Tag: artgallery

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Painting Uncategorized

Ovum Nymphs in progress

In recent months I have been working on a large painting, Ovum Nymphs, which proved to be a challenge. It had been hung a prominent spot in my studio where it was easily viewed but ultimately was over contemplated. Yesterday I realised that its presence had started to sicken me, so I placed it in storage with the hope that it will give me the head space that I need to focus on my other pieces.

Dottie may Aston
180 x 90cm, oil on canvas.

The studio feels refreshed without the painting’s door-sized presence. My struggles with this canvas were partly due to not being comfortable working on this large scale. The sheer amount of paint used makes it discouraging to rework once applied — the background alone is made up of two large tubes of white. After using up all that paint before thinking that maybe it would be better a different shade, my relationship with this painting soured. Giving myself distance from this painting will allow me time to lay aside any negative feelings I have for it. In due course I will be able to rework this painting with a fresh mind. Although I do not dislike this painting in its current state, I have not brought it to a satisfactory conclusion and, I am unable to understand how I can improve it at the moment.

All images are protected under UK copyright law

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Exhibitions Painting Uncategorized

The Banquet

I am happy to share that The Banquet has been accepted into the Vacant Museum‘s virtual exhibition, Cravings.

Dottie may Aston
oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm.

Curb your cravings! Feast your eyes on the delectable female figure laid out for your sole enjoyment. On-the-bone sumptuously plump idea of emaciated perfection. Starve yourself no more!

That was my response to the exhibition brief What do we want, now? What fuels the viscous cycle of wanting and wasting that defines our modern world?

All images are protected under UK copyright law

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Painting Uncategorized

Agored 2021

A closer look at the works accepted into the Agored 2021 exhibition by Galeri Caernarfon.

(04.12.21 – 15.01.22)

Dottie may Aston
Dottie may Aston

Mynediad, Von Restorff, and Nascene of Nostalgia.

All are oil paintings on aluminium panel

Janus

Air-drying clay

Dottie may Aston

I am very grateful to of have this opportunity. Below is my artist statement for the show.

Dottie-may Aston is a painter and sculptor based in Anglesey. She has an idiosyncratic fascination with objects. Interested in how we impose sentiment onto otherwise everyday items, she created delicate personalities within the light-hearted motif of seashells. The paintings and sculptures convey how a memory can become the object itself.

All images are protected under UK copyright law

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Painting Uncategorized

Thorn in my Background

While painting the Mollusca Femella series I struggled with the backgrounds – due to my lack of confidence with light colours ‘light’ within context to my past work.

After I had painted the subjects, using a very deep blue, I darkened the background. Subsequently the subtle colours of the figure disappeared. The focus of the painting became unclear. Thinking that if the figure was darker it would balance the painting, I exaggerated the shadows, only to immediately regret doing so and undid it. A few days later it struck me that it might not be the figure but the background that is the wrong tone or colour. Unsure of how I could rectify this I commenced a sequence of background painting, first warming it up, not liking that, I added the shadow of the subject by darkening areas around the shell. Unsure if this was working for the painting, I then left the studio to go home so that I may see it with fresh eyes the following day.

My background obsession went on for weeks, too warm, too cool. I even painted it gold at one point. I don’t think it occurred to me that neither the background nor the figure had to be dark. I forgot to look at the painting with fresh eyes and was holding on to what worked for previous paintings. After finally realising this it gave me the confidence to lighten it, using the same blue of the first lawyer with white and a dash of yellow. The lightening of the background was a very gradual process, but it slowly, surely started to fit the figure until we have the blue you seem now. From this experience I realised how timid I have become with the paint, I learned to not be afraid of it and treat the paint as if it were my friend.

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Bellow I have added some pictures comparing the dark background to the light. Which do you prefer?

^ Mollusca Femella I ^

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^ Mollusca Femella III – Beginning > to > finish ^

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I hope you enjoyed this post!

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Drawing Uncategorized

Dissections

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© 2020 Dottie-May Aston. Nasal Cavity.

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At the start of this term me and Jonathan sat in on a horse dissection. To begin with it was horrid! After the initial shock of the situation and the overpowering smell, I was put at ease to be told that the animals had been ethically sourced. That is, they died from natural causes and their bodies used for educating future vets for them to better care for the animals. This information helped me get over the fact I was watching students cut open an animal. I was then able to focus on my sketches. The environment was no different from that of a painting workshop, people chatting about mundane subjects, giving the class a fairly normal vibe.

© 2020 Dottie-May Aston. Insides on the Outsides.

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Attending these dissections over several weeks had improved both my paintings and drawing ability. Drawing something that I have never seen before in person was an exciting challenge and it has changed my perception completely. After the first class my eyes had started to see differently, making me more conscious of what’s under the skin, and how movements are made in mammals.As the dissection is a continual process, the whole composition could change in an instant. This has forced me to look even harder than I would normally. I’ve found that it has made my abilities with mark making as well as my drawing skills from life and imagination have both noticeably improved.

© 2020 Dottie-May Aston. A Horse Kicking In the Bucket.

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The studies are all from my A5 sketchbook. To see all of them visit my sketchbook gallery. Most were done standing up which was somewhat intense, although I am used to standing up for art workshops. It is difficult to drawing without an easel, not to mention arriving at the dissection tiers due to it being a long steep walk to the campus. Like the smell, I slowly got used to this. I hope you found this interesting! Your welcome to share your thoughts in the comments, thank you.

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Painting Uncategorized

The Inhabitants of Nacre

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I’ve recently been reading Greek mythology after my painting tutor said that a few of my paintings reminded them of some of the creatures. Although I’d like to do some mythology paintings, I want to do it in a nonconventional way. Because I’m painting from imagination, I’d like to just read and reflect on the mythology stories and see what images appear in my mind. See from my series of paintings called The Inhabitants of Nacre, featuring Mikros and Bios, Detritus, and Capsid – they have the appearance of mythical creatures. When I was painting these I was picturing the inside of an empty shell and imagining what beings could inhabit the empty space. After Painting them I started to research what creatures actually live inside a shell, and I started to look in to different microorganisms. Remarkably the names of them sound similar to the names of the greek gods!

© 2020 by Dottie-May Aston. The Inhabitants of Nacre, Mikros and Bios.

I have a habit of giving miscellaneous objects personalities and names, and yes people do fine this unsettling even my fiancé, who I think was worried about my mental health when I decided I wanted to keep a slice of a tangerine because it had a siamese twin and he had to wait until it went mouldy to throw it out. I think my attached with 3D objects may be why sculptural work comes more naturally to me, opposed to painting. But I think I’ve found a way to apply my natural sculptural process to painting. By picturing some obscure objects I’ve studied and moulding them together with my imagination as I paint, sometimes this happens as a reaction of a mark I make on the canvas.

© 2020 by Dottie-May Aston. The Inhabitants of Nacre, Detritus.

I’ve titled this series The Inhabitants of Nacre for those of you that don’t know Nacre is the name for the inner layer of the shell, also more commonly known as mother of peal, possessing an iridescent and metallic quality. A surface that resembles the silver gilded canvases that I often work on, some Nacre will have sheen of blueish colours that is similar to the blue paint that I am currently addicted to working with. This resemblance of my work to this mother of pearl is what brought me to name the series The Inhabitants of Nacre. The inhabitants bit is referring to the microorganisms, witch I have used to named the life forms of my paintings. I have only three paintings in this series currently but I have no doubt that they will led me on to more paintings relating to this subject matter and new method of painting.

© 2020 by Dottie-May Aston. The Inhabitants of Nacre, Capsid.

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