Playing over Planning
the story behind my latest paintings
What I’ve been learning (and re-learning) recently in my art is this: you don’t need to know exactly where a project is going in order to start.
I’ve created a wee series of works on paper, and today we’re taking a look at the process that unfolded along the way, and how curiosity and repetition slowly shaped the work.
These new paintings are now available on my website, so if you’d like to take a look, find them here:
This project reminded me that ideas don’t usually arrive fully formed, and instead they can grow from paying attention, and through small acts of noticing.
We’ll walk through the sketches, the artist book I made, and the paintings that came from it, so grab a cuppa, settle in, and let’s see where a simple idea can take us.
You can watch this project unfold in my latest youtube video here, or keep reading along in the post below!
This year I knew I wanted to spend more time traveling and sketching on location, letting places shape the work I make. I’ve been exploring how to combine observation and memory to capture a real sense of place, and this project ended up becoming the first step in that direction.
The work I’m sharing with you was part of a 1 month project responding to a winter walk. All I knew at the beginning was I wanted to practice paying attention, rather than starting with a plan or set intention.
I didn’t start with a theme, concept or message.
Instead, I started by paying attention to my instincts, trusting that what I noticed and felt drawn to; that mattered.
I’d been on this wee circular winter walk back in January, sketching on location and taking video footage which I might paint from later on, back in the warmth.
In this research stage, I wanted to use my sketching and filming as a way to be present and connect with where I was.
A Small Sketchbook Experiment
Later on I shared this winter walk theme with my art club and we explored it together through a small sketchbook project, creating abstract landscape artist books. If you’re a member of our art club reading, you’ll recognise this work already! And if you’re watching and thinking it looks like a fun project to try, you can find all the videos and sketchbook exercises up on Patreon now to play with.
What I noticed was that the exercise itself started generating ideas and themes were coming to me as I created. Sometimes a small constraint can be incredibly helpful when you’re starting something new, so I made sure to bring some limitations for us to start with in our projects, which eventually led to me making this artist book.
Instead of trying to come up with a concept first, the act of making and responding to what appeared slowly began to shape the work, and seeds of ideas and a personal meaning was forming!
Repetition Reveals What Matters
What I learnt from this project is that repetition will reveal what matters.
I must have watched the research footage I gathered a hundred times over as I painted from it and my memories of this one walk. I made quick sketches of the same scenes again and again, and through this repetition, saw patterns emerge and began to understand what about this place drew me in.
The lovely thing about pairing things back with repetition is, it makes space to think - as I sketched, themes and connections started to form automatically.
I began thinking about the significance of a new years walk in early January, the freshness of the snow, renewal, possibility. What I might want to take forwards into my year ahed - I saw this project as an opportunity to reflect on what matters.
These scenes I chose to capture echo the feelings of joy, awe, curiosity and wonder that being there gave me - this is what I want to look for in the world around me and to create more of - a personal quest for my art and year ahead.
I’ve been thinking about a quote by one of my favourite artist illustrators Lisa Congdon very often lately, where she said “Choosing joy in the face of hatred is radical” - and when I read the news, and look at the world around us, I feel the need to lean into this quest even more.
So, as I sketched simply with one media, this seed of a question blossomed; what do I want to take forwards into the year ahead? If I could send (or in this projects case, post!) that feeling, experience to another and share it with a loved one, what would I want them to receive, to have more of in their life too? It was these sentiments I distilled into words, phrases, and memories, to accompany the drawings I made.
The moment sketches became paintings
As I mentioned at the start, I didn’t begin this project with a plan - there was no intention to create a series of paintings, just to respond to this winter walk. From the sketches and stamp book I created, my curiosity started to peak - largely, from working in b&w for so long.
What would these look like in colour, with more materials and textures?
Working in b&w inspired me to be more loose and experimental, and bring imagination and abstraction to my colour palette.
After challenging myself to work teeny tiny in these stamps (something that’s really hard for me!) I started wondering what these paintings might look like as small works on paper. Almost like postcards I could share with others; a memento of these feelings of joy, awe, wonder and curiosity that I could pass on like a token, or a talisman.
This led me to work on this small series, responding to place, memory and meaning - all started from one simple walk and sketching process.
The Real Lesson
I think the main takeaway from this project for me is in keeping the process light - simplifying the sketching time allowed my imagination to run wild and make its own connections and meaning. And letting that starting point be so simple and accessible - a winters walk - allowed me to jump straight in, trust the process, and figure it out as I went.
Learning to trust that inner voice or gut without having a clear why or direction can feel pretty tricky to do, but I’m learning that it’s one of the most important things - to trust ourselves.
Maybe the real magic lies in pairing things back, making space for ourselves, and trusting that we can try. So, why not grab a cuppa, open your sketchbook, and see where a simple idea might take you?
As always, thank you for reading and watching - it’s always a joy to read about your projects, so let me know what simple idea you might try or sketch in a comment below!
If you’d like to try creating a project responding to a winter walk too, you can find plenty of inspiration up on the Outdoor Sketchbook Collective now.
As always,
