LOSE EDGES, JOIN SHAPES

When I was looking at the work of artists that I admire recently, I realised there was a common thread that ran through almost all of them: they lose edges and merge shapes together. This not only helps the atmosphere of the painting, as things are suggested rather than stated, but also the design (composition) becomes stronger as the shapes become larger.

The painting can then work on two levels: as a representational image (a location or figure, for example) and as a group of shapes that can have an abstract quality to them – a design, or a pattern if you like.

I decided that I needed to remind myself of this basic approach and so I wrote it down on a piece of paper and stuck it to my easel: “Lose edges, join shapes.” The phrase became a kind of mantra.

A second mantra developed – “It’s the painting, not the place” – that was a reminder