day on the precipice between doing the sensible [and expected] thing… and jumping right off the creative deep end. Judith has my full creative support as she takes that dive into what can only eventually be a very good thing. Needless to say I will be with her in spirit… and who knows… the body may even get to go too… if only I can manage to squeeeeeze myself into that suitcase! (((chuckles)))
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh boy, do I ever know the feeling of being torn between the sensible and the impulsive! Is it an artist thing?
Beautiful paintings, Jean, as always. I like the dualities. They speak to me, perhaps because I have been afflicted with a strabismus my entire life, weaker muscles in one eye resulting in double vision. I’ve often wondered whether my reading difficulties that resulted from it as a child didn’t push me toward my graphics inclination. Various attempts at cures over the years – wearing an eye patch, surgery, etc. – have improved things but it’s never gone away entirely. So you’ll be delighted to know I can view your diptychs as tetratychs.
Pozzie? I’m going to be needing a glossary of terms. [grin]
Oops… yes I wondered about that one! Pozzie is an Australian idiom for place or position. It’s funny but that is one of the things discussed with the Italian visitors… how difficult it was for them [at times] to understand aussies. So much of our language is peppered with slang found only here. I guess it sets us apart from the rest of the world… in a dubious kind of way! LOL
I had never heard of a strabismus John. It certainly hasn’t impeded your artistic progress that’s for sure. I have myopia (hence the glasses) along with at least half the world’s population… but I remember reading an interview with an artist once who attributed her ability to see the large shapes (that most artist’s have to squint to see) with being myopic. It’s odd I guess to see the world as fuzzy round the edges but I prefer to think of it as a soft filter… taking the edge off a more than harsh world and enabling me to see only the essentials. Sometimes it comes in handy!
I can’t seem to get the yellow out of the top image (Duplicity). It’s way more blue/violet than it appears here. May have to re-shoot in better light. :-/
Yellow is always deadly on the computer. I don’t know what the science of it is, but it picks up yellow like crazy while leaving everything else behind.
Thanks John. Yes… not sure why… but just lately it’s become more of a problem [or maybe I'm just noticing it more] The white of the paper being off white doesn’t help either. I’ll give it another shot but scanning might be the only way to get the colours right. I usually get stuff scanned for the record anyway but wasn’t going to worry too much about this one. Then someone told me yesterday how much they liked it… so go figure!
These paintings are wonderful; and they transcend place. They have an appeal to anyone who loves the tropics anywhere in the world. I look at them and am reminded of special times in the Bahamas (despite the slightly mountainous backgrounds). Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful work!
Hi Kristeena
Thanks so much for stopping by to comment. I’m so glad you liked these paintings! I do think you are right that the tropical places of the world share a special magic all their own. I do so love this place… and my ongoing hope is that I may be able to capture that feeling in my work. It’s good to know I may be making headway toward that end! Thanks for that.
Just a thought regarding the problem with the yellow, Jean, have you tried using Photoshop to reduce the saturation overall, then perhaps add a bit of green, possibly also cyan?
Thanks John! Yes… if only I had photoshop. It’s on my imac (which isn’t here) and not on my macbook… so that’s not an option right now. In any case… I think scanning will capture it right. Just have to find time to get over to the printers to get it scanned. I have a bit of a pile up at the moment. The new post is up. I was waiting until I had photographed the latest painting (shown there) “Reflections of Paradise”. No excuses now… I will have to get this scanned (and soon) as it sold today (YIPEE) and will go home with new owners on Monday. I’m pretty happy about that!