Decisions, decisions!..

I've been working on expanding the range of options in the ply cutout panel designs for the current version of the Colour & Meaning workshop model.

The first classes I ran at the Bushtime events were nearly all mirrored pairs of flourishes primarily intended to be symmetrical embellishments for some sort of sacred space within one's home, and I still have some of those present in the current selection. At the Bushtime gigs I started introducing single iconic options as well and I have been gradually expanding the range of these.

They are intended to be a central focus of a personal shrine or sacred space, sometimes with a recogniseable symbol pre-painted in the middle but, in most cases left blank so the workshop attendee can paint whatever they want there themselves... hopefully the symbol that means the most to them personally.

This first set here are representative of these options and have some darker, warm-coloured underpainting blocked in to build upon during the painting process in the workshop

This is how they can end up at the end of the workshop painting process:

The second set are some new designs along the same lines... linework hand-painted over a simple warm ground by Your's Truly but without the secondary colour-work. Plenty of room in these ones to get expressive with colours and patterns around the black linework. Some of the symbols are established and recognisable... some are completely inventions out of my own head...

Thirdly, I have a batch of new designs based on mandalas I have been developing.

I'm keen to see how these fit into my current workshop process.

They are hand drawn but partially developed on the computer and then printed onto paper which is then glued to the board before it is cut to shape.

At the next workshop coming up this weekend in Woodford I will see who wants to experiment with these for me.

The workflow for these pieces is much more detailed and may not be completed in the 3 hours allotted for the workshop... and need to be taken home to finish.

It is less about the doodling expressive brushwork style and more about very fine detail and repetition... and it's a slightly different meditative headspace because of that too... but the end results can be very visually impressive and rewarding.

I would like to invite those who have signed up for my workshops to think about which of these options they would like to choose now in the time before the workshop... to choose a design from the three sets I have shown here.

If they have chosen a design with an empty central circle, please feel free to devote some time to thinking about what you want that space to contain... a symbol?.. an illustrative piece of some sort?.. abstract patterns or textures?... so that we can hit the ground running when the workshop commences.

In fact if you have a symbol design you particularly want to make happen, and can email it to me early enough, I may be able to put it together like these examples fully prepped for you in time for the class.

Let me know...

For more background on all this, look at the video in the previous blog post here.

And to book the last place available at the workshop:

https://www.personalshrine.com/events