Welcome to the “Elements” section of A Branch of the Arts and member access to my complete body of visual art works. Aside from the photography archives, each set of Elements archives provides pieces in chronological order, with a few words about the inspiration for the piece; and, where appropriate, a discussion of the “process” in creating it. I have also taken the opportunity to provide some autobiographical information along the way, giving my members the life-context of the artist and the story behind each creation.

With writing, the “way in” is through the reader’s eyes, the better to reach the mind. With visual art, the “way in” is also through the eyes, but the ultimate goal is to reach the viewer’s heart. This is not to say that writing doesn’t touch hearts, or that visual art doesn’t stimulate minds. Of course, both genres involve the heart and mind; but writing is certainly the more cerebral of the two, visual art more visceral. I am fascinated by this difference, and how different each genre makes me feel when working in it. As an artist, I find it can be helpful, even therapeutic to be aware of which is which, in terms of feeding my creativity at any given time.

The acrylic painting archive traces my development as an acrylic painter. It opens with my first efforts as a complete novice in February of 2017 and on up to the present. There is evidence of some degree of natural facility with it in the early going, which was exciting at the time. But my development beyond those encouraging beginnings is the story of working to develop the necessary skills, learning various techniques, studying the genre itself, exploring different subject matter, and a host of other challenges. All this may be seen in my progression from piece to piece, aided by the text provided. But the learning never stops.

The pieces displayed in the photography archives are not given chronologically, as a different method of categorization was necessary based on different subject matter; and photographs in a given category may well have been taken on different dates with different cameras. Every mobile phone is also a camera these days, so the means to do photography is more portable and available than ever before; and, regardless of your preferences in a camera, some of these cellphones can take high quality pictures. My photography archives do contain photographs taken with my iPhone, but primarily shots with my Canon EOS Rebel T5.

The sketches and drawings archives contain sketches/drawings in pencil, and drawings in charcoal. I did some sketching with pencil and paper as a child, mostly portraits of family members, and I remember they were quite good. Unfortunately, none of these sketches survived my childhood, lost somewhere in the domestic shuffle. I picked up pencil drawing again around the time I started painting, as sketching is foundational to painting as I practise it. Using it with my newfound love of acrylic painting reawakened my love of pure sketching and drawing, as well as the eye-hand skills I had only begun to develop in my youth all those years ago. This eventually led me to doing some work with charcoal too in late 2018.

Right now, the mixed media archive contains just two pieces, but they are special pieces for several reasons, as members will see. I stumbled upon the idea of working in mixed media accidentally, walking the beach in Branch, looking for subject matter in Nature for future acrylic paintings. I believe members will find the story behind each piece of some interest, as virtually all the elements used in both pieces were found on the strand directly in front of our beach house in Branch. Both mixed media pieces are among the variety of works I am offering for sale or auction.

Note: Only members have full access to the archives in all three genres.