During recent work and whilst listening to Ambient 1 by Brian Eno, I have returned to the use colour in my work. I used to make vibrant watercolours, but having grown sceptical about the use of colour and maybe being overwhelmed by it, I had not used it for decades in this way. After discussions with my tutor Kerry Andrews I decided now was as good a time as any to really explore this link between sound, math and colour that is revealing itself in my work process. Below are some of the works I have produced.
This is a series of sketchbook pages, I have worked through from 7×9 and with pencil drawn the system in different ways. I have moved into pure line drawings and then varied the system with circles, using objects from my childhood then working in with watercolour using colours that are heard in the Eno music.
What I found thinking about this body of work, is how I recalled previously using intense colour, how that made me feel and why I had stopped using colour in this way. I have worked with British painter Nicholas James Juett at Wysing Arts in Cambridge, during an intensive course, spent time looking specifically at colour mixing with oil paint. I have been recalling the lessons and experiences of that process and then thinking about the watercolour process in the work shown above. For me, the colours are overwhelming and over stimulate my senses. I feel certain colours when listening to music, thinking about numbers and this quickly becomes complex. Restricting the palette became a normalising process with the colour circles work.
Outcome and Next steps; I am going to draw the system drawings and then use the colours in a more controlled way choosing these from the above paintings and re-playing the conditions with the same passage of music. I find using the system 7×9 as a framework very helpful in this process as it cuts out some decision making and allows me to concentrate on the palette. This body of work is something that I feel I need to explore in the background of my major piece of work 7 x 9 Cells and Lines.
Tina Culverhouse 