Ever Further From the Ground

Ever Further From the Ground

I like painting intuitive pieces, and this one began as a Chris Loud prompt (an artist whose Youtube channel I thoroughly recommend). I forget the exact details, but Chris’s guide usually involves a restricted palette, a short time limit (typically 15-20 minutes) and some additional brief instructions.

I enjoy that initial frisson of laying down paint with different degrees of thickness, something that a catalyst wedge, colour shapers and brayers are particularly adept at. Where there’s a thick stroke, I often scraffito in some asemic scribbles or sometimes sprinkle on water only to scrape back with a colour shaper in a more vertical position to create bubble-like effects. Periodic addition of white and using a cloth or paper towel knocks back some colours, over which I then repaint with a brush.

Twenty minutes isn’t a long time, but I was pleased with the finished result which I left for a day so I could come back to it with fresh eyes.

The following morning, I began drawing out shapes using abstract cardboard templates - a technique I picked up from Judy Woods channel. I went over this with willow charcoal, smudging the boundaries with my finger.

Framing the work in progress and rotating it are useful ways of gaining a different view and influencing an artist’s next choices. After fixing the charcoal in place with Windsor and Newton spray (essential to avoid further unintentional smudging and mixing with later layers), I decided on two focal points and applied two ‘acrylic skins’ - another of Chris Loud’s ideas that make great use of left over paint.

At this point I chose a particular orientation that suggested to me a figure leaping into the air and soaring great distances. The smudges charcoal also gave the vibe of rapid motion. We’ve all had dreams that we can fly, and experience a thrill in our sleep-time consciousness that we can never experience in real life. As a youngster I was always taken by the superhuman talent that Stan Lee’s Incredible Hulk exhibited when he leapt into the air with colossal strength, defying gravity to travel miles at a whim. If only, eh?

Still, a title eluded me, so I consulted my many lists of potential titles and settled on an obscure Ian Gillan lyric (of Deep Purple fame). ‘Ever Further From the Ground comes from the song, ‘The Aviator’ from Deep Purple’s ‘Purpendicular’ album - a classic, in my view. I remember Steve Morse, DP’s guitarist relating the genesis of the song. He came up with the main acoustic motif after watching his young son crawling across the floor with the endless energy that toddlers have. He is also an accomplished pilot and recalled, ‘We started in the second verse with the kind of flying that took place in childhood dreams and travelled laterally in both directions from thereon.’

As I moved on with applying more mark making and layering of paint strokes, the song kept echoing in my mind. Such is the way my mind works. I particularly like the lyrics that come near the end of the song:

I flew along the lighted street

I flew above the town

I flew in ever rising circles

Ever further from the ground

As I begin to lose my breath

Painted faces turn and spin

A distant corner of the room

Will open up and let me in

I'm tired of the news

I'm tired of the weather

I'm tired of the same thing every day

I'm the aviator

A dream's a dream whatever they say

I guess this refers to escapism, which we all need a little of from time to time.

Finally, a word about the two-tone frame. I get my pictures framed at Castle Framing in the town where I live, and I always rely on their advice when choosing mounts and frame colours. Particularly helpful because I am partially colour blind. It was Ben at Castle Framing that suggested a whacky, off the wall approach to the frame in blue and yellow. I think it finishes off this painting sympathetically. What do you think?