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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
Expressionist landscapes on canvas and updates
I’ve been really productive over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing little updates here and there on facebook. I have an exciting new set of works on porcelain inspired by Roman art which I’m enjoying the research and design process immensely. Also, I’ll have some other porcelain paintings to share soon, I wrote about them a few weeks ago also here, and here…lots to look forward to…I do believe that I’m learning the secret to a 30 hour day. Here are a few photos of the plates before the 3rd firing (so it looks pretty brownish among the colour…and the black lines will fire off), there are still about 2 firings to go.
Again, not all colours look like they should yet….
Some of the colours on this plate will fire as purple, there are more deep red orange colours here too- wait for the magic of the kiln!
In the next few weeks you’ll see my art licensing project which I’ve been developing with a Russian company over the past 3 months…very exciting. Thanks again to those friends on facebook who have given their feedback on my marketing and branding designs of this project too, you’ve been a wonderful help! I’ll be sharing more about this and lots of other new things in a few weeks, so check back to the fan pages or here for updates.
New paintings: Expressionist landscapes
Here are two of my latest canvas paintings; these paintings, and maybe one more, are exploring the journey of finding peace of mind. There is one more larger painting on this theme which I’m currently working on. These paintings are completed in acrylic paints and texture medium, building up layers and washes of colours and contrasts to convey the effects. The titles of these paintings are fairly self explanatory, I don’t have the time at the moment to write more.
Landscapes- Evaporating my fears, Ingrid Lee 2013, acrylic on canvas 120 cm x 92 cm
Landscapes- Evaporating my fears.
Ingrid Lee, 2013.
Acrylic on canvas 120 cm x 92 cm
CLOSE UP: Landscapes- Evaporating my fears, Ingrid Lee 2013, acrylic on canvas 120 cm x 92 cm
Sailing inside my tranquility, Ingrid Lee 2013, acrylic on canvas 120 cm x 92 cm
Sailing inside my tranquility.
Ingrid Lee 2013.
Acrylic on canvas 120 cm x 92 cm
CLOSE VIEW: Sailing inside my tranquility, Ingrid Lee 2013, acrylic on canvas 120 cm x 92 cm
Lastly, here is a completed painting from about 3 weeks ago, which I started last year (read about it here). The other tenebrist inspired paintings are at the first few layers of under-painting stage….so I’ll write about those more as they progress.
Transcending the shadows, finding the light.
Ingrid Lee, 2013.
Acrylic on canvas 153.5 x 91.5 cm
Close up
I hope you enjoy the update, thanks for reading….please leave your comments on the blog post, I’d love to hear from you 
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”
“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?
Exhibitions update
Just an update of what’s happening in my art world…..I’m busy painting for an exhibition in Thailand on the 8th November, I will share videos and photos of the event and my paintings on porcelain. I’ve been really quiet online in general with both of my blogs and facebook etc…poor health stole many weeks of painting time, but now I am catching up! After the Thailand exhibition, I’ll be back to business
Lastly, some of my paintings which were exhibited in Russia during May earlier this year will now feature in a group exhibition in St Petersburg, organised by art agency ”ConSferArt” . It will be from 31 October to 13 November 2012 in the small hotel “German Club” who will host the exhibition “Picturesque Environment” focusing on ecology and art. Click on the picture below to read more….
Back to painting….
an article about this exhibition: http://writeandread.me/kogda-maski-sbroshenyi/
Shadows of My Desire- New Painting
This week, I have finished my painting titled “Shadows of My Desire” which is a painting in the series of Destiny and Love; my last painting was “The Air That I Breathe.” As this series of art works are emerging, they are telling a story about those elements which weave through the notions of Destiny and Love.
This painting “Shadows of My Desire” explores one of the process of falling in love, and is based on this short verse I wrote:
Shadows of My Desire
No more will my love hide in the shadows…
The warmth of my heart emerges, breathes,
The depth of my desire is alive.
Ingrid Lee 2012.
Shadows Of my Desire, Ingrid Lee 2012. Acrylic on canvas 89cm x 149 cm
Why paint about Destiny and Love?
Why Destiny and Love?
This blog post is a continuation on exploring my next series of art works around the themes of Destiny and Love. The initial idea for these works stemmed from my last trip to St Petersburg, where (apart from my own exhibition of works which are still there- being taken to another gallery soon ) I was asked to paint about my inspiration or reflections about Dostoevsky’s writings, as I had already done a painting reflecting Gogol’s “The Portrait” for my exhibition in SPb…thanks Valeri Ivanov . I did not have a lot of time to paint my impressions during my stay, but I decided upon an artwork which was inspired by Dostoevsky’s short story “White Nights.”
I hadn’t read this short story before, but I am thankful for my meeting in SPb with the brilliant photographer Nikolay Krusser (his Fan Page on facebook) for this suggestion, and our chat about destiny and this piece of literature. After I had read the novel and analysed my notes about the concepts, I wrote a short interpretation of what inspired my thinking around the major concepts Dostoevsky explores to then allow the images to form in my mind over the next day.
“Dostoevsky- White Nights” 2012, Ingrid Lee Acrylics
One fleeting chance with love in a city so familiar, yet so lonely- is it destiny? Dostoevsky explores the notion of love, loneliness and destiny, in the short story ‘White Nights.’ In this painting, the ‘yellow’ city of St Petersburg surrounds us with warmth and familiarity, but the endless dreaming and feelings of isolation from both the city and the possibility of finding love for the narrator in this story, eventually leads him to loneliness.
While he dreams of finding love in a city which is becoming alien to him, these dreams appear to come true. So the depths of his passion envelopes his soul, and when he finally reaches out to his one love, it is questionable as to whether this relationship will fulfil his destiny and end his loneliness. Sadly this love is unrequited, and there emerges the darkness of loneliness, in a fleeting moment of finding love. Ingrid Lee May, 2012.
Here is a small part of the art work I painted for the White Nights piece, originally it was to be a diptych, but I ran out of time to complete the second painting…but now I will repaint a new version of this where I have time to think about the clarity of my expression; and perhaps the ideas are better expressed over a few paintings.
I liked the initial raw response to the concepts I explored…how ever now I have had time to think more cohesively about a bigger picture and story, rather than one isolated impression.
My painting of “The Air That I Breathe” as discussed in a previous post, and “White Nights” stem from understandings about love, self love and what is destined on that journey; it is these understandings which will draw a common thread through all of the art works in this series. To read more about my inspirations of Love, please read a series of blog posts I wrote for my other website Ingrid Creates
Creating Romance Through the Secret Language of Love
Please let me know what you think about my work or creative processes in the comments, I’d love to hear from you
Steps of an Artist’s creative process
In this post, I’ll explain the Steps of an Artist’s creative process by exploring the background to this painting, as well as explain how and why this new series of art works has been inspired. The style of this painting is abstract impressionism, and I think that this post will give some insight to you, about this approach to painting- it’s more than just random splodges of colour! Hopefully if you enjoy my art works, which I assume you do or you wouldn’t be sharing my art world with me, some of you might be interested in a small insight to my creative processes (if not, I hope you enjoy the pictures all the same LOL).
“The Air That I Breathe” Ingrid Lee, 2012. 102cm x 76cm Acrylic on canvas.
Painting : “The Air That I Breathe”
Here is the completed painting of “The Air that I Breathe.” I have added a few close up images to show the detail and more accurate colourings. There will be a few more works in this series, and they are relating the the notion of Destiny and Love. The concepts will be explored as new art works develop, revealing my understandings and impressions as I go on this new journey.
As I briefly explained in a previous post, “The Air That I breathe” was inspired by k.d Lang’s cover of this song. I have been listening to a wide range of music which is supporting this theme of destiny and love, which I am exploring throughout this series of works. Note, that each art work in this abstract impressionist style is created differently; this is only one process, but what is similar across of my art work, is that this process moves dynamically.
For this painting in particular, if was k.d’s vocal interpretation and arrangement of the song which initially stimulated the feel and colours, the ambiance of the works. The phrasing and tempo is what I interpret for the initial conceptualisation of the work (and again when completing the top layers of work). So, I sing with k.d (yes I can sing and used to perform as an amateur many years ago ) and interpret the music first, just as I would reading the words for lexical and literary device of a novel or poem for interpretation. After I have a concept in my mind of this initial interpretation, I explore the lyrics, and which ones are most poignant to me to start understanding the forms and shapes I will use- this is largely for a rough idea.
This is the underpainting, which is also transparent through the middle sections of the final artwork, but lays the foundations to the main concepts. These background colours represent the deep desires, wishes dreams for love, but at some stage there is a place where love is found within ourselves, making the true love we are to give and receive and grow from a self love and place of peace.
The lyrics about “Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe” can be seen in the final build up of transparent layers surrounding the core, with small embers of the heart burning contently as a new type of understanding of loves brings calm and peace. The use of gold with the white paint in the middle ground, creates a sense of warmth. This is a technique I used a lot in my exhibition work for SPb, and I have used it to create the ambiance and atmosphere of lightness and peace.
If you’d like to know more about what inspired the focus of Destiny and Love for this series of art works, please read my next blog post- it all started in St Petersburg
Red Liliums, Ingrid Lee, Oil on Canvas
I love the colours in this painting of Red Liliums…I only have photos of this one, as it features on someone else’s wall…they loved the colours too! It was one of the last oil paintings I completed.
If I do work in oils I use Windsor and Newton water soluble oils onto an acrylic background. These paints dry quicker and have no odour and do not need turps to thin or clean them. They function in exactly the same way as conventional oils in texture and paintability…at the moment I just prefer acrylics because the drying time is quicker and the style I’m using for some paintings do not require the techniques I use with oils.
The owners of my painting, kindly let me photograph this artwork in their house….the matt is a navy blue, and is framed under glass.
To Friends and Opportunites, Ingrid Lee
Here is my last painting completed for 2011, so it is titled “To Friends and Opportunites” in acrylics on canvas 40″ x 40″. It is a celebration of all of the wonderful people I’ve met, friendships I’ve made, and opportunities which have presented themselves in 2011.
My journey to this painting of re-establishing my art career again started with Ingrid-creates , where I wanted to share my everyday creative passions like painting, baking, sewing and art, as well of the art and creativity of others back in August 2010…and now I am here, another website with Ingrid Lee Art, youtube channel, tweeting and meeting more people, writing articles for magazine and featuring on other people’s blogs and doing what I love. This year I travelled to Russia-who’d have thought I’d walk where Catherine II did? and I worked and met amazingly talented and generous artists and friends. I’m even going back next year to St Petersburg to exhibit artwork and teach a masterclass. I have had a very blessed year.
To all of you who have followed and supported me and my work, my creativity and other passions, I offer you my warmest heartfelt thanks…this painting I dedicate to you.
- To Friends and Opportunities, Ingrid Lee 2011, acrylic on canvas 40″ x 40″
Love is waiting, Ingrid Lee.
My latest painting, finished today, acrylics on canvas 40″ x 40″ titled “Love is waiting” was inspired by two songs, Adele’s Make you feel my Love (video at bottom of post) and Cyndi Lauper’s time after time (wrote about this in another post).
Love is Waiting, Acrylics on canvas 40″ x 40″, 2011, Ingrid Lee
I’ve tried to cut to the parts of the painting which reflect the lyrics of the song which I was expressing, if that makes sense…just to let you understand a bit more about my painting process.
Adele’s Make you feel my Love
I could hold you for a million years,
To make you feel my love.
I know you haven’t made your mind up yet,
but I will never do you wrong.
I know that from the moment that we met,
No doubt in my mind where you belong.
and Cyndi Lauper’s Time after time…..
Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick and think of you.
Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new.
Flash back, warm nights, almost left behind,
Suitcase of memories, time after …
Sometimes you picture me, I’m talking too far ahead.
You’re calling to me I can’t hear what you said,
You say, go slow, I fall behind.
If you’re lost you can look and you will find me, time after time.
If you fall I will catch I will be waiting, time after time.
After my picture fades and darkness has turned to gray,
Watching through windows, your wondering if I’m ok.
Secrets stolen from deep inside, and the drum beats out of time.
