Blog
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- Ashley Hanson
SUN 8 DEC
Inspiration, information, imagination...a day in Falmouth becomes a painting. Enjoying the colour - the flow of the blues - the geometry and the spatial intrigue. The large orange crane became red, bringing more weight and presence and the lines and circle were strengthened on the crane on the right. Three green marks makes the colour sing...
The breakthrough came when the blues flooded through the centre (4), freeing up the space and forming a fabulous stepped-shape within the rectangle of the canvas.
A tribute to Nicolas de Stael, who inspired our recent online workshop.
The drawing on the left is a composite drawing from two photos, finding a relationship between two cranes amongst the verticals and triangles of the boats. What stopped me in my tracks in Falmouth was the meeting of the end of the large crane and the angled spar from the mast on the left and the beautiful shape/negative space below.
The drawing on the right, with a simplified composition, became the template for my painting, with the boat on the left bringing another dynamic triangle to the painting, forging its own relationship with the crane on the right. Because the lines drawn with a felt-tip pen have equal weight, a fabulous pair of parallel-lines popped out in the centre of the drawing which I took forward into the painting.
Action man! Great photo by Denise....
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- Ashley Hanson
'Porthleven 75 (The Last Room/ICON)' 45x35cms
'This painting was inspired by Rothko's reds in the Seagram Murals, currently on show in the last room at Tate St. Ives. Into a scenario/composition based on 'Red on Maroon Mural, Section 4' 1959, I instinctively placed the iconic clocktower into Rothko's vertical central space, before breaking down the structure to reveal my harbour. Every red in my paintbox, I think...'
In progress, Mark Rothko, paint-pots
'Porthleven 76 (Hot Red)' 70x60cms
After the adrenalin and excitement of a new painting, you have to get up and do it again. The blank canvas awaits. If 'Porthleven 75' was inspired by Rothko, this latest work made me think of these inspiring words from Frank Auerbach: 'What I'm trying to make is a stonking, independent, coherent image that has never been seen before..that stalks the world like a new monster...'
On a yellow ground, with a confusion of marks and strong black drawing, I introduced floods of yellow and orange, both mixes including a new colour, Michael Harding French Yellow Ochre (No. 133). The right-side switched from yellow to blue, then the left to create a frisson with the orange. I seemed to be re-visitng the concept of 'hanging-harbour'...The division into three equal sections troubled me so I brought in a new hot red (including French Yellow Ochre) to create imbalance and energy/movement. The breakthrough came with reversing the canvas and a new tension with the spring of the bottom-line and the small red-shape, flexing its muscles in a sea of blue.
In progress
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- Ashley Hanson
The Old Lifeboat House Studio, Porthleven...
Once again, the recent Autumn courses in Porthleven were a great success with our artists producing a fabulous body of work, reponding to the beauty and complexity of the Porthleven landscape. This year we had artists joining us from Paris and Mauritius and on the second week we welcomed the Mays Farm Studio group from Wallingford, Oxfordshire. One of our artists, Jane Crane, took advantage of a cancellation to take part on both courses!
The courses began with visits to galleries in St. Ives including the Terry Frost exhibition at Belgrave St. Ives and the Rothko and Beatriz Milhazes exhibition at Tate St. Ives which gave us inspiration for the group exercise on our return to the studio. My demonstration painting for the exercise, inspired by Rothko's reds in the last room at the Tate, became 'Porthleven 75 (The Last Room)' during the week.
Group Exercise: paintings inspired by Rothko and Beatriz Milhazes. L-R; Jane Crane, Hazel Crawford, Erica Shipley
On Sunday morning we drew extensively around the harbour, a series of rapid sketches, both to get to know Porthleven from all viewpoints and to provide ideas and information for paintings. After lunch, back at the studio, after a talk and demonstration, the artists were encouraged begin their paintings, referencing their drawings, experiences, memory, art history...
Over the next few days, the artists developed their paintings with continuous individual tuition. There were also further demonstations, group critiques, and additional references to art history, seeing other artists' jouneys, how they developed and innovated.
Artists and their exhibition...
Working indirectly from the subject, from memory, from drawings, can release the imagination and encourage innovation. This is the ethos behind 'Freedom in Painting' - a belief that as artists we cannot stand still with our work, we are eternally restless, curious, craving surprise...On the couses we hope to create a fertile, creative environment, where artists are encouraged to embrace challenges in their painting, to take risks, to play, to experiment, to create something new, to understand their painting and do whatever it takes to make it stronger. And be bold with colour!
The finale of the first course was a one-day exhition, where we welcomed a record 178 visitors to the studio!
Work & play...Denise and Trevor waving not drowning...
The Old Lifeboat House in Porthleven is perfect studio, located at the head of the harbour. Imagine - painting to the sound of the sea, with ever-changing light, weather, tides...A great place place for cold water swimming too if you are brave enough!
Sarah Burton's paintings...
As you can see from the galleries below - only a selection of the works - our committed artists produced a fantastic collection of paintings, with many achieving a breakthrough in their practice.
Hats off to the artists!!
(there is also an extensive gallery of larger images on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/ashleyhansonart
GALLERIES
Clocktowers...'Porthleven 75 (The Last Room/Icon)' and view from the studio
ARTISTS COMMENTS:
'I found Ashley's individual comments very helpful - I particularly enjoyed the structure of painting an individual subject' Trevor Powell
'I found the course very helpful in steering me in the desired direction of moving from realistic painting towards abstraction. I feel I have gained more freedom in my choices as an artist' Vesna Vujicic-Lucassy
'Ashley's presentation was very good and the gallery visits followed by experimental work was great' Diane Oldfield
'I always find a course with Ashley helps me move my art forwards.' Hazel Crawford
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- Ashley Hanson
SAT 17 AUG
In the spirit of the novel, the four sets of initials PA DQ WW MW are placed in the street grid of Manhattan, creating their own rhythm in the painting. Other refinements this morning included a new pink and a hovering dark-red brushstroke in the top row and a new small teal block - the Hotel Harmony - positioned between 99th and 100th St at the bottom of the painting. Love the reds - a reference to Quinn's red notebook.
Colour-blocks or city-blocks? Working with facts from fiction to create a painting...
The pairs of initials make visual the multi-layers of identity in 'City of Glass'. Author Paul Auster creates a character Daniel Quinn, a writer of detective-stories. Fictitious author Daniel Quinn writes under a pseudonym, William Wilson, who in turn 'creates' a fictional-detective Max Work. In the novel, of course, Daniel Quinn becomes a detective, inhabiting the skin of Max Work. There is also a character called 'Paul Auster', an author...
This is my tribute to Paul Auster, who sadly passed away earlier this year. His strange, fabulous, enigmatic tnovel 'The New York Trilogy' inspired this painting and the 63 others in the 'City of Glass' series.
Thank-you, Paul
(7)
FRI 17 AUG p.m.
Inching closer, bringing in light and space through colour, the painting less patchwork now (7). Enjoying the residues of the dark-blue shape and the conversation between the verticals (avenues) and horizontals (streets) - searching for the ideal - the snake of Broadway the maverick element. A decision to make: should the 4 sets of initials be stacked in an orderley column, be a horizontal sequence or be placed randomly around the canvas?
(6)
FRI 17 AUG a.m.
Love the horizontal-block on the bottom edge - Cobalt Blue and Lavender - and the slightly angled line of 100th St lifting the eye upwards but going backwards with the large dark Phthalo Blue shape which crowds the space...(6)
(5)
TUES 30 JULY
I think we're getting close. The painting more playful now with new blocks of contrasting colour setting off the reds, Hoffmanesque 'push/pull. Found a new curve on the left-side. Painting in my sleep last night, just following my thoughts and instincts, coloru-intensity, scale and placement critical (5). Yesterday's green triangle seemed to create a visual stop: repainting on orange and reducing the green to a line and softening the triangle is much more satisfying. Where to put DQ, WW and MW?
(4)
MON 29 JULY
Scaled up the grid to make the triangle more prominent (3). Establishing the curve of Broadway. The grey seems to do something interesting...(4)
(3)
SUN 28 JULY
After the reds comes the grid of Manhattan (2), centered on the curve of Broadway on the Upper West Side and to incude W107th St, where Daniel Quinn has his apartment and the block between 99th and 100th, the location of the Hotel Harmony. Excited by the small triangle of Straus Park, which I'd never noticed before, on which I can balance W107th St.
The painting has no light.
(2)
SAT 27 JULY
An idea came to me to re-visit this painting and add the initials PA and make it my tribute to Paul Auster, who sadly passed away earlier this year. I always felt this painting was too scrappy and I withheld it from exhibition, the idea of the sets of initials stronger than the execution, looking more like a garden than New York!.Seven years later, in honour of Paul Auster, I feel obliged to make this one of my strongest paintings. Let's mix some new reds...
(1)
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- Ashley Hanson
TUES 16 JULY
On a roll with returning to a painting with fresh eyes. We all have paintings that are hidden, that are never entered into competitions or put in exhibition or even on the wall. This was one of mine. looking again. I always thought that the sea was little bit flat and mechanical: with the changes it's much more lively, chaotic and painterly with a new yellow in the top-left, with subtle vertical brushstrokes. Love it - might put into The Discerning Eye if it dries in time.
The four yellows of the title
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