Winter to Summer Series

Categories:
Fresh white blossom seems to explode out of the pitch dark background which is the darkest of midnight blues. The blossom seems as if it's held into place with a shiny (yet tarnished) silver vase, yet there are no stems to the branches, just petals and leaves. The vase is placed on the front right of an unfolded white fine cloth which again has no structure of a table coming form under it, but seems to float into the space.

Oil paintings on various sizes of gessoed panels, painted over the course of 6 months, from January to July 2023.

The paintings were made whilst trying to use a minimal amount of marks and paint to conjure the effect of fullness and space. Inspired by the idea of Vermeer encountering Zen.

In January 2023, Kate moved from Folkestone where she'd lived for 15 years to a cottage in the deep countryside near Canterbury, Kent.

New shadows were found due to a different kind of light experienced.

paintings in order of completion

A long thin oil painting, depicting a blue and white Japanese ginger vase containing a dark, skeletal piece of unknown flora, which castes shadows. which are are predominant in the painting and seem to shift a diffuse, so a sense of movement is apparent in the piece. To the side of the vase is a lump of flint; solid and still.
"New Shadows | Early Light"
February 2023
Oil paint on gessoed panel
12" x 6"
A couple of snow drops nod their white heads over the edge of a tall, thin shot-glass. The water in the glass, coming half-way up, distorts the view of the green stems as the water bends the light. The glass of snowdrops sits on a grey mantel to the left of center in a soft, grey lit space. There is a short slice of light coming out of the back of the glass within the darkest part of the shadow.
"Quiet Light | Snowdrops"
Early Spring 2023
Oil paint on gessoed panel
10" x 10"
"Plum Blossom and Gold Cube | Out of the Darkness"
March 2023
Oil paint on gessoed panel
14" x 14"
A broken splayed branch of Blackthorn with it's blossom coming into full bloom. The painting is loosely painted and is a mix of whites, greys and greens, including the lichen on the branch and the tomato red of the little stamen in the blossoms centers. The branch reaches across the panel toward the top right and there is a simple shadow as a result of the blossomed branch, similar to the kind of shadows depicted in David Hockney's iPad artworks.
"Blackthorn Branch | Holy Week"
April 2023
Oil paint on gessoed panel
12" x 12"
Flouncy cherry blossom is bountifully held up into the top right hand corner of the square artwork, held up by a shining silver vase, on a white table-cloth covered table, as seen from the side. There are a few fallen petals at the foot of the vase and the blossom on the right hand on the bouquet has not been finished, and the ground colour and pencil work can be seen, accentuating the fleeting nature of cherry blossom. Under the cloth is just blackness.
"Transience | Cherry Blossom with White Cloth"
May 2022 - April 2023
Oil paint on gessoed panel
16" x 16"
A painting of a sprig of May in a glass tear-shaped vase on a mantelpiece. Some of the may has fallen down onto the mantle.
"May Day"
1st May 2023
Oil paint on gessoed panel
10" x 10"
Fresh white blossom seems to explode out of the pitch dark background which is the darkest of midnight blues. The blossom seems as if it's held into place with a shiny (yet tarnished) silver vase, yet there are no stems to the branches, just petals and leaves. The vase is placed on the front right of an unfolded white fine cloth which again has no structure of a table coming form under it, but seems to float into the space.
"Spring | First Cherry Blossom"
Spring 2023
Oil paint on gessoed board
2' x 2' (60.2 x 60.6cms)

Whilst painting these pictures, she would listen to various forms of music. The kind of music is critical to her state of mind and therefore the artwork that she makes.

A sound- bite to hear Edmund Finnis's "Prelude I"

For example, whilst painting "Fragility | The Last Sakura in a Milk Bottle", she listened exclusively to Edmund Finnis's music, especially the Preludes 1-V.

Two contorted, twisted branches of cherry blossom wind their way across the central are of the square painting. The sorrowful hanging pale pink blossom in its last state of its elegant life. The branches are held by a milk bottle containing water and a rainbow of colour can be seen reflecting up the neck of the otherwise mono-tone bottle. The bottle of blossom is sat on the front left quarter of a unfolded square of white cloth. The background is a murky grey in which the vigorous brushstrokes can be seen flowing around the otherwise very still construction. The table cloth records the various aspects of the light falling across it.
"Fragility | The Last Sakura in a Milk Bottle"
May 2023
Oil paint on a gessoed panel
16" x 16"

Categories

  • Artworks
  • Projects
    • © 2025 Kate Beaugié. All rights reserved.
    Made by Anthony Browne Creative.

    Join mailing list

    Mailing List Subscription Form
    In line with the Privacy Policy, Kate will only use your personal details to provide the information you request from her. You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time.