Tuesday, 29 September 2026
How does a seasoned painter surprise themselves and paint what they do not yet know? It was a good question and a practice that Tracey Emin embraced with rigor and is discussed in detail in My Heart Is This Tracey Emin On Painting by Martin Gayford (2026). So I thought, why not? Give it a go. What is the worst that could happen? A bad painting? Yes, the results were a bad painting.
I began plein air with a grand manicured view in a location I was not familiar with on southern Vancouver Island at Otter Point Place. Possibly the most awkward part was the landscaped view. I had no idea what I might do with it. I started to paint the mountains on the far side of the strait and the sea and sky. It fell apart. Then I decided to lean into the feeling of the place through abstract mark making. Well things went from bad to worse.
I stopped there because I had absolutely no idea how I could salvage it.
I will paint over it at some point but first, I spent some time with it to see if there was anything at all I wanted to bring forward into the next work. Nothing came to mind… except maybe stop trying to surprise myself.
The next day late in the morning we went to the Jordan River beach area. My dignity was still smarting from the disaster from the day before. But I shrugged it off and set up my easel on a flat area of sea washed rounded, flat stones.
I didn’t take many in-progress images besides this one.
And then forty-five minutes from start to finish, it is done.
Artist notes: With a warm sun and underlying cool breeze the temperature reached 19 degrees Celsius as I stood on the round flat rocks at the easel. In 45 minutes, I gathered the main sensations and shapes and chose to leave it rough and fully of sensory information. This is the last day of full sun for the week as cooler more unsettled weather moves it.
As usual, when something doesn’t work, it is important to remember that it is just paint on a surface. Life and limb haven’t been risked in the process of mark making. Let it go and move on. I am not sure I am interested in surprising myself any further but it was insightful to paint what I didn’t know before moving on to being with nature beside the sea. I will likely say more in the data collection post for this painting a little later on but this will do for now.
