Art Rescue … June 2024
I often get asked “what do you do with the work you don’t sell?” As I draw, paint, or work on sculpture at least two or three days per week, this mounts up to quite a lot of artwork over a period of time. Before I met Shari (now my partner) the process was easy … I mostly painted over anything that didn’t sell either at an exhibition or event, or after some time online on my artnorthland website. Now, Shari ‘rescues’ any work that she connects with and rotates it around the house as the seasons (and her mood) changes. When it’s not on the walls, it’s stored in our ‘art box’ or sometimes used in Shari’s real estate work, hanging on walls for photo shoots. The ones that don’t get ‘saved’ are painted over, giving the canvas texture, and often keeping bits of the original work, incorporating it into the new work. The painting evolves and grows - much like a person - and I’ve often had an art buyer tell me that they see something different in the work, over a period of time. I suspect as they change and grow, so does the story in the work. That’s why I’m drawn particularly to abstract art - it does not put the work in a box, leaving it open for interpretation. At a time when the world seems to be dividing into many different judgmental ‘boxes’, I believe we need art to challenge us to stop and think more deeply, to reflect on what we see, what we think and why we think it - and realise that others see the same thing differently … and maybe there is some value in that and it’s okay. So when Shari ‘rescues’ some of my work because she sees something in it that I didn’t see, I’m fascinated with her interpretation. These are some of the ‘rescued art’ … The Lonely Jug, Winds of Change and Choir Boy.