Jazz Green : Artist Journal

Posts tagged ‘chromatids’

XCIV, one small abstract painting on paper currently for sale, shown here mounted (matted), in striated, layered colours of deep teal green, prussian blue-black, dark aubergine-brown and grey…

from the series of one hundred small paintings started on one grey day in late 2008…

numbered I to C, aka chromatids, 2008-2009

chromatids: the two strands into which a chromosome divides during cell division; origin, from the Greek ‘khroma’ meaning colour and id (an abbreviation of identity rather than id, of impulse or instinct)..

four more small abstract paintings on paper from the chromatids series..

you can view more small abstract paintings for sale here…

all about sensing & seeing colour on a small scale…

here are a some of the small abstracts from the same series, hanging out to dry in the studio…

at the time i had the idea that i would later mount or frame all one hundred of these and exhibit them as one wall-based work…  but, being small works on paper they also suited the idea that i had to begin selling some small abstract paintings online

click here to view the remaining small paintings for sale in this series…

my primary aim in this series was to explore visual relationships in both surface texture & colour, and they were created in sequence but on a reduced scale – small, tactile colourscapes or studies that suggest abstract fragments of landscape or colour samples from the environment but are only identified by a reference number, a process inspired in part by the coded synthesis of genetic dna maps and product barcodes…

and here are a few photographs, taken down on the farm

thank you for looking…

aha… if you have scrolled down this far, then may i introduce to you three very small abstract paintings on postcards…

three small abstract paintings on postcards

untitled I, II & III , 2010
wax, bitumen, emulsion & acrylic on paper, mounted onto postcards

i received these back from the little postcard art exhibition at the king’s lynn arts centre – thus, perhaps starting a tradition of giving away these small exhibition remainders – all three are up for grabs, yes absolutely gratis…

to be in with a chance, just show your interest by leaving a little comment below (your contact email is not published or shared but is required to authenticate the comment)…

distinct from my previous art giveaway, this time just ONE WINNER will be selected at random after the closing date of 1st september 2010 to receive ALL THREE postcards…

the winner will be contacted by the email they have provided and will then need to provide the necessary contact information by return for the postcards to be dispatched to them.

thank you for reading and good luck…

on hoping; it’s a pony

June 4th, 2010

it’s been about twenty five years since i decided i would be an artist… twenty five is a relevant number today (wikipedia helpfully defines it as ‘the natural number following 24 and preceding 26‘)…

in the year 2025 i hope i will still be working as an artist, living in a very big house, making very big work in a very big studio, in the country, but things may work out differently…

i have been thinking alot about art, money and really making it as an artist this week (future finances and other ideas)… because my current teaching contract ends in a couple of weeks…

however, i will have some new work featured in two exhibitions for in  july…

i have had four small works on canvas selected for a new exhibition, Norfolk Contemporary Art 2010 at The Forum, Norwich. next up, there will be Textures, Traces & Elements (with mixed media artist Hazel Bignell & ceramicist Carol Pask) at Beyond the Image Gallery – which is in the heart of the historic Thornham Estate (a fantastic setting – lots of trees, nature, walks)… but more on those two events nearer the time…

sometimes i fancifully imagine as i write this that maybe some real people will eventually read it out of interest – apparently my blog spam widget has saved me from over 1000 spam comments since November 2009  - but i find putting up images and text is actually (or will be) quite interesting for myself to read in the future…

in the meantime, i need to have a bit of a ’studio clearance’ of my recent series of small abstracts on paper, to settle up so to speak… i have to wind down etsy (it is not so good as a selling venue for abstract painters i have decided – well if you are a little British artist on a big American site – having to constantly relist items to get any visibility – the costs really mount up after a while) – and instead focus on doing things closer to home – but it has been brilliant having some of my small works on paper fly across the little pond…

shown below are twenty five of the original series of one hundred small abstracts (chromatids), at twenty five (n uk pounds) – and they are about twenty five in grams in weight (give or take). these small paintings work best when viewed as part of a series and they explore my fascination with weathered, aged surfaces, but in a more colourful, condensed, ordered and sequential way… please scroll down to view these paintings…

you can also contact me at

contact artist

if you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings directly…

art for sale - twenty five abstract paintings

art for sale - twenty five abstract paintings

art for sale - twenty five abstract paintings

random reminiscence: i once took a car for a joyride, a toy pedal car that is, a very smart, bright, shiny red car… i was probably about five or six years old and it was the summer holidays as i recall… the car was just parked up (abandoned at teatime) on a lawn outside a large grey-brick house, shaded by trees… i thought i’d take the little red car for a little spin up and down the pavement for a while (a totally irrational act of thrill-seeking) – i think i may even have driven it home, with an unlikely story about just ‘finding it’… it was a very naughty thing to do but it was the most exhilarating drive for a girl; i never really liked ponies…

a pony is a small horse (naturally), but it is also slang for £25 and also cockney-rhyming slang for crap

happiness is a warm sun

March 20th, 2010

Today is is the spring equinox, and nearly all this week the sun has been shining, with some record temperatures – mild, balmy, brighter and lighter days – and my little eggbox seedlings are surely pushing their way into the verdant world. Brighter days has helped with the etchings too, as I have been wearing magnifying glasses to draw the plates under a desk lamp…

As I was sifting through the contents of a cupboard for some possible frames and mounts for my new etchings, I came across the last nine of the one hundred paintings that I began in November 2008… I hadn’t scanned these until this week… and I noticed how, with a clean mount, the rustic, elemental nature of these little paintings became at once much more minimalist, dare I say smarter, cooler, that little bit more slick and stylish…


click to view larger version on etsy

However, I’m not a fan of mats or mounts, as I like to see the raw edges… I see these little paintings as small fragments…


[XCIV small abstract painting on paper]

In reality they all look much like these six from behind… I tear the paper to the required size first, then begin the monoprinting (aka monotyping) and painting…


[rear view of small paintings, aka verso]

if any evidence were needed that layer upon layer is added or blotted back, all made by paint-covered hands…

I remember once looking at the Tate’s collection of Rothkos and noticing the rough edges of the canvas, and I wondered what they might look like as abstract paintings from the back, on the verso – he painted in very thin layers onto unprimed canvas that soaked into the fibres (one for the conservators). What about all those notes and amendments to details that we add to our the back of our work? I sometimes add a label to larger works that describes the idea behind the work, title, name and address, web and email, the year, month started and/or completed, or revised… I know some artists who never date their work (or at least obscure it) – in that way their work never looks old to gallery eyes…

Here are the last nine scans of the series: XCII, XCIII, XCIV, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, XCVIII, XCIX and C…

Here’s the full one hundred paintings, I to C, aka chromatids, 2008-2009…


One hundred paintings, I to C, mixed media on paper

You can read the very beginning of the one hundred paintings here…

And finally, back to the printmaking (I seem to have lots of ongoing projects) – I had quite forgotten how long it might take to draw the lichenscape plates, so no finished prints to show today, but here is a sneak preview for avid followers of this blog (three, not counting my good self)…  I took a snapshot of one of the copper plates near the window…


[copper plate etching]

If there is one thing that I have missed over the last couple of weeks, it is drawing in my sketchbook outdoors.. so I will endeavour to get some sketching hours in the next week or two…

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The website of British Fine Artist Jazz Green MA RCA. Abstract landscape paintings, fine art photography. All images and text copyright the artist.