If one removes subject matter from a painting what are we left with? Colour.... I have been using colour as the subject of my watercolours. I have been exploring the ability of colour to affect moods, elemental feelings; these can be mellow or dramatic, the paintings may have an open structure and can be playful. I have not been working from observation or memory. I have been working on creating luminous works as I am interested in the power of colours to heal or otherwise to impact the viewer, or even the painter, myself.
While I am painting them I am fully absorbed, I am totally in the moment, I am one with my watercolours in alternate space away from the frantic running around found in the city; working in watercolours for me is a way of breaking away and appreciating being in the moment; I find it to be deeply relaxing and it helps me deal with the stress that is consequent on living in a pressurised society, where we live with deadlines, required to produce in a vicious circle of competitiveness and consumerism; so for me doing my watercolours is stepping out from those things, giving time to myself away from the external pressures. I focus on each brush stroke rather than on the final picture, not seeking perfection but just going with the flow.
I enjoy using bright colours especially pinks, purples, oranges as a way to express freedom. My freedom as a woman artist to paint as I like & to do what I want, as I think we take freedom for granted in the West. Sadly in a lot of countries around the world people and especially women are still not able to express themselves to their full potential and are not free. With my watercolours and paintings I am reminding myself how lucky I am to be in a country where I am free to express myself artistically and that we should never take freedom for granted.
While painting my watercolours I don't have to worry about anything.... I can just be; it's getting in touch with my own body and mind. I don't make them to sell them but when they are finished I just use them as blankets to envelop my soul with the many colours. I generally hang them in my room, seeking to disappear into them like a magician.
I like the immediacy of watercolours, their transparency, the way I can use them to go from bold colours to mellow, at once creating atmospheric pieces. I create a safe space where I can paint in a more authentic way going beyond a linear narrative, opening a door to mystery, transformation, the unexpected. Below are further examples of my watercolours.
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