South Wirral Art Society
Demonstration by Ron Coleman 13th April 2010
Abstract Floral in Acrylics
For this ‘write up’ I am taking a leaf out of Ron’s book and writing without a plan in mind – just putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), and seeing where my thoughts on the demonstration take me. For those of you that prefer a plan, a structure, and remain unsure about abstract, work with me on this one and just see where the journey takes us. Join me on this journey, see what spontaneous comments emerge, and see where it takes us. We don’t always need to know where we are going – don’t we all like a mystery trip now and then? Surely this is what lies at the heart of what Ron was trying to show us.
Feel the paint; feel the form; feel the composition; feel the colour; surrender yourself to the medium and let it take you somewhere.
Starting with a general theme Ron seemed to lay paint on the surface using some simple principles of composition, balancing, shapes and forms, texture and surface, stepping back periodically to ‘squint’ at the images one eyed, blurring the image and thinking about the next placement of brush and stroke. Colour is very important to him – striking and bold – unmixed straight from the tube in your face colour! Dabs of colour running into each other that make bold statements and bring elements of the painting into focus. For me, this reminds me of the Impressionists, with their use of broken colour, the speed of painting and the desire to maintain simplicity and avoid getting ‘bogged down’ in detail. Ron cited contemporary expressionists and abstract artists as his influences but as he also included Cezanne I might be onto something!
Adding colour – still avoiding thinking about the final picture – warmth begins to emerge and forms began to take shape. What shape? Well comments from the floor varied;
“I can see a figure in there....” “I can see a city skyline....” “I love that colour!”
“I hate that colour!” “I don’t like that line in there.” “I do like that line in there.” And so it went on during the demonstration. The important thing is that it provokes a reaction, people can see something, and the disaster only happens when the artist puts brush to canvas and we fail to see anything. For me the looseness, the shape, the command of colour and feeling, leaves me green with envy and with a desire to try it for myself. Expression of feeling is as important and legitimate subject as an accurate representation of a subject. Try once in a while saying to yourself, what can I feel from this picture and not just what can I see? Just so you know that plea come from someone (me) that loves Picasso but dislikes Rothko with a passion but is prepared to give it a go! Go figure that one out!
What a revelation cropping and turning turned out to be. OK we have all used it from time to time, but with Ron’s work it was amazing what impact putting a frame around or turning through 90 degrees had. While forms remained partly finished it became a valuable creative tool.
I for one was moved by what I saw;
- Moved to try it for myself
- Moved to be bolder with stroke and colour
- Moved to be brave and surrender to the painting
- Moved to try something new
For those that don’t feel the same that is OK, but keep looking you might just see something. We can learn from Ron’s boldness and courage to see what emerges, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes, you can always correct them, and sometimes they provide just what you are looking for!
On a final note, once or twice on the night Ron’s stumbled to express or explain the process he was going through. I took great comfort in that – if he could express everything in words then why paint? Be a writer instead! Ron expresses himself in painting and more power to his elbow say I.
Peter Appleton - Secretary