'complete the piece' - an experiment at the School Creative Centre - on the theme of the colour blue

real art

I told you about the project at The School Creative centre to complete another artists's work. I was given this painting, with blue waves in real paint and brush strokes. What to do with it?

part of the incomplete painting

I had promised do do a drawing/painting.

Then I chickened out and took some photos of the paint.

...........and played around with them in Photoshop. Blue is the colour favoured by the artist that started my painting. She paints in blue and wears almost exclusively blue clothes.


I felt compelled to play with the colour blue, using digital technology to distort my photographs of the paint.

Blue, according to colormatters , a colour psychology site means;

Dark blue: trust, dignity, intelligence, authority

Bright blue: cleanliness, strength, dependability, coolness
(The origin of these meanings arise from the qualities of the ocean and inland waters, most of which are more tangible.)

Light (sky) blue: peace, serenity, ethereal, spiritual, infinity
(The origin of these meanings is the intangible aspects of the sky.)

Lapis Lazuli was a precious commodity in the Middle Ages , used by renaissance artists and exported from Afghanistan to Europe to be ground into the very expensive ultramarine pigment.

Ultramarine pigment

It was often used for painting the robes of angels and the virgin Mary.

I am not good at angels or virgins.

So I did squares and octagons instead.

I abstracted the paint using just the colours.

I then played around with grids from the paint and paper.

paint abstacted

I turned the blue squares into a T-shirt.

 the colours didn't look as vibrant as I had hoped. 

And then today, I felt bad that I hadn't finished the piece as promised. I don't have any paints, so I used my old chalks.

I scribbled and drew like a five year old child.

It was fun.

It was not impressive.

I was drowning, not waving..............


But the whole process had given me hours of fun, and really made me think, discuss and experiment.

So now, if you would like a T-shirt , I know how to make one.

Just ask.

And if you would like a very childlike drawing, I can probably oblige too.

All I will need is a blank piece of paper.

Paper whites

I think I like this one best.......

low light photography ...........an excuse for a few fuzzy photos using intentional camera movement.

blue grass © caroline fraser

At the end of a lovely sunny weekend at the beach I dragged myself once more up the dunes to the beach to see what the end of the day would bring.

Standing on the dunes as the sun goes down is always a treat, when all the visitors of the day have packed up and gone home.

No bright colours tonight, and no spectacular light. But instead a beautifully subtle mackerel sky.

evening light over the dunes at Camber Sands

The light was too low to take any photos without a tripod, so I indulged in a little intentional camera movement photography. Keeping the iso low I shut down to f22 to create exposures between 2 and 6 seconds. This is photography as I like it; experimental and unpredictable. Focusing on the dunes and then moving the camera up or down towards the end of the exposure I experimented until the light was gone.

shades of grey © caroline fraser

Most of the images had a blue tinge due to the reflections from the sky.  To create a little variety I allowed myself a little artistic licence when processing the images, opting for colours that I felt work best, using  minor curves adjustments.


Hence the three shades of grey above.

dunes © caroline fraser

I got stuck in the dunes until I ran out of light, never making it down onto the beach.

ship on the horizon © caroline fraser

The ship on the horizon sailed on into the night, destination unknown.

I strolled home and ate some cake.