From the research collected at the Leicester Botanical Gardens and the Change of Heart Exhibition, I have been developing pieces in my sketchbook. I made observational drawings of the patterns and shapes in the garden. Designed sculptures, documented thought processes at the time and words that were important.
I then layered this information through the pages, one side and then the other repeating and translating the images over and over again incorporating the imperfections in the page and the drawings themselves.
Once I am happy with a composition I go over the lines in pen to give that page permanence and a crisp finish. These designs are still pieces of a jigsaw however, and I see them more as an adolescent piece waiting to grow into a bigger artwork once the correct pages fit together. The drawings can still develop through the unresolved pages of the book. These images contribute to the paintings by being traced through the paper of larger compositions, in this way the first hand references directly influence the final compositions, unfolding a history of growing marks and development.
Once I move onto the larger paper I repeat the process again this time aiming for a finishing composition. Tracing the directly observed and built up drawings into a larger lace-work. This then influences the next compositions by tracing the patterns through again. I am looking for interesting and familiar shapes at this point; an eye, a fish, a pod, from just using the marks I have I compose an image from what the patterns suggest.
The colours are from the place of origin, where the sketches began, the Botanical Garden in this case. I also use pressed flowers and leaves for a colour palette. Bringing the piece full circle and back to the earth and nature, its birth and its finish.
The Finished Artwork. Or is it?
Once an artwork has cross through the completed door, does it end, or will it continue? Will it create another artwork, inspire another person? Will it die to bloom again renewed, and simply never end.
