Mari French : contemporary artist

the wind in the reeds…

mari french — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:26:19 +0000

January 12th, a cold but very bright day. I escaped from my rather cramped studio, which was being bombarded by noisy builders two doors down, up to the wide open spaces of the Norfolk coast in my mud splattered little Clio…

Saltmarsh (mixed media on board) © Mari French 2012

…welcome to my current favourite spot for sketching – the wide saltmarshes and creeks lying between Thornham and Holme-next-the-sea.

Reedbeds, Thornham Marsh (digital photo) © Mari French 2012

Thornham Marsh (digital photo) © Mari French 2012

The easterly wind is bitter and watercolour takes forever drying, so I walk along the raised bank of the sea defences, passing the odd dog walker and bird watcher, flapping my open sketchbook in the sunshine.

Saltmarsh creek © Mari French 2012

Next to the romantically named Hun Outfall Sluice (it’s a manmade kind of small canal, draining the surrounding farmland and marsh), with fish leaping for flies in the sun spangled water, I found a hidden spot down near the reedbeds, out of the bitter east wind and off the main path.

Reedbed sketch © Mari French 2012

…here the sun is bright and low (and warm for January) creating interesting light effects through the reeds and a great spot for sketching.

I will be returning soon. Meanwhile, the mixed-media paintings at the start and end of this post show how the day inspired me back in the studio.

remains of staithe (digital photo) © Mari French 2012

Reedbed (digital photo) © Mari French 2012

water depth scale (digital photo) © Mari French 2012

Saltmarsh 2 (mixed media on board) © Mari French 2012

a winter eye…

mari french — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:55:53 +0000

a few recent textured, mixed-media works completed in the winter months of 2011…

after all the festivities and family commitments of Christmas I’ll be glad to get back to my easel again. A happy and peaceful 2012 to you all…

… may your winter eye be graced with stimulating images, wherever you encounter them.

winter sun © Mari French 2012

hidden valley © Mari French 2012

limestone below © Mari French 2012

blue field © Mari French 2012

sometimes…

mari french — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:25:21 +0000

sometimes I like to take photographs… especially in the interiors of some of the ancient – (up to 1000 year old, honestly) – village churches of Norfolk…

chairs (photo) © Mari French 2011

the less primped and fussed about with the better (because some of them are a bit grand and I’m not interested in those)…

bibles (photo) © Mari French 2011

the intention, eventually, is to produce a body of mixed-meda work based on impressions of these serene places… I love the flaking plaster and ageing woodwork and subtle changing light… the unexpected still lives that present themselves…

gauge (photo) © Mari French 2011

in the meantime this is what I’ve been up to…

urns (photo) © Mari French 2011

face (photo) © Mari French 2011

latch (photo) © Mari French 2011

sunflowers in winter…

mari french — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:47:24 +0000

detail from sketch of dead sunflowers © Mari French 2011

okay… I realise many images can be intriguing when cropped and magnified, but I love this detail from a late afternoon sketch I did in November, in a field of dead sunflowers (in Harpley, Norfolk). I like the dark beauty of the granulations of colour as they have bled and flowed together. This is why I enjoy playing with wet-in-wet watercolour often combined, as here, with watercolour pastels. (Just wish I could reproduce this effect on a large scale!)

Below is the original sketch, and a further detail. For me the dead plants are more satisfying to paint than the living summer ones, glorious though they are to look at.

Winter sunflowers (watercolour sketch) © Mari French Nov 2011

dead sunflowers, detail from sketch © Mari French 2011

splash and tell…

mari french — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:07:32 +0000

Have been so busy producing new work recently (using larger canvases and preparing for a show in London early next summer)… that I realised I hadn’t got round to mentioning the art demo I gave to the Snettisham art group (west Norfolk), a few weeks ago.

'Spontaneity', acrylic/mixed media on watercolour board © Mari French 2011

Unfortunately I was too self conscious (stupidly) to take any photos of the group/demo but some of the (rather raw) works (acrylic/mixed-media on board) that I produced in preparation, plus the one I completed in the demo (main pic above) are included here.

I’d never given a demo before (well not of painting… I’ve done plenty in my former life as a graphic designer hooked up to an apple mac). I’d ‘warned’ the Snettisham group I would be demonstrating various techniques as a way of loosening up, mainly in abstracted mixed-media, (I would guess many of them paint in a representational style). So I was only expecting about a dozen turning up, although the group has a large membership. When I arrived (a little early as I thought), the hall was pretty much full… there must have been about 30 people once all had arrived and settled.

I had been nervous in the days leading up to this, to be honest, and babbled a bit to start with, but once I’d started freely bashing acrylic paint and ink onto the pre-prepared surface (watercolour board with pasted down tissue paper) with a large brush, I felt more in my element.

preparation for demo, acrylic/mixed media on watercolour board © Mari French 2011

They were a very welcoming and responsive group, asking questions, laughing at my feeble ‘witticisms’ (thankfully), so I soon relaxed into it. They appreciated the various techniques on the whole… printing with bubble wrap/corrugated cardboard, splashing and wiping back… so I’m hoping that everyone got at least one or two useful tips to help with their future painting.

It’s amazing how quickly two hours can pass once you hit your stride, and also surprising (useful for any tutor), how we artists can take our own knowledge and experience, for granted. It is satisfying to pass on particularly playful and effective methods to help others with loosening up in their artwork.

minerals (mixed media study in preparation for art demo) © Mari French 2011

Time ran away with us at the end, as the group crowded round enthusiastically asking questions, collecting printouts of notes on techniques, recommended art books, materials etc, and browsing through books, sketchbooks and work examples I’d brought along. (I’ve always find these ‘extras’ are very much appreciated at these kind of events).

I’ve been asked to come back next year when the group have their exhibition at Snettisham. It would be great to see some lively gestures and brushwork in there. I wish them luck with their art… and do remember if any of you are reading this…

have fun and allow yourself to play sometimes!

sea lavender completed…

mari french — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:24:26 +0000

Those of you who read my recent post seeing lavender may be interested to see the resulting painting, just completed, inspired by that day’s sketching on north Norfolk saltmarshes…

Sea lavender © Mari French 2011

Like a lot of my work, this is acrylic on textured, deep-sided canvas, 61 x 61 cm.

It’s rare that I work up a painting direct from a sketch, as I find this a bit constricting, but this work is obviously heavily influenced by my original impression, although I didn’t have it sat in front of me while I painted in order to keep an element of freedom in its execution.

sketchbook browsing…

mari french — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:49:42 +0000

Brancaster creek - sketch © Mari French 2011

Trawling through my sketchbooks today, for inspiration and to print out and paste into my current workbook for reference.

Some of these are recent… some older, but it was interesting making their acquaintance again.

Thought I’d share…

Rain approaching - watercolour sketch © Mari French 2011

haybales catching the sun - watercolour sketch © Mari French 2011

Poplars and poppies - sketch © Mari French 2009

Reedbeds, Blakeney - sketch © Mari French 2011

Other artists may experience something similar, but I only have to look at these to be whisked back in time… I can remember what I was thinking about, sensations, weather… it tends to be true for most of my finished paintings too.

painting lethal earth…

mari french — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:35:57 +0000

My response to the remains of the industrial tin mining landscape of Cape Cornwall… its dangerous, poignant and poisonous history (see my previous post).

An acrylic and mixed media work on deep-sided canvas 40x50cm.

glorious colours…lethal earth…

mari french — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:05:31 +0000

In early September I spent a week on the Penwith peninsula of Cornwall. This area is well-known for its stunning coastline, artists and the many standing stones and stone circles.

At St Ives I visited the 150 year old art studios at Porthmeor, with their large boarded sail-loft type spaces and huge seaward windows overlooking the Atlantic rollers on Porthmeor beach. Really difficult not to be envious of such light and space for painting. One of the artists, John Emanuel, originally from Cumbria, has been resident at the studios for 30 years. He had a fascinating book of photos of the studio interior recently published so I bought a copy.

I also spent a glorious couple of days tracking down some of the industrial archaeology of the area’s past – tin mines, near Land’s End, which I wanted to sketch. Levant mine, on the coast between St Just and Pendeen is now a National Trust site but this didn’t intrude on the potent atmosphere of the ruined engine houses, chimneys and arsenic works.

The spectacular setting, on the coastal path high above the sea, added to the sense of drama… a gift to the artist and photographer, although I didn’t see much evidence of the industrial side of Cornwall in the galleries at St Ives.

Levant mine originally worked copper till the 1850s, then tin. Arsenic produced as a by-product of the tin mining was, horrifyingly, scraped off the inside of the chimney by men and young boys, by hand, with little more than a cloth to protect their breathing. The arsenic was produced for dyes, pesticides and medicine!

I was excited by the vivid red and ochres, both in the buildings and bleeding through the ground of this eerie landscape. Beautiful and potentially lethal…

…an interesting possibility for a body of work I thought, also appreciating the contrast of the industrial subject within the landscape.

Traces of jewel-like minerals can easily be found in the scattered rocks and the earth around the site.

Even the bracken and other vegetation on the moorland above the mine seemed to mirror the colours of the earth and ores.

seeing lavender…

mari french — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:52:36 +0000

After following a small path through woodland and undergrowth, then open saltmarsh and wide skies this was the inspirational view I stumbled on back in late summer on a glorious day near Thornham saltmarsh, Norfolk… a huge swathe of pale purple sea lavender flowers.

Below is the little sketch I did on the spot… can’t wait to re-interpret this as a large painting sometime!