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INTRODUCTION
Since the commencement of my weblog April 2014, I have been periodically blogging about certain art works within my art portfolio. Since 2008, the act of painting has proved to be a very important process I have used for myself, as a form of therapy whilst caring for my husband during 2008/2009 when he was receiving and recovering from chemotherapy; and during my grieving process for the loss of my son in 2009. Five years plus onwards, painting, along with my creative writing endeavours, continues to be an important part of my well-being. For me as the painter, the painting story is just as important as the art work itself, as it helps the viewer of my art work be able to make an informed connection. And through this connection, I also hope it will help give the viewer something meaningful to think about – long after viewing the art work its self…
PAINTING DETAILS: Painting No. 3 – Title “Piece of Mind” Acrylic on Canvas Feb 08 – 60cms Length x 50cms Wide x 1cm Deep by Abstract Artist Karen Robinson
PAINTING PROCESS
At the commencement of my painting journey in 2008, I had purchased some very cheap canvases from the local market along with some inexpensive paints and brushes. I was still learning about the whole process of painting and it was not until a very kind person in an art gallery I was visiting once, opposite the market, had told me that I really should invest in good canvases, paints and brushes. It was after receiving this advice that I promptly went about researching and purchasing quality archival art products.
This painting above which I called “Piece of Mind” was the third painting I had ever done as an adult. It is small in size, but over time I progressed to larger size canvases as my confidence and experience increased. During the painting of this painting, I found that in order to gain a good coverage of paint, I had to paint each section 3 to 4 times. This was due to the poor quality paint and canvas I was using at the time and it was the only way I could get the colours to pop. I then finished off the painting with a layer of clear vanish to help the colours standout even more as well as helping to protect the canvas overall.
PAINTING STORY
The inspiration for this painting came from a moment I was looking back over my life and thinking about Belgravia where I held my last place of full-time employment. Unbeknown to me it became the last time I embarked on work that I considered part of my career path. I remember about how difficult it was and how much work related stress I had endured. The demands of being a wife and being up two children also weighted heavily on my mind. There were times I felt I was not making the grade in either arena. The demands of the position whilst very challenging and at times with the travel exciting, became a place where I felt like I was drowning and the only way out was to resign. It took me over 3 months to make that final decision to take that dramatic step and hand in my resignation. I have not regretted my decision to date and as it turned out it has been the best decision I could have made. 12 months on I was to face the biggest challenges in my life being my husband’s diagnoses of cancer 2008 and the death of my son in 2009. It took all my strength as a human being to weather those times and art and creative writing became my way of staying sane. Below is what I had originally written about the above painting, back in 2008:
“A jigsaw of a mind in thought! During my time at Belgravia, much was going on in my mind. Many tasks to complete, many goals to achieve, many new experiences to survive, enjoy and stress over. Many budgets to
reach, many meetings to attend, many flights to catch, many miles to travel. A very exciting and stressful but personally rewarding time in my life.”
NB: Belgravia was my last place of full-time employment and unbeknown to me it became the last time I embarked on work that I considered part of my career path.
CONCLUSION
The painting features lots of pieces which was indicative of how I felt when working at Belgravia. There was just so many demands of myself; demands from upper management but also demands I had placed upon myself within my family life. The title of the painting is a play on words. Rather than calling it a ‘peace of mind’ which work was not, I called it ‘piece of mind’. I found myself during this period of my life desperately looking for ‘peace of mind’ which, at last I have finally found. This ‘peace of mind’ so to speak, is being sustained through my art and creative writing processes.
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My Art Therapy Journey – A window into the soul of an Abstract Artist through art therapy and storytelling…by Karen Robinson – Abstract Artist/Blogger/Writer/Photo-taker
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