Welcome to the Studio
I'm Philip, a contemporary abstract painter from Sussex. I create paintings that represent my memories of sound. I'm inspired by everything from poems, music, and voices, to birdsong, the breeze through leaves, and even mechanical sounds. It can be anything that stirs an emotional response.
I store away that sound until it belongs in memory alone. After some time, I may have the creative impulse to create a painting and I will try to make that sound live again through the medium of paint.
Casting The Net
Being an artist can be isolating if you don't actively seek out other artists, mentors and fellow creatives. Working in the studio, painting everyday, is a solitary activity and it's so easy to start overthinking and get too caught up in the process. I have several artist friends and together we talk about our respective practices, what's going well and, perhaps, what's challenging us.
For me, though, I wanted to cast the net wider than my circle of artist friends. There's a whole world out there! Whether I reach other artists, or different kinds of creatives, or people simply interested in the studio practice of a contemporary painter like me, I feel the urge to communicate.
Simply having a portfolio website where I post images of my paintings and explain a little about how I work, is not enough. I honestly want to interact with the wider world. That's exactly why I started this adventure.
Our Polished World
There's a great temptation to follow the social media trend of only showing one version of reality. It's so easy to post images of a finished, resolved painting for example, but this hides the whole truth. I have never created a painting of any merit that didn't challenge me along the way. Isn't it more honest to talk about that?
I'm really interested in sharing ideas or actual pieces that didn't work out. I feel it's healthy to buck the trend and to be honest. It wouldn't be realistic for every artistic experiment or new thought to lead to a 'successful' conclusion.
So if you're reading this and nodding along in agreement, brilliant, we're on the same page.
Recent Studio Thoughts
I thought it might be useful to share what I have been thinking about in my practice recently.
Years ago, I used to paint in smaller scales (up to about 14x14 inches), or thereabouts. Then I started increasing the scale of my works. I happily moved on to medium sized stretched canvases, in the region of 24x24 inches and slightly above. I absolutely LOVED it. Though canvas feels very different from the wooden or metal panels I used before and it took time for me to adjust.
I'm now thinking of increasing the size of works again. Not just for the sake of it, but because it feels like a natural progression for me. I'm thinking of two different routes.
First, painting my abstract pieces onto stretched canvases above four or six feet (both square and traditional rectangular landscape formats). This will present challenges in terms of storage, but that's a different consideration.
Second, I intend to paint on heavy Fabriano paper in A1 size and then have the paintings beautifully framed. Again, this will present practical challenges in terms of keeping the paper flat, and issues around transportation and storage, but I'll work that out later!
My Hopes
It's slightly daunting putting my thoughts out there on this platform, but honestly, now I've started I'm relishing it. Thanks for reading and being a part of this adventure. If you're interested in reading more, then please do subscribe, as I will be writing here each week as the work develops.
I hope that I can build a community of like-minded folk who are interested in the creative impulse as much as I am. I have lots of ideas about what to explore next. I'm genuinely happy to be here.
Philip