A painter's journey - Episode 3/2018 - Savouring and slowing down

I actually like to take my sweet old time with things. It's the reason why it mostly takes me a very long time to finish a painting, and it's also the reason why I often have a hard time existing in a world that expects you to go faster all the time. For better or for worse, I find myself on the opposite ende of the spectrum of pace.

While many times I do not have a choice and have to hurry, when it comes to art, I do allow myself to go with my own rhythm. It feels like the ultimate indulgence. Recently, I finished this painting:

I think savouring is my superpower, always has been. Be it food, art, love, dancing - I enjoy my moments more when I slow down. In a group, I am always the last one to finish a meal. When I love a book, I read it extra slowly, in order to read it longer. 

I love getting lost in the details, the brushstrokes, sitting back, taking another look, savouring the smooth paint and mixing it, loading it onto my brush and sliding it over the canvas. Everything becomes more sensual and curious when I slow down.

The painting is available HERE.

Sunday thoughts - Respond with creation

"Whatever your life brings to you, respond with creation. If you are celebrating, create. If you are grieving, create. Only create. Always create. Constant creative response. This is the engine of resilience."

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Current work in progress, acrylic and collage on a diptych

New painting - 'Mallorca'

This is my latest painting, 'Mallorca' (50x70cm, acrylic on canvas). It was inspired by a trip to Mallorca this spring. 

The colour teal and all its nuances have been my favorite color for a long time, and the teal coloured ocean on the island reminded me of that, so it found its way into this painting. 

Also, I am still obsessed with mandalas, and how to combine the intricate details of them with more lose elements of the painting, like brushstrokes and dripping or splattering paint. 

The painting has a few layers that you can see peeking through in the mandala. I love how the warm and cool colours complement each other and make the whole piece work. 

'Mallorca' is available here.

Summer projects

Around June a new summer series took shape. I started playing with watercolors, line drawing and abstract shapes after an interesting experimental doodle during a long phone call. These are small works of art on 14,5 x 20,5cm paper - here are some finished pieces of this ongoing series:

Another big project that took all summer was that I committed to working through Julia Cameron’s 12 week course “The Artist’s way”. This probably deserves a blog post for itself. It sparked SO many ideas and new ways of being, but most importantly, it helped me to get back to a regular painting practice. It’s probably the best book on creativity I have ever read.

Snapshot of my studio this summer. Sunflowers, Sini the cat and a big painting I was working on.

100x100cm, acrylic on canvas, work in progress

close up of the layers, 100x100cm acrylic on canvas by Tanja Zinkl

One thing I am always interested in is finding different surfaces to paint on! I got lucky and was offered some birch wood, that was turned into a lot of surfaces for painting, look at this:

Lots of space for creativity!

Many mandalas in the making!

A finished piece. Acrylic on wood.

There are only a few finished pieces yet, and lots more in the making - more info coming soon as I finish more of these paintings on wood!