Progressing well.....

Following my previous blog I received three comments about my current piece. I was asked whether it was turning out as planned, whether it was proceeding as I intended and had there been drastic changes; and that I needed to be brave to paint with dye on fabric instead of a canvas.

The short answer is that this is just the way I work. I enjoy the unpredictability and challenge of not quite knowing how things are going to work out. I very quickly get bored if everything is worked out ahead.

The longer answer is that I often start with some content ideas in mind although sometimes these may surface after starting. I like my work to be edgy, to have a purpose, a message, some thoughts on a topic. This keeps the work interesting for me as the artist/maker and eventually, I hope, the viewers. Using dyes on fabric is perhaps an unusual choice of execution but in today's art world all materials are valid. Dyes are a challenge to use artistically but that also is why I use them.

In this particular piece I am using caged birds as a metaphor for lives that become trapped within their environments/circumstances and that freedom to make choices to 'escape', move on, need to be considered at all costs. A difficult recommendation as we know that this is not always possible. This piece is to acknowledge this as well.

Thank you for your comments and I hope I have answered to your satisfaction.

I wanted to break up the flat colour in the top right corner, so discharged with a 'texture'. However, I wasn't too keen on the result so decided to over-dye.....

..... with a purple which I now think works much better. Unexpectedly I have a bird's head and beak appearing here which was not intended and I am not sure how I might be able to take advantage of this.

Full view with the addition of some screen printed skeletal birds which further endorse the intent of this piece.