Call to Whale

As an intuitive artist, I never know how a painting will turn out once completed which is part of the magic of creativity that I adore.  The initial layers of this painting began while sitting on location, on an art retreat, in a forest in the south coast of NSW, Australia.  I created experimentally and build layer after layer of acrylic and spray paint.  I printed with various leaves from the forest floor, a busy time of the creative process until I sat quietly on the earth and painted Eucalypt trees.  Building layer, adding to this paintings overall depth.

The painting then sat and looked at me and I looked at it for many months until one day we spoke again and I added the energy of water and space onto this canvas.  I began to paint the colours I associated with these elements and the feeling of being within a body of water.  I felt the power of strength and kindness as I created and embedded these feelings through my choice of colour and composition.

One day my son read me a poem he’d written about whales. I asked whether I could put it into my artwork, which he agreed. I wrote his poem onto my canvas as one of the finishing touches to this mixed media artwork.