And the Gulls Cry - acrylic on canvas board

 

And the Gulls Cry    acrylic on canvas board   40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

A companion piece to Where the Wild things are....

These paintings will be available in my Folksy store in a couple of weeks or so. I am going to live with them a short while to make sure there are no adjustments to be made and so that I can enjoy them a while ;o)

Where the Wild Things Are & And the Gulls Cry   40x50cm acrylic on canvas boards   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Where The Wild Things Are - acrylic on canvas

 

Where The Wild Things Are   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Well that was fun!

Where The Wild Things Are WIP   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Where The Wild Things Are - details   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

3 You soar - acrylic on board

 

You Soar   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'gentle

serenade of flight,

snow arrow serene

ship in a transparent storm,

steady, you soar

while

the hoarse wind sweeps

the meadows of the sky.'

                          Pablo Neruda from Ode to the seagull

Available in my Folksy store.

Gulls 3 - monoprint & collagraph

Gull   collagraph   15x21cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

A round of collagraph monoprints. I used a cardboard plate with textures made from different acrylic mediums. The aim wasn't to make an edition of prints but rather to see how many different ways of using the plate I could come up with before the plate was destroyed in the process.


To begin with things didn't turn out in the way that I expected in that some of the acrylic mediums had sunk into the cardboard plate as it dried and I probably should have sealed the board to begin with to avoid this...lesson learned for next time. However this added to the need to be inventive with ink application and made it even more flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-exciting!




You can see in this first print that I took that the tonal contrasts in the background are a little too similar and more definition was needed. No matter the texture in some areas made them beautiful to work into with mixed media. I added watercolour and coloured pencil.The oil based printing ink resists the watercolour and provides a nice tooth for the pencil so further texture results.

Gull   collagraph and mixed media15x21cm  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

After a few inkings and taking some more prints in this way I started to add some extra gull shapes using separate pieces of board inked up and also by gouging into the baseplate to trap the ink. The gull shape below was cut from a piece of medium weight paper and then inked up by brushing on the ink. I liked the idea of the bird flying out of the frame.


After a couple of hours of playing with these very simple materials I have more and more ideas to work through and a lot of thinking to do. Just where will I wonder next?

Gulls   collagraph and mixed media15x21cm  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gulls 2 - more printmaking experiments in monoprint and digital manipulations

I continue to play with the lone gull motif. The lower five square images are digital manipulations of the original first image. Tiny steps and alterations that can make a big difference to my line of thought. I may be drifting towards vignettes again... On the right three monoprints. I started to play with multiples and pattern - it could be an interesting avenue to explore later. I think I want to contrast this serenity with a bit more energy and texture...onwards!

Gulls ideas in monoprint and digital manipulations   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gulls 1

Gulls have featured in my work for a number of years now. I discovered a poem by Neruda a while back and some of the imagery in the piece has stayed with me. It has sparked ideas to explore which are turning into a series of works in a variety of media.

I feel like a gull circling in the sky getting closer but not quite hitting the mark just yet. I have started with some monoprints with Neruda's words in my mind. Using an inked plate and removing ink, applying masks and also making marks in the ink before running through the press.

Flying Free   monoprint and mixed media   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Some I made ghost prints with (running the plate with ink depleted from the first pass through the press for a second time). I likes the subtleties of a couple and so have left those untouched. Other ghost prints weren't strong enough to stand on their own so I have worked into those with other media. Others have been photocopied, scanned and digitally manipulated and exist only as digital prints. We are fortunate to live in an age where so many opportunities and methods of experimentation are open to us and I like to exploit as many as I can on occasion.I'm not sure where I am going with these still.....I'll see where the breeze takes me.

Gulls   ghost monoprint and mixed media   ©2017Lisa Le Quelenec

A translation of the poem that inspired this work can be read here

Gliding gulls

Gliding to a new Day   acrylic on linen board 10x10cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gliding to a new Day II   acrylic on linen board 10x10cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gliding to a new Day III   acrylic on linen board 10x10cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Three little paintings on linen canvas boards. A combination of the gull ideas that are soaring around in my head and the shafts of light paintings from earlier this year. I still feel like I am feeling my way here unsure which direction to take..... I think I will explore and experiment with some printmaking next.

All three available individually at Seaside Studios UK on Etsy.

Monoprint and mixed media skimming the breeze

Skimming the breeze   monoprint and mixed media 21x15

Another monoprint experiment to which I added a little coloured pencil. I cut a paper mask to make the gull shape - it has given me a lot of ideas to think about. I like the contrast in printmaking methods between the painterly looseness of monoprint and the more precise etchings and drypoints. I am filling notebooks at a rate of knots with ideas to further explore. If only there were more hours in the day...

A wave in monoprint

Surf   monoprint and coloured pencil   21x15cm ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

A little monoprint - just playing with ideas and using up leftover ink. I wonder where it will lead me....

Watercolour vignettes

I am fascinated by Turner's watercolour vignettes which you can see and read about here. It is interesting that the vignettes that he did weren't intended as paintings in their own right but as pieces to be translated into print that were subordinate to the text that they accompanied. In my opinion they are all little gems.

It has prompted me to look again at breaking out of the formal constraints of the rectangular or square format of paper and canvas which can lead to something altogether more interesting. This is something I explored briefly some years back but hadn't returned to. Whilst my explorations are no where near as free flowing and randomly shaped as Turner's it might be the start of a journey that develops in that vein. To have the same confidence in guiding the paint rather than controlling it is definitely something that I aspire to.

Vignettes   watercolour  9x9cm   ©2014Lisa Le Quelenec

I have presented these part circular paintings within a square aperture mount which reinforces the formality that I am breaking away from. I like the tension between the formal and the chaotic. Where this will lead I have no idea but it is an interesting idea to experiment with.

Gulls in flight - watercolour sketches

Gull sketchbook  25x5.5cm   ©2014Lisa Le Quelenec

The lions share of the pages from a watercolour sketchbook had been used up in a commission and I was left with a narrow bound book to play with. Using only flame red and turquoise FW ink I painted some diluted backgrounds and once dry sketched gulls in using only white gouache and pencil for the dark wing tips.

The few lines of poetry are from Pablo Neruda's Ode to the Sea Gull; '... ecstatic line of flight.' became almost a mantra as I tried to get the swiftness of the shape in one stroke. There is something very calming and meditative in the repetition of sketching in this way which I enjoyed. My aim was to get to believable shapes using only one or two brushstrokes. I found as I went along that the more I did the more I wanted to do until I had painted just under 150 of them! Then wondered how much better the results would be after another 150. Maybe another sketchbook is waiting to be filled.  - practise makes perfect after all...

Solo

Solo    acrylic on paper 12.5x12.5cm     ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

A gull effortlessly glides the breeze that quenches the heat from the day as evening draws.

We are enjoying a couple of weeks of warm summer sun here, chores are saved for the cool of the evening. It's a big difference to the torrential rain we had last year and I'm making the most of it. This painting will be in the Coral Anniversary Exhibition at the Hayloft, Christchurch 19th July - 15th August.

Sky Sketches on a cold day

Sky Study II   watercolour 18x9cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

Sky Study III   watercolour 18x9cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

Sky Study IV   watercolour 18x9cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

These small sky studies are rather addictive. A cold wind blows and dull white/grey skies have come again so I won't be able to do any more of these for a few days unfortunately. Well I could but they would be dull, dull, dull.....

It's time to return to my easel.

Sketching gulls

Watching the gulls gliding past and trying to sketch is quite a challenge. Sometimes they are just too quick! When they try to go against a strong wind it makes life much easier for sketching practice.

I like the energy of line drawings. The more detailed ones I did with the help of a couple of photos. Funny how you think you know something because you have seen it so many times before and then when you start to draw find that you haven't looked properly enough. A reminder to keep my drawing eyes open ALL the time.

gulls pencil sketches ©2012Lisa Le Quelenec

gulls pencil sketches ©2012Lisa Le Quelenec