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Recent Posts
New video about lustre painting and magazine articleThe other week I posted a video explaining the techniques and… »
Porcelain painting and other arts in ThailandThe second post in a series about my trip to Thailand last year.… »
My porcelain feature in Swiss magazine Art and PorcelaineI'm sharing another magazine feature of my award winning porcelain… »
My porcelain feature in DECOR-magasinet from NorwayLast month I was interviewed by Editor Margrete Tennfjord for a four… »
Floating in my freedom, Abstract expressionism on porcelainFinally finished this new painting on porcelain this week, "Floating… »
Expressionist landscapes on canvas and updatesI've been really productive over the past few weeks, I've been… »
We are Soldiers of Love, Ingrid Lee, 2013 porcelain vaseI started this porcelain painting We are Soldiers of Love, late last… »
Challenge of abstract expressionist lustre on porcelainThe challenge of abstract expressionist lustre on porcelain is where… »
Finishing and starting new projects on porcelainIt's been busy few weeks, so I haven't had much chance to paint… »
Demo via skype in St PetersburgIt was 4.30 am in Melbourne and I presented a ribbon embroidery… »
Abstract expressionism on porcelain
Progress of lustre painting on porcelain
What’s on my mind
Silk Ribbons and roses…what am I doing??
Silk Ribbons and roses…what am I doing?? If you’ve read most of the posts to date, I’m busy painting on a variety of projects, so what do I do when I need a break? I spend time in my rose garden. I always share my garden with my online friends and followers, and I’ve written and posted about it my blogs before…but this is where I relax and have space. My beautiful roses were in full bloom when I got home from Thailand inn November 2012; but sadly because of the heat now in January, my garden is not happy. So to brighten my day, I’ve gone to look back on my photos from last November, and I’ve been inspired to work on an silk ribbon project I started last year.
This rose isn’t finished yet, but it gives you an idea of what I’m doing. I am using the colours of my roses to create the silk roses on this art work. I find making these silk works a very relaxing experience, and even though it is still painting and creating, it is not as emotionally and mentally tiring as my other work at the moment; but it is very rewarding. Clearly, this one rose is not finished…but I hope you enjoy this early stage of the work. I really enjoy combining painting, traditional embroidery stitches, and ribbons for this style of art, see some of Other ribbon work.
What do you create to relax? Please share you ideas in the comments 
If you like this picture or post, please share with the likes, pins or tweets below!
Tours, events and hairy pancakes in Thailand
Finally I have time to sit and write about my amazing week in Thailand last year. During the 8-11 November 2012, I was invited as a guest artist by artist, Helga Jaermann (Painting Teacher at the Bangsai Arts and Crafts Centre, and notable master in porcelain painting for over 40 years), to exhibit my porcelain paintings at the Thailand International Porcelain Painting Convention in honour of the Queen Sirikit’s 80th birthday celebrations. I won some awards, if you haven’t seen them, they are here, and here. So what else happened on this trip? HEAPS!!!!!! I’ve decided to write three posts one about the art and artists in Thailand, another about an award winning Thai artist who I also bought an artwork from, and this one about Tours, events and hairy pancakes! I’m going to do a picture story style post with a little bit of description, there are a few videos too…pictures tell more than me writing- and I could go on and on, believe me! It was a fantastic experience, and I plan to go back again in the very near future.
Artists Ingrid Lee and Yumiko Kanazawa
If you’d like a thorough detail of this trip day by day, please read my dear friend and sister Yumiko Kanazawa’s blogpost about our trip- we travelled together on this trip. Yumi is a Japanese artist, she won an award too, I love the story behind her paintings and the wonderfully creative journey she is on.
I really want to learn her kutani painting, I plan to travel to Japan to learn kutani painting with Yumi and her Master, and see more about Yumi’s integration of East meets West painting.
Thailand 2012
We stayed at Dream Hotel, Bangkok…the hotel was fantastic, all of the staff were wonderfully friendly and helpful, we had a very pleasurable stay. The restaurant food was really great…good atmosphere for late night drinks too. It is very hot in Thailand, but the hotel was totally air conditioned without fail!
Photo courtesy Dream Hotel website
Views outside of our hotel room
DAY 1:
After a 1+ hour bus ride we arrived at Donkaidee Benjarong Village
I will show more of the artwork from this award winning porcelain painting gallery and studio in the next post. At this venue, you can stay and study with the artists here also! Something to think about maybe for the next trip Yumiko? There are many places in Thailand, with posters and paintings of the beautiful Queen Sirikit, I can see why her people love her so much, and her smile exudes such warmth and friendliness, which is seen in all the people I met with.
Photo courtesy Nielia Ferrier
Very large hand painted wall tile
On the riverboat, thankful for the cool breeze and wonderful entertainment form the musicians and dancers! Did I mention Thailand was hot?
We ate a wonderful banquet lunch on the river…
This is a short video I took of an internal waterfall at the lunch venue….I want this in my studio! Can you imagine such luxury in a workplace?? How relaxing and inspiring…..a dream!
King Rama II Memorial Park gardens….beautiful~
We then visited a temple and training ground…
Later that evening we attended the opening ceremony…and met BOND!!!!! Bond Malikaew paints on porcelain as well, and has a very interesting alla prima method his works are very expressive. Bond was an awesome host, and friend to us both, we hope to catch up with him again soon on our travels.
Later that evening, Bond took Yumi and I to the Hotel Sirroco...AMAZING place!!!!! is all I can say…thank you Bond 
. I loved the skybar! It was a fantastic evening after a really busy day…and we still continued on into the early morning at some fun places.
DAY 2: At TIPP 2012 Bangsai
We actually did a lot on this day, but I’m saving these stories for my next blog post. Here is the TIPP convention in Bangsai, at The SUPPORT Arts and Crafts International Centre of Thailand (SACICT).
Day 3- Guest artist Lunch, Tour to a temple and hairy pancakes
Helga Jaermann, Patrice Frass (editor of Magazine Art and Porcelaine), and me- Thailand Porcelain Convention 2012. In this photo you can see a little pin which Helga and I are wearing, I was presented with this pin for being a guest artist. You can see more of the Thailand Trip, paintings by Yumi and myself, and other art works from the whole event in the Magazine Art and Porcelaine.
I actually bought this painting by award winning artist (plate here in the photo below)…you can read more about that and see the video soon. Here, I’m speaking to the interpreter. I spent most of this day talking to artists and shopping….I know that doesn’t surprise you 
Yes I bought one pair of shoes- slip on ones, because I got nasty blisters and foot swelling from the heat, so my little black patent leather flats were quite useless for comfort. In saying that I still painfully squeezed my feet in the gold strappy shoes for the Royal Gala Award dinner and presentations- as you do!
Later that day, the feature and guest artists were invited to a special lunch at the Bangsai Arts and Crafts Centre. The food and hospitality was wonderful, and a great venue also. We got to see lots of Thai artwork, including some contemporary art- you’ll these photos in my next post (sorry, there’s not enough room in this post!) Here is just the start of the banquet, the whole table was filled with delicious spicy and hot dishes, fish, lobster, soup…too much to mention.
Some of the feature and guest artists from the lunch….(left) Yumiko Kanazawa, Helga Jaermann, Rocio Borobia, Me, Marie-Clarie Frass, Sudasamorn Suwancharoen , Joerg Kugelmeier, Erika Bemme, Di Curtin, Nelia Ferreira and Beatriz Ramirez.
Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol (The Great Temple of Auspicious Victory), Ayudhaya, Thailand.
After the lunch we were taken in small groups to a Buddhist temple, which was known as the Royal temple, when Ayudhaya was the capital city back in 1350. This temple has great historical significance, it was the seat of Buddhist patriarchs and monks who practices meidation and insight. This temple was named after the Victory of the King Naresuan the Great over the Burmese invasion in 1593. I absolutely loved this part of the day and the trip. For me going to any spiritual place always gives me a deep sense of inner peace and calm. These places for me have different energy and resonance which I feel as soon as I enter them- maybe it’s just me. Whether it was in cathedrals in St Petersburg or Moscow, local cathedrals and churches in Australia, and the Buddhist temple here in Thailand, I always receive a great sense of calm and peace. This was a wonderful opportunity to be thankful for my journeys, and pray for my family and friends and make that time for quietening the mind and spirit. I love having the porcelain painting of the Buddha in my home- I find it to be a meditative point in my home to use throughout the day, and brings happy memories, and takes me back the quiet I experienced at this temple.
NEXT! more food
Hairy pancakes that’s what I called them anyway….these are a fruit flavoured crepe batter- banana, kiwi,vanilla (I think) and some other fruit. The pancakes are soooo delicious on their own, but then it gets better, you fill them with flavoured and coloured fairy floss (more like persian fairy floss texture). The floss resembles the texture of silk strands. You then assemble like a filled crepe, roll it up and eat! These were freshly cooked and still a little warm, Yumi and I loved them…I ate all of mine, I assure you I was thinking of you all
Yumi, I was tempted to show that picture…..but I didn’t
Day 4- Awards and Gala Dinner
A BUSY day and evening. Most of the morning was spent doing promotional photos and more shopping (of course!)
Ingrid Lee, Yumiko Kanazawa, Marie Claire Frass, Di Curtin, a great photo of the morning when the awards were announced for the porcelain competition.
Di Curtin was one of the Feature Artists at TIPP, she is the Australasian President of APAT and together with her committee in New South Wales, is organising the next Australasian Exhibition & Convention in Sydney in October 2013. You can see the painting of Australian flannel flowers in her contemporary style, which Di presented for auction in honour of the Queen of Thailand’s Birthday, see Di’s photo and the APAT fan page. I look forward to seeing many of you at this event, I will be doing some demonstrations there- more about this later.
Below is Chakrawut Phongkraisrisiri, Helga Jaermann, and Karom Boontem. These are her award winning students from the Bangsai Painting Station, for the TIPP 2012, you can see their winning paintings and my vase far right.
Later that evening…….the big event! Here, Bond and I…actually our hair is almost matching- and our clothing compliments too (he a purple coloured sash band)…really the three of us matched! This was only the start of tonnes of publicity photos for the evening, I was really surprised at how special and BIG this event really was. I’m still amazed.
Ingrid Lee and His Excellency The Privy Counsellor, Thailand…Here I am talking about my two award winning paintings at the vernissage, prior to accepting the award.
Here I am saying thankyou “Kob Khun Ka” to His Excellency for listening to my Vernissage.
Receiving one of my awards….we had to rehearse the formal acceptance and curtsy.
Can I explain the hair issue, which is bugging me in all of these photos….humidity, a tiny can of hairspray and heat, and I’ll repeat humidity again with curly hair do not mix. I needed more hairspray, and you can only take tiny cans on the plane, and I couldn’t get these little cans with super stayfix lacquer…for those of you who know me really well, you’ll understand my need to make this comment.
New friendships were made during this trip, and I can’t wait to catch up with many of these lovely people again. Here I am with Sudasamorn Suwancharoen, a lovely woman, and was very hospitable and welcoming. I love her bright coloured clothing throughout the week…her silk suits were impeccable.
Me, Yumi, Ivonne Planos, Audney Thuestad, Helga Jaermann
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about my trip to Thailand. The next blog post will be about some of the artists I met with and beautiful art works and handicrafts I saw, and there’ll be one more after that featuring videos with the artist who painted the Buddha plate I purchased…so make sure you catch the newsfeed of follow me on my networks (top left of page).
I’d love to hear what you think about this trip, please leave your comments or share this blog post with your friends, click on the social networks below! Thanks
The journey of Destiny and Love, what I’m painting
I started this painting at the beginning of December, and it is still on the go (yes the other porcelain paintings I’ve been working on are still being worked on too…but things dry at different times, kiln firings take time, so I maximise my time! ). This post is to document my thinking through this painting and where I am at during this series of art works about Destiny and Love…it’s a long post. This series of artworks has been an interesting journey, one of bringing up old feelings, sharing experiences which are personal, or had been locked away, thinking and observations of love over the years, inspirations from what I read and music I listen to…and while I paint and explore, I expect that the works will represent the thinking through my understanding of the concepts. This is one of the largest paintings I’m working on in the series of Destiny and Love, it’s 152 cm x 90cm…I have not given it a title yet.
I have been researching Tenebrist painting, particularly the works of female Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi.
“Judith and Her Maidservant” by Artemisia Gentileschi
Her paintings left an impression on me since I first saw her work at a Melbourne exhibition in 2004 (I will write about this in another blog post). The use of extreme contrasts of light and dark in figurative compositions to reflect drama is a technique which is of particular interest. While my current painting is not figurative nor technically tenebrist, (my other paintings using this technique will be different, talk about this later), this painting is the first process of discovery for communication of style and thought of an adaptation of it. For this painting, I wanted to use my techniques of layering intense complimentary colours in contrast to darker background, to show reveal the composition and forms (in place of the figure), in abstract expressionist style.
Here is the first layer of undercolours and combinations of intense colours.
Underpainting, Ingrid Lee
As the painting has progressed, the darker values are working to create the contrasts and mood. I do not work with black, I prefer to create a richness which balances throughout the painting and mix with my own darkest values, and contrasting them with complimentary colours to grey them down or make them pop. The paints I use are a flow consistency, not structural, so they are easier to build up with thin layers of glazing. For me I still want life in the painting, and to utilize the idea of movement in the background of the painting, as shown in Velazquez’s work, I will see how this approach goes.
…still a long way to go….
So how does this connect to Destiny and Love?
Destiny….how do I understand it now, after 8 paintings (I haven’t shared all completed art works at the moment, I have planned for about 20 more)???? Is destiny the result of wanting what you want today, but realising that it takes longer to have what you desire, and what you desire will truly come in time? I think that concepts I’ve explored in the paintings so far direct my thinking that all things will come in perfect time, and that we should enjoy the journey while finding what it is we want…maybe this is destiny.
The biggest part of my journey through these paintings has resulted in my learning about how to deal with my relationship between impatience and time- something which also I have learned about through love. So I think that destiny is a journey, not a finite thing that will result in happiness or unhappiness, it’s not about getting what you want, but what you are going to discover about yourself.
Through abstract expressionism I have been able to communicate my actions and immediate feelings and responses to experiences and observations about Love and Destiny. Through this whole journey, which started as far back as the creation of Ingrid-creates, and my exhibition of Journey for the artistic soul in Russia, and my research for this current series of paintings, I have realised that I am not fearful of feeling or expressing my feelings and thoughts because I have come to realise, that that which makes me sad or disconnected, or fearful is really an energy and experience which can I use to transcend from those shadows toward finding light and hope, this is the path to the journey of finding love…maybe. This painting in particular represents that transcendence. So this journey of being connected to my feelings and expectations of what I want is going to reveal something wonderful.
What this journey is…is not about romantic love, this is about love for myself, learning to express those feelings connected with our everyday perceptions of love, but really what I have been destined to do, as I understand it, is to find and understand the passion within, harness it, by making the choice to create my experiences.
I will wait to see how this painting finishes…..
Another painting on porcelain in this series “Maybe it’s Love”
Inspiration for porcelain painting
Just sharing a beautiful painting by Emma Meyer, of women decorating porcelain. I just want to thank my friend from facebook, Marina Orlova, for posting this beautiful and inspiring art work to me this morning….a wonderful way to start my day. The fantastic part about being an artist, and in particular an artist on porcelain are the friendships which connect us all from this art form. I have been truly blessed that I not only gain great pleasure artistically and spiritually as an artist to paint on porcelain, but I have made the most amazing friendships with fellow artists and art lovers internationally from this beautiful medium also.
- Emma Meyer (Danish, 1859-1921).
Women decorating porcelain at Den Kgl. Porcelansfabrik (Royal Copenhagen).
Are you still painting??
“Are you still painting??” asked one of my friends, as they remarked I hadn’t been online much (i.e facebook or twitter) or posting on my blog. The answer is YES, I’m working on many paintings at the moment….I’ve been researching the paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi for some canvas work- very interesting….and asemic writing for another painting I’m part way through planning.
I don’t have much time to be anywhere else except in my studio. We have school holidays here too, so I have another 4 weeks to entertain my kids with and get my own work done and still stay sane!!!!! Galleries, beach and garden parks await!
Over Christmas break I spent a lovely 2 days visiting a dear friend, my kids loved her chickens- all I can say is that the chickens learned to run fast …but this time spent with her has given me more clarity about a project and painting series to start in late 2014 and a re-connection to many things…ta Debs xx
Yesterday we went to Ashcombe Maze…the gardens are lovely and gave lots of time for quiet contemplation too….
In Australia we are in summer….so I’m surprised how green it was here….their lawn is still greener than ours!
One of my local beaches, about 15 minutes away!
Thankfully I am taking a 2 day business planning sabbatical next week along the beach, so that I can get through the myriad of magazine submissions, and masterclasses planning for 2013, and a new collaborative project overseas- very exciting, I’ll tell you about that later. Ironically a sabbatical is supposed to be a break from work (seriously that never happens EVER!)…but I need a break from my studio and home, so that I can get other things organised, minus the distractions LOL
So, I am painting and doing other things…I’m not disappearing! If you are interested in some more information about my masterclasses in porcelain painting, acrylics or ribbon embroidery and painting for 2013, commissioning a painting or a group art project, please contact me or make an appointment with me to chat on skype ingrid.lee75
I’ll be back in a week or so…… Happy New Year and creative prosperity to you
Love is like a Ball and Chain, Ingrid Lee 2012, acrylic on canvas 122 cm x 81.5cm
In between kiln firings, I’ve been working on a new canvas painting. Finally this abstract expressionist painting Love is like a Ball and Chain, Ingrid Lee 2012, acrylic on canvas 122 cm x 81.5 cm, part of the Destiny and Love series is finished, so I’m just writing a quick post as Christmas is a busy time with baking and concerts and parties, one hundred and one other things…and painting of course!
Love is like a Ball and Chain, Ingrid Lee 2012, acrylic on canvas 122 cm x 81.5cm
The main lyrics of the song Ball and Chain by Janis Joplin inspired this painting…particularly the idea that some types of love we feel, or the emotions attached to it, feel like a ball and chain, it’s heavy: emotionally, mentally and physically draining, and in my experience, at the end of the day, probably not the right relationship. I don’t have much more time to explain the painting today….sorry But basically the movement of line work and colour reflects the rhythm and signatures of the music (see another painting where I have used this technique). The impassioned quality of Janis’ voice, and the raw edge is reflected in the imperfect brush strokes (or should I say undefined rather than imperfect) and the large broad layers of brushwork…especially the layered reds, and around the greens. The complimentary colours I’ve used to connote the guitar work in the music in contrast to Janis’ voice. Largely I have tried to capture the essence of her emotionally charged performance captured in this clip.
Here’s the video clip, Ball and Chain, Janis Joplin 1967 Monterey Festival….
During the process of painting these works, including the ones on porcelain, they are creating the story of where the final paintings will explore the notion of destiny. Over the next few weeks during the festive season, I’m mainly working on porcelain. So this is probably the last canvas painting for the year.
See another painting inspired by music “Air that I breathe”
Eyes on porcelain…..
I’m working on a few new porcelain paintings at the moment, and planning others. This week I had some new porcelain shapes delivered, and I’m planning a painting for the Destiny and Love series (see latest porcelain painting) with the use eyes as the feature. I have used this subject matter before (click here to see) and for this painting, I’m looking at expressing the notion of introspection when you are not in love, but really wishing you were, and questioning why you’re not in a relationship with someone. So I’m looking at the intense relationship we have within our head and selves when we don’t want to be alone and are desperate to be be in love, and looking at the representations that reflect the broken record that plays in our minds of “why doesn’t he/she…?” “why can’t I find someone who….?” “I’ll never find…” “nobody wants me” “why can’t I look like/be like…” for example. This process of introspection often causes us to stay trapped in our heads….it can be paralyzing, tiring, hurtful, loathsome, saddening, makes us angry, and even pitiful when we ask “why me again” etc…Sometimes we can spend so much time looking into ourselves, not accepting ourselves and loving ourselves for who we are, that we miss the moment for the next relationship. It is this intensity of introspection that I’m wanting to express.
So, the eyes are the subject matter to communicate this process of looking into our selves and the internal dialogue within. Here are some of the sketches I’ve done. I want to create an expressionist painting on porcelain, so I don’t want the eyes to be realistic, but to explicitly convey the emotions of the self dialogue. So I set myself the task of spending no more than 3 minutes per drawing to capture the expression…as I went, the drawings became less detailed- I think this is the style of work I’m going to use. Next I’ll sort out the design for the porcelain, and medium to use….I’m looking forward to this painting
My new porcelain from http://
“Falling to Pieces” Ingrid Lee 2012, porcelain vase and plate
These are the next porcelain paintings, which are part of my Destiny and Love theme, “Falling to Pieces I” porcelain vase 28.5cm and “Falling to pieces II” porcelain oval plate. I’ve quickly taken these photos with my phone, so the quality is not good…but it gives you the general idea of the paintings. Gallery photos will be done later.
“Falling to Pieces I” Ingrid Lee 2012, porcelain vase 28.5cm
“Falling to Pieces II” Ingrid Lee 2012, porcelain plate 37cm
Both paintings reflect the same ideas, I just wanted to explore the painting across two pieces…rather like a diptych on canvas. The deep multi-red/orange layers of lustre work suggest the shape of the heart (both sides on the vase) which is simply, falling to pieces. I chose a flaming orange red colour for the central colour of the heart…the burning essentially which one feels as love breaks apart, but it still more than this. The colours and feelings communicated through the effects created in many layers of lustre painting, was inspired by the surface of the sun….what better source for the representation of love- massive, burning solar flares and coronal loops all moving chaotically with huge explosions of energy. It reflects what happens when we realise that something has happened to love, and for that moment, or many moments we do not cope, it is chaotic and energetic like the sun; and our heart falls apart. This final process is shown by the interweaving line work of platinum through the swirling orange lustre, with accents of gold, that are falling into clear shapes, defining each part of our heart that falls.
The stage when love is ending still has parts which feel connected, as shown by the linked platinum and gold line work, but eventually, these feelings become isolated. Again I use isolated, abstract line and shape work (discussed in another art work) to indicate the notion of love becoming finite.
Other abstract expressionist painting on canvas , and here, and other paintings on porcelain
Are you interested in masterclasses for contemporary painting techniques on porcelain or commissioning art work? Collborative art projects or exhibitions? I’d be happy to hear from you, please contact me
“Nature of Orb Spiders,” Ingrid Lee 2012, porcelain vase.
I totally enjoyed researching, designing and painting this porcelain vase, which I titled “Nature of Orb Spiders.” This painting was exhibited in the non competition International exhibit of the TIPP 2012. As discussed in a previous blog post, I wanted to paint these beautiful spiders on to a vase….but I had to wait to find the perfect shape. When I saw the porcelain blank for this vase, I knew this was the one! It was the shape of the porcelain blank which formed the design and composition…a continuous flowing form, which suggests the cycle of life…and thus the nature of the orb spider. It had a natural form which also suggested the habitat or environment for this spider, and it would enable me to create little snap shots of their life, hunting, spiderlings hatching, building webs, looking for adventures in a new day, busy work at the evening and so on. I wanted to create an atmospheric design which showcased the productivity and “nature” of these spiders, and so used many layers of lustre paintings and gold paste work for the design. In total there were 9 firings for this painting, in order to build up the translucent layers of painting and control the effects and technique of the lustre application.
“Nature of Orb Spiders” Ingrid Lee, porcelain vase 45.7 cm, 2012.
This side of the vase shows a large portrait of an orb spider which has caught a darker reflection, it is actually painted entirely in platinum (the large dark webs at the top of the vase are also platinum), with only some black lustre pen work for shading and burnishing gold paint for detail light areas. You can see a better image of the platinum colour about two photos below this one. I used the technique of platinum for the web and burnishing gold ‘blending’ out in areas, as I described in my other spider painting. The use of negative space on this side of the vase was really important to add life and light to the overall composition. The leaf motive above the spider is continued on the other side of the vase.
The top section of this side shows spiders busy at night, building webs, I’ve used many layers of lustres to create an evening time atmosphere, and the contrast of gold paste spiderlings works well here. All of the webs are in platinum and burnishing gold.
Orb spider painted on porcelain, Ingrid Lee
The mid section of this side
“Nature of Orb Spiders” Ingrid Lee, porcelain vase 45.7 cm, 2012.
Other side of the vase
“Nature of Orb Spiders” Ingrid Lee, porcelain vase 45.7 cm, 2012.
Paste orb spider with enamel detail, painted with burnishing gold. The leaf imprints are lustre with gold and platinum highlights.
“Nature of Orb Spiders” Ingrid Lee, porcelain vase 45.7 cm, 2012.
I really enjoyed creating the spiderlings. I came across this image of glitter on pinterest a month or so ago….
….and this looked to me like spider eggs, and when I found images of orb spiderlings, they are little golden spiders, which was a perfect way to create the natural evolution of spider eggs hatching into spiderlings painted in gold which then become little spiders in paste; and again the shape of the vase creates a natural flow for the design to merge from.
Photo courtesy Curbstone Valley Farm
What is next? Well, I paint this style of art works purely out of interest, they aren’t part of my main exhibition work, and are a good break away from commissions and exhibition paintings. Maybe I’ll paint redback spiders again, but I’m interested in painting bats or snakes next….I’ll just wait for the right porcelain piece to come along
Have you seen the other paintings which I exhibited or won awards (another award) for in Thailand?
Maybe It’s Love, by Ingrid Lee 2012 porcelain plate 38cm.
This porcelain plate titled “Maybe It’s Love” was exhibited in the non competition section of the International exhibit for the Thailand International Porcelain Painters Convention 2012. This painting is part of a larger body of work called Destiny and Love. The style of this painting is abstract expressionism, and uses a variety of techniques of onglaze paints, gold pen work, and raised paste with burnishing gold.
“Maybe It’s Love” by Ingrid Lee 2012, porcelain plate 38.1 cm.
Background to the composition:
I have been fascinated with the communication of eyes for many years in art…I have a created many drawings of eyes over the years, some of which were used in my Gogol inspired painting which is still being exhibited in St Petersburg, Russia.
“Gogol’s search for artist’s truth” 2012, Ingrid Lee, acrylic on canvas, 104 x 104 cm
I also enjoy working in an abstract expressionist style…here is one of my paintings Happy Love, completed in 2004 acrylic on canvas.
Happy Love, 2004 acrylic on canvas, Ingrid Lee
During my trip to Moscow this year I was inspired by the modern artworks I studied at the Museum of Private Collections near the Pushkin Museum. I had some interesting conversations with one of the women who work at the gallery about the early soviet gouache and inks graphics and paintings which were placed under velvet covered glass cabinets. Lifting each velvet cover revealed new wonders…of course I was inspired!
I was also recently inspired by many of the Kandinsky and Picasso paintings (too many other favourites to list and add photos here) which I saw in Moscow and also St Petersburg at the Erata Gallery when I went to a visit art galleries and museums with professional porcelain artist Alexei Nordin (during my 2012 trip to Russia and again during my 2011 trip). This was not my only source of inspiration, there were many other modern art works in different art forms also. After each trip, I made copious studies and notes from these gallery visits so I would not forget….a habit I have kept for many years.
Ingrid Lee in St Petersburg with Kandinsky painting 2012
And last year, during my first trip to St Petersburg in October 2011, we saw another of my favourite Kandinsky paintings:
So why translate my interpretations of a theme through abstract expressionism in acrylics to porcelain? Well, thanks to a dear friend and big supporter of my work, I was encouraged to try it…now I have released a new genie, and there are many more works I am completing now in such styles. Porcelain offers a translucency which canvas cannot support; I can use the porcelain shape to stimulate or translate an idea that will parallel the theme- unlike canvas…and white gold is white gold, it’s value is unsurpassed. I simply love porcelain, and I’m free to express myself totally in my favourite medium; and paint more than flowers (see other painting styles of my porcelain painting here , here and here).
Porcelain Painting ”Maybe it’s Love”
The porcelain painting “Maybe it’s Love” explores the initial emerging sensations of whether a couple is possibly in love, the journey of that process and the possible transition of new things to come. The fleeting eye contact, electrical sensations from touch and interaction or communication. It is a totally engulfing, merging, consuming, passionate time, hence represented by the colour and transparent layers of technique, only achievable for me on porcelain. The translucency of porcelain painting I feel has enabled my to capture to multifaceted emotions one feels during this precarious time of possibly falling in love.
The use of gold line work not only reflects the abstract notions of the the concept of love itself, but it symbolises the stop starts of those feelings as they become finite…is it love, isn’t it..maybe? possibly.
I am finishing a larger canvas painting on same concept, but different energy to communicate…I’ll show you soon.
See my other award winning porcelain paintings from the TIPP 2012 here and here.
