Alanah Kent Art

The goal I think was to break down painting to pure playing with materials and experimenting. After the lockdowns I moved to painting more figurative work but I brought that sense of play and experimentation that I grew comfortable with in these works.

The more I work beads into my paintings, the more I want to see how far I can push it while still considering the work as a painting.

The goal I think was to break down painting to pure playing with materials and experimenting. After the lockdowns I moved to painting more figurative work but I brought that sense of play and experimentation that I grew comfortable with in these works.

I wanted the horse to look like it was in a field without painting it into a field. I’m pretty happy with the result.

The goal I think was to break down painting to pure playing with materials and experimenting. After the lockdowns I moved to painting more figurative work but I brought that sense of play and experimentation that I grew comfortable with in these works.

Always make time to paint something silly, if only to make yourself laugh when you’re feeling down.

The goal I think was to break down painting to pure playing with materials and experimenting. After the lockdowns I moved to painting more figurative work but I brought that sense of play and experimentation that I grew comfortable with in these works.

This was such a fun little painting of my cat, Zeta inspired by the Ecce Homo and its restoration. Painted most of this on my birthday and had a whale of a time doing it.

The goal I think was to break down painting to pure playing with materials and experimenting. After the lockdowns I moved to painting more figurative work but I brought that sense of play and experimentation that I grew comfortable with in these works.

This was meant to be a cute weekend project… that turned into a multi week project. Super worth it though, trips to the loo feel a lot less boring.

The goal I think was to break down painting to pure playing with materials and experimenting. After the lockdowns I moved to painting more figurative work but I brought that sense of play and experimentation that I grew comfortable with in these works.

Experimenting with different collaging styles. I also need the plants in the backyard to flower more, they make a great background!

I really should be making an entry about holding my first exhibition, and that is in the pipeline. But first I want to have a chat about some of the difficulties and surprises of trying to be creative while chronically ill. I'm in the very fortunate position in that I was able to go to uni and be a part of The Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition and The Hatched National Graduate Exhibition. Since then my health has declined and it has given me the challenge of stepping back and looking at how I can maintain being creative while listening to my body and deciding when I need to stop and rest. Lets be brutally honest, it has been a time of mourning. I've had to reconsider and really look at what I was planning to do and make, what opportunities I can no longer apply for and situations I can be a part of. I can't really apply for a residency when I know I can't come close to meeting the hourly in-studio requirements (20 hours a week? Could I do 5... with naps please?), or anything that requires any travel without the option of bringing someone to help me. BUT in these restrictions I have found new creative avenues. I can't make large paintings? How about I go small, really small... smaller than that... TOO SMALL! A bit bigger, there we go. I have been documenting my processes for social media, trying to engage an audience and see how they respond to my work in real time. I have also been looking into different types of making. Moving around large sheets of MDF is very difficult for me now, so I started the Diary Works project. And from what I have been learning there I have started to apply to small paintings. I have been enjoying incorporating jewellery making techniques with beading into work. A regular painting of a pigeon has become a Very Fancy Pigeon and a landscape painting of a volcano explodes with beads. I may only be able to work an hour at a time on a project, but that hour is certainly fun and I'm learning new things from it. I have also been trying to engage with my local art community, I can't go to opening nights as night time events can be very draining. Instead I am trying to go to gallery community events when I can, I also volunteer at a gallery when I have the energy. In short yes... being chronically ill has put several very large speed bumps in my path. But I will slowly chip away at them - trying to balance health, life and creativity. (and I promise the Exhibition blog post with be ... soonish)

The last of the framed collages. People really seemed to engage with this work which I'm really happy about it was the first one to sell at the show.

I'm kicking myself for not giving this character an animal face. It works on its own but when they're shown all together this does stand out a bit (at least to me) I'm happy with the piece just not how it fits in the group.

One thing about using second hand frames is sometimes they are quite big compared to the work you've made but I think this works? I'm hoping the figure isn't overwhelmed by the frame.

I love working toys into artworks, this collage made for a perfect place to wiggle them into the work. And the bells? Cats wear them on their collars, birds play with them in their cages. Another little way to tie the two together.