The letterbox collaboration has moved on another step – I collected Pat’s starters along with the pieces I started and she had completed last week (see here for those and the background to how this began), and now I have finally completed hers and returned them to her with six new starters.
Completing the pieces requires much more time and thought than starting, and sometimes I have to sit and think for a little while before I begin. Some changed character as I was working on them as suddenly new shapes appeared and suggested a different direction. One of the things I particularly enjoy is the surprises we get, creatures emerged that I had no idea were in there.
There is one I’m not so happy with, and that is mainly down to the paper texture, it is rough cold-pressed paper so it was difficult to keep the marks clean, however two others are on the same paper but work better simply because the marks were more broad sweeping.
Several people who have seen these have suggested a story is appearing – Pat is a very good imaginative writer, so maybe we will get one going between us. Another unexpected development! Here they are below, before and after. Each piece is 7 x 21 cm.
anna warren portfolio 
Keep going Anna ! Really lovely to see the interpretations and gather some idea form your narrative to how things develop..
Whimsical .. abstract … and I particularly love the colours .. building bridges and connectivity idea that comes to my own mind looking at the last art work .
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The collection is growing every day Poppy! We have added portraits to the mix too. It is a whimsical idea – I have no idea how it will all turn out, but it is keeping us engaged. There are two other collaborations on the go too, but moving more slowly because of distance, so I’m looking forward to the progression of those too.
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These are really fun to see develop Anna. Thank you for posting the before and after. I bet it is a bit of a puzzle to figure out the next move. So interesting to watch!
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They are fun to do Cathe – as you say, working out the next move (or the first move!) is a puzzle! And later when I step back from them I can see different paths I could have chosen.
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It’s just fascinating how these go from informal to formal. I look at the ‘starters’ and wonder how I would deal with them. I particularly like no. 3 which has a kind of Paul Klee feel to it…or maybe Kandinsky. Each one is so different from the other and yet as a set they are harmonious. In this time of isolation I think this is a top idea. While it is a bit of fun, it is also thinking ‘out of the box’ and at the same time connecting with another human being. I love that you are doing this.
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As much as anything Julie this is a brain stretcher, it gives me ideas that I may take forward into other things in the future. But for now, it certainly is a connector, in these disconnected times. The approach I take to each of them is sometimes a visceral response, other times much more calculated, but as I mentioned above, there are times I look at the completed image and realise there could have been quite a different answer!
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