Welcome to my studio in Orkney
A photo-essay peep behind the scenes...
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Hello friends!
It’s the holiday season in Orkney, and at this time of year I get quite a few visitors contacting me to ask if they can come and visit me in my studio. Although this is a working space rather than a shop or gallery, I always try to say yes - as long as they don’t mind the mess! It’s lovely to meet and make real connections with people who have perhaps been reading this newsletter for a long time, or followed me over on Instagram, or seen my work in a gallery or on my website, or even joined us in the Life Raft, our regular weekly Zoom co-working session. They are invariably wonderfully interesting and interested people, sometimes with a long and deeply felt connection to Orkney. It often feels very much like making a new friend.
So, for those of you who can’t visit, I thought I’d share something of my working process and recently finished work so you can see them too…
I usually do the first stages of work with the painting laid flat on a bench. After I lay any ground I want to work over, such as gold or silver leaf, I use washes of very liquid paint to create depth, movement and texture. These have to be left to evaporate slowly between layers, so I usually have several on the go at once.
Once the background washes are finished and dry, then I start drawing over them with small repetitive marks that echo the growth process of natural forms like waves, sea foam, webs or complex crystalline structures.
Refillable acrylic paint pens are ideal for this fine work, as you can select different nibs and mix your own colours. The paint I use for this is artist quality ‘high-flow’ acrylic paint that flows like ink but has a high pigment content, so it’s really opaque.
I get really immersed in the slow, repetitive mark-making process. It’s emergent. I have a sense of what I’m aiming for, but not a clear plan. It goes by feel. Things happen that I don’t control but must respond to.
It’s a meditative process that mirrors the cumulative growth processes of natural forms like corals, molluscs or sea foam, or the repetitive rhythms of waves. It follows the flow of water through its many forms; water, fog, rain, breath, wave.
There’s a kind of stillness within all this movement, a spaciousness and calm. That’s what I’m after here. Something quietly joyful. Energetic, yet still. A sense of depth and space. A shimmering. Something of that feeling of looking out at the sea horizon and coming into balance, that I wrote about last week.
It’s a work in progress…it always will be.
Here’s a few newly completed pieces…
You can come and join me in my studio for a Zoom co-working session, Wednesdays 3 - 4.30pm. This week is the last one for a couple of weeks, as I’m going to be taking a break.
That’s all for a couple of weeks. The Life Boat is going into dry dock for some rest and repairs. She’ll set sail again on August 28th!
Until then, if you’d like to see some more of my art or read some archived posts you can find them on my website.
– Sam
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Be more Agnes...
If you’ve read my book The Clearing you’ll know I’m a big fan of the artist Agnes Martin. I’ve been thinking about her work and life a lot recently. When the world is falling to bits and it feels ridiculous to spend my time drawing pictures I remind myself of what great art has brought to my life.
Beautiful new work and insight into the process. The photographer has done a great job too.
Oh my gosh what incredible art!! The detail swallows me up just as much as the whole picture. It's mesmerising! (from a fellow orkney islands substacker 😊)