Taking these en plein air studies into the studio setting where I create new works utilising both acrylic and oil paintings. The studio provides a more controlled environment for a deliberate engagement of the Spook into my processes because it is a secure space that I can leave and return to as I like. It also allows for being able to leave works out on the easel or tables rather than constantly packing up or moving. In many ways it is a more comfortable environment while also allowing me to work with oil paints and all of the relevant conditions of undertaking that approach to the surface.
I became mindful of being able to create two differing bodies of work as a response to specific experiences while also allowing one artwork to lead to the next in sequence thus developing a visual connection or theme between the groups of paintings. I also became more aware that the change in medium from acrylic to oil paint allowed for subtle changes in the look of a painting (or group of paintings) simply because of the inherent qualities of the paint. This was done as part of a revealing of the Spook in the process and was designed to deliberately created a conduit for the Spook to transfer from a previous artwork through into the next work in the studio environment. The idea of repeating the structure or composition of a particular painting was not about producing a copy of the previous work but rather allowing one painting to become the point of departure for the next. Having a studio to allow the time and space for all of these activities to take place in a controlled way is critical to understanding and expanding upon the notions of the Spook as a concept because it allows me to be alone with the work for periods of contemplation and reflection on what is actually happening. The desired effect being that the new painting begins as a direct reference of the previous work and is then deliberately changed into a new painting. The same paintings but not the same paintings.
Each of these approaches, the use of different materials as a process of shift, and deliberately creating a new painting that directly references the previous one through using the same scale and contexts of form and structure, serves to create an ever-expanding dynamic in a body of work that evokes the Spook. These experiences were the start of something new and although I had been working remotely in this way for some time, I had not identified it as a pattern or defined method of practice and as such was unsure what it meant as a method of working. I have subsequently realised the importance of all these moments of discovery toward generating a new awareness of practice in the studio environment through a manifestation of the Spook.