Phoenix - 12 x 11.5cm etching by FionaMorgan circa 2003

These analytical type posts where I try and define what it is about a creative's work that I am drawn to is really hard work for me. It's not how I tend to think. I tend to receive information in impressions and sensations. Although critical logical thinking is a strength for me, analysis is not. It's been a great exercise to do these Creative Cauldron posts as it forces me to explain why I like what I do and thence to see the common threads and connections between, on the surface, disparate influences.

On one hand it feels crazy to go through and analyse the work I admire to get a really good idea of what it is I love. Then again, it has been wonderfully useful to understand and become fully aware of these things. It feels crazy that this process has been so useful to uncover what is right under my nose.

While this series has been mostly for my benefit, I do hope I have not bored you all to tears but have given you some insight into where I am coming from, what I am about. This series may be added to occasionally from here on in if I find another real wow to write about, distill and internalise.

For now, (again mostly for me to see these all in one place so I can see what it is I am aiming for in my own work), a summary of the commonalities in my admiration for the work I have profiled in these Creative Cauldrons. In brain-shorthand bullet points, as that's how I tend to think.

Technical:

• immaculate presentation 
• absolute technical mastery
• decorative pattern, sinuous, dancing, flow
• very Australian colour, subtle tones, pastels contrasted with deep rich coloured darks, tonally related, limited palette
• bravura brushwork
• textural brushwork, paint as texture, emphatically paintings not images
• luminous
• space to breath, not busy design,
• Japanese influenced design 
• absolutely beautiful images, mesmerising
• Australian light

Ideas:

• intelligent 
• thoughtful, a thinker, free thinker, new ideas
• has an opinion
• straight talking
• kind
• gracious
• ability to synthesise and see connections from a wide landscape
• wordsmith

Feeling:

• poetic, evocative, ephemeral, mysterious, mood, dreamy, other worldliness, more than ordinary reality, soulful, graceful, spirit, there is more to life than we can see

• playful, silly, fun, humour, quirky, make people think, have a laugh, irreverence, cartoon, wit

• weaves mythology, spirituality, archetypes, truths distilled, essence, iconic, symbolism, collective unconscious direct line, synthesis, shaman, mirror into us, storytelling for the soul

• zen like stillness, presence, magic of the moment, mindfulness, slow looking, nature is respected, presence, calm, gentleness, intimate, celebrate, childlike, soulful, thoughtful, innocence, playfulness, quiet, happiness, contemplation, delight, observant

 
Accomplishment:

• unique style, no one else, own voice
• top of their game, redefined their genre
• respect for hard work, discipline, do the work
• themed bodies of work
• seeing in new ways
• experimental
• imaginative
• genuineness, not whimsy, not contrived, honest

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me. 

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.