Tania Metalli

Artist, writer, web developer

painting

Colourful me

Colourful me

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I have dedicated the past few weeks to experimenting with abstract ideas and colours.

Like mentioned already, I needed to move away from the “creatures”, I needed to stretch my creativity in other directions, experiment, get dirty with both ideas and techniques.

The results are a series of very colourful oil paintings of various sizes, some stretched and some not.

I am still unsure of the results and that if this is something I want to take further.

At this point I’m enjoying the process, allowing myself to play with ideas and make mistakes.

Something I don’t allow myself to do enough.

Tm

 

Changing direction

Changing direction

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My art is changing direction.

It has already changed direction.

After dedicating most of my creative efforts (not all, because I’ve always done different things “on the side”) to the creatures, I’ve felt the need to change and to move on what it feels like, the opposite direction: from very precise, drawing based, figurative art, to shapeless, abstract, colour based one.

What it started as a holiday, it’s turning now into a regular feature of my art.

I’ve packed my bags and moved to the holiday home.

And that’s such a liberating feeling.

Tm

The weekly wrap – #2

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Where I talk about the week I just had, what I’ve been up to, interesting things I’ve done and seen. But also what I was supposed to do but haven’t done…naughty, disorganised me!

the weekly wrap #2

A short week

With monday being bank holiday and all.

I didn’t even bother with a to do list…wishlist, I just went free styling and enjoyed that very much.

Of course I didn’t end up doing much apart from painting, but that’s fine.

I still have the new version of my gallery site to finish (and I did give myself a DEADline for September…but I didn’t specify when in September. Smart move), but I have time for that…if I make time of course.

That’s going to be in next week wish list. I have to remember to make one.

Time to think (again)

It was also a good time to think and reconsider plans, paths, ways to achieve them. And in general I took the (nearly unanimous) decision to take it easier, not to stress about it, and just follow my own way.

In the last year or so I have been reading so much (too much) about other people’s journey and successes, there is so much information around the internet!

And that can be overwhelming.

I thought I should do more, I should do better, and nothing seamed to be enough. Till I felt like giving up.

But that’s not the solution.

In the end we are all different people, and what works for one might not work for another.

It definitely doesn’t work for me, I’m such an exotic specie (and I believe we all are). The only way that works for me is the one that I try and experiment and find on my own.

It’s also more fun.

I feel less pressure now. I’m giving myself more space to create, to experiment and to mess things up, both in art and life.

Now I’m off to enjoy the weekend. Lovely weather in London, feeling the end of summer feeling, perfect day to spend in the park, looking at the changing sky.

Hope you have a great one too.

 

Tm

 

Abstract bliss

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Abstract bliss

Painting all week

I have been spending most of the week painting, practically ignoring everything else.

That hasn’t happened in a long while. Too busy designing and coding websites, both my own and my clients. So it was really nice to put all that aside for al little bit and get my hand dirty again.

I have been painting something completely different, forgetting the creatures for a while.

(Not really. I still draw them regularly and enjoying that very much).

But as painting goes, I have been playing with shapes and colours, creating interesting abstract little canvasses. I find the activity extremely freeing…is that the right word?

When I paint creatures the approach to the work is completely different.

Breaking free from my own restrictions

I consider the paintings of creatures as a sort of coloured drawings really, the drawing is the important element. There’s very little excitement in the painting bit, especially after the first layers of colours are done. In fact sometimes if the painting part takes too long I might get bored and leave the work unfinished.

Also it’s a very precise and in a way restrictive process. I like it that way, I like the precision of it, but sometimes I need to break from that.

Lately I have been looking at different ways to make art, a different approach to projects. I have been looking at art for art sake, for the pleasure to play with the elements (and with that I mean materials), get more visceral and less controlled with my work. I have been looking at using different materials, different subjects, actually getting rid of subjects altogether.

It all started with…

I started with some works on paper, using very diluted water soluble oil colours, playing with shades and shapes and applying decorative elements once the base was dry (it seems I’m not really able to let go of the drawing part, even for a little bit).

From there I moved onto canvas, creating completely abstract work. First the blobs of colours where random and shapeless, then I moved into more geometrical form, trying maybe to control the initial chaos of colours (although calling it chaos is too much, my choices of colours are always very controlled, not more that 2/3 at any one time).

The results are abstract in the strictest sense of the term.

I am going to continue the project in the hope to find my own abstract language. At the moment everything is too…already seen and done.

And I can’t have that. (:)

 

Tm

 

The grey room

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I’ve painted the studio in grey. A light shade of ash grey, with a bluish hint.

Such a beautiful colour it makes me want to hug the walls!

I’m not sure if I’ve decided on the grey because I was painting creatures in subtle shades of grey, just before the move, or I started painting grey creatures because I already made my mind about grey walls.

new grey painting

A part from the wall I haven’t painted in weeks.

Moving tend to unsettle me and often it takes ages to get back into a suitable creative routine.

And we all know how important is a good working routine.

Now, after getting rid of the hideous magnolia that covered every inch of the new flat, I’m free to open the boxes and set up my work space properly.

The room is not particularly big, but there’s enough for a big table and comfy chair, the easel, a few shelves and probably a sofa bed, as the place is going to double as “guest room” if necessary.

My head and sketchbooks are full of ideas and techniques that urgently need to be put into practice.

Forcing myself back to the canvas

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The joy of holding a brush in front of a canvas – I forgot how much I enjoy this.

I don’t know if this happens to you as well, but I tend to forget how much I love the physical act of painting, if I don’t do it for a while. Time passes, I do other things, some creative, some less, and I forget how much I need to paint to feel alive.

I really have to make an effort, force myself back to the canvas, rearrange my studio, dust off colours and brushes. But then, when I start I question myself, why did I ever stopped?

I don’t know the answer. It happens regularly, so I think I need the time off as well. Take time to re-gather thoughts, ideas, images.

Sometimes I do it on purpose. When I feel the inspiration is going, I put everything away and threat myself to never paint ever again.

Usually the moment I put the colours and brushes away is the moment I want to paint more than ever, and sometimes I go back to it right away.

This time has been a bit different, I’ve started questioning my creative choices altogether, doubting they were the right ones. I felt trapped by this choices, I felt cornered by my own choices, the fact that I’ve concentrated everything around the Creatures, while at the beginning they were supposed to be just one of the elements.

I’ve also felt inadequate, started comparing myself, but mostly my art, to others, more successful artists, realising that my art doesn’t seem to fit in what is considered now fashionable, sellable.

I’ve started painting because I loved it, it’s always been something that I had to do, I didn’t really choose it, it was always with me. But you get to a point in your life when if you want your talent recognised, you want to be known and you want some financial return.

This hasn’t happen yet.

But I’m started to think that it’s mostly because of my approach to the art business. Because I’ve always shied away from the public, because I’ve always had contrasting ideas about it.

So I needed this time to make sense of all of this.

And I think I have finally come up with a decision…

Back to the canvas.