Rocks, Georgian Bay

 

Rocks, Georgian Bay

30 x 30"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2013

sold

We are nearing the end of the collection produced in Georgian Bay; only one more painting to show after this. "Rocks, Georgian Bay" sits with "Rushing Water" at the top of my list of favorites. I often start my acrylic work with rough, loose, colourful under-paintings, but never intend for them to be the final vision. In the past, when things have gelled at this stage, people have told me to stop and consider the under-painting to be a finished work. That concept has always blown my mind and I have only ever once stopped at this stage. I have always wanted to carry out my full vision, so stopping at the start, as it were, never made sense to me. 

The goals of the trip were to find fresh subject matter, to push myself in new directions, to create interesting compositions and stay loose without getting trapped in details and to be open to things happening without too much planning. As "Rocks" got underway everything was just feeling right and I rolled with it. I opened myself to the idea that the scrubby, thin under-painting could actually be interesting on its own. I loved how the tree-line area evolved and I realized that I didn't have to elaborate more than that if I didn't want to. I carried that thought through the whole piece- working some areas a bit more than others and leaving some areas rather raw. I am very pleased with the final energy of the piece and, to me, it is simple and complex all at once. While it is not an under-painting, it does have some of the qualities of that stage and I am glad I pushed myself to experiment a bit.