Compassion of the Brush and Heart
Jan Gardner
Jan Gardner on ‘Compassion of the Brush and Heart’
I suppose everyone was in a similar position in March 2020, planning and researching work, getting about their daily tasks, routines, work, domestic, family, etc. I was preparing work for a show opening in May, which because of ‘lockdown’ was re-scheduled for end of August.
I found myself continuing with work at the announcement of that first lockdown. What follows is a summery of the six works I selected from the period March 2020 to May 2021.
Marvels and Mysteries (120cm x 100cm, acrylic on canvas) became an enchantment, whilst I was restricted from going out, seeking my vistas of contentment, this piece grew on the canvas, a combination of immeasurable vistas and rich entangled flora, distance and detail, an area I enjoy contrasting. Maybe an attempt to be away from all the distracting, distressing mayhem that was unfolding.
A Zillion Dreams (100cm x 70cm, acrylic on canvas) the sequel in this series I was preparing for the May show really intensified, having done preparatory sketches from the Ogwen Valley. It began with my usual series of expressive washes, in colour layers, it was as if I needed to really lose myself in the scene, the colour harmonies and colour choices really were springing out of the canvas. This and Marvels and Mysteries were ready for the show in August alongside several smaller pieces.
From Serenity Comes Gentleness (95cm x 95cm, acrylic on canvas) was in process in the summer 2020. I found myself in the garden painting, next to my studio. Started in the summer, completed in October. I wanted to escape into an abundance of gorgeous, exotic flora to meander through, not forgetting to touch and stop to smell the perfume on the way to the mountain path. I guess it was a journey that we were all on, and I had represented it in my own way.
Imagine (100cm x 100cm, acrylic on canvas) was a commission started in September, completed in November. This escapist thought process was continuing, the clients had seen a previous piece of my work and asked if this piece could have similarities. I was aware we were out of ‘lockdown’ for a short while so I was able to peruse the space they were requesting it for. Drawing on the previous piece, and the experience of looking beyond, brings harmony and rich embellishments. I was so delighted that they were joyfully overwhelmed by it.
Coming into early 2021 with another ‘lockdown’, I perused the richly embellished vistas with enthusiasm, some would say exuberance! Something which was continuing to focus my mind and my hands.
Where I Go (100cm x 70cm, acrylic on canvas) followed-on from another commission at the end of 2020 and I was entranced by the way I could energise the space with the colours and marks. This piece was so reminiscent of my childhood days which were spent living beneath a mountain and being able to take myself off to trail up the tracks and see the richness of the wild flowers head-on. A natural escape. A happy memory.
The last but not least piece is Where the Purple Mountains Lie, in Deep Tranquillity (90cm x 90cm, acrylic on linen). This, for me, has echoes of my meditation… its fluidity, atmosphere, and mesmerising detail in the foreground, and soft-focus distance, allows me to dive in to the space, tranquil yet so deep. It is in a series of lost vistas, reflective of all the strange, uncompromising experiences we have all had to endure, but somehow some of us have been lucky enough to rally through.
Hope and joy, at the compassion and mercy, of the brush and heart. Though goodness knows where this was coming from, given the country’s state of being.
Whilst gathering my responses for inspiration, I will happily be ensconced in sketching, pencil, watercolour, and pastels in the places I find inspiring outside, then bringing them back to explore further. These all become starting points to develop and imbue the memory. I have a studio in my garden, which extends in the summer months! It is a haven though, cut off from passing life. I, and sometimes my cats and wild birds, love to spend time there. Thinking, planning, researching, mixing colours, all of these can keep me happily immersed for hours.
My process begins by a meditation through observation — 2020 allowed me to do this in abundance. The unending time-span, the ephemeral quality, has been essential and I have been able to connect with my colours, add the mark-making, to build the layers, to resonate the memory settled in my mind.
The colours are so important to me, they enable me to suggest the life force and energy of the world we are surrounded by, and also the magical echo of the imagination. Some pieces resolve more quickly, depending on size, some I work on for many weeks. These are not quick fixes, I never know how they will turn out, they belong for a lifetime.
Jan Gardner
July 2021
