Subconscious Musing

I've been doing this kind of thing for many years now but only recently have I made it a regular, daily, happening, and also dramatically changed the scale at which I am musing on. Previously it was always small "thumbnails" but, inspired by the daily emaki studies of Mayako Nakamura, a young, gifted student from Tokyo, in Japan, I have taken to make my own musings A1 size. This allows much more scope for the experience and memory inherent in the blood and bones and muscles of my arm to come into play.

The idea is, instead of launching into trying to paint the usual visual reality straightaway when entering the studio, I try to give expression to the other, unseen, reality first. Loosens up the arm and gets me thinking about abstract elements before I give them figurative descriptions:

Acrylics and black Neocolour pastel on paper, A1.

When I take my musing as far as I can at the time I then stand back and can often see the potential for solidifying these feelings into something more tangible and what arises is a painting like this:

Mixed Media on primed board, 42x61cm.

It may be a "road less travelled" but I know there is a road ahead somewhere along this grassy path, and where it leads is the adventure of my life.