Wednesday, August 12, 2015

INKING THE STORM



A few days ago I found some notes and sketches that I made during the storms that thrashed the northern beaches earlier this year. The sketches relate to the work I am completing now for a show in September.

“It is hard to find a visual language for this morning’s ocean. Do the waves peak or curl? The perpetual thrashing doesn’t allow me time to fully comprehend it.

Being here, sitting with and in the storm, I can feel how it moves and I hope that this sensation will be enough for me to be able to translate the image to canvas once I get back to the studio.

The tempest from the sky has abated and the beating wind that lashed the shoreline last night has transformed into mist and steady rain. The sea rages on, however. As if in retaliation or triumph, the storm seems to come from within the ocean now.

I have tried, on the previous page to express the sea with Conte but this was not as effective as the Chinese ink wash. Perhaps the ink is better to describe the waves because it is fluid and moves across the page as waves move across the earth.”

Looking back, this storm was the perfect setting for some personal wayfaring that rocked me this winter. And in the glorious cycle of nature, the ocean is now calm and glistening and the sun rises higher each day.


Chinese ink wash better describes the waves.