Terrill Welch by herself - issue #31 Hang on for the Ride
I have less than thirteen months until the completion date for my MA in Fine Art. This is my second primary focus for the duration of this time. David’s care and my own wellbeing are my first priority which includes some purposeful planned time with family and friends. My art business is in third place until August of 2026. This doesn’t mean you will hear from me any less. I shall still write once a month to publish “Terrill Welch by herself”. However, marketing posts on social media, requests to show my work and any new opportunities will mostly need to wait until at least the early part of 2026. Considering our current global economic and social political volatility, this should work out just fine. When one offers discretionary luxury purchases in the form of original paintings, taking a moment like this to step back is an appropriate response to the situation. However, I have heard rumours that the art market is heating up internationally and I do have an online solo show coming up in August on Artsy that has been generously sponsored by Opulent Art Gallery. I shall share more about this in July’s newsletter.
My intention is to hang on for the ride and continue to share new work and new adventures with you so that you will continue to know what is on offer for when circumstances are more stable and you are ready. This is a perfect time for me to leap into new forms of exploration and risk taking which is a core requirement for my studies. If you find that my new work stretches your own authentic preferences, remember that it is a special project that I will complete in a little over a year. The feature image for this posts shows most of the paintings in this series so far. I cannot say for sure whether I will lean back into the approaches of my earlier work. However, I am confident that my subject will most likely shift from the seafloor at that point.
I really would like to find homes for at least a few more paintings this year. But if it doesn’t happen, I will still keep painting and sharing new paintings with you. In this way, I am hoping that you will find something of interest and something that is still meaningful to you. The main section of this issue will be new work followed by what has (and hasn’t) sold. Please, do settle in and enjoy!
Let’s start with a quote I found in my research of Kazuaki Tanahashi, born in Japan in 1933 and active in the United States since 1977. He is an artist, writer, and peace and environmental worker.
“As soon as you accept the accidental effects, they are no longer accidents. They are necessity [to] the part of yourself that you could not expect or design beforehand. Thus the realm of your creativity grows wider.” ~ Kazuaki Tanahashi from his section of One Brush Stroke paintings at https://www.brushmind.net/onestrokepaintings
I find his quote fits with my current explorations and is a useful anchor for engaging with my approach to these new paintings.
NEW PAINTINGS
There are three new plein study paintings and one studio study to share with you. The first three are now available in the Seafloor and Seashell series collection. The final one is in my general online portfolio. I am going to first give you the option of going directly to the online gallery collection with the three newly released paintings, just in case you would like to skip how they came about.
For those of you that are intrigued about the painting process and how my ideas develop from one painting to the next, these next few posts are for you. 😊
FIRST OF THREE PLEIN AIR STUDIES COMPLETED IN MAY 2025
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
On the 22nd, 24th, 29th of May 2025 I continued to explore the seafloor by completing three plein air studies using slightly different approaches for each other. These studies were exercises in investigating abstract/figurative tensions using whole body and mind observation based making practices.
The first is ‘Between Shapes and Shells’ by Terrill Welch is a 14 x 11 inch acrylic on gessobord.
This painting began with abstract shapes in the studio but found its direction standing on the shore at Reef Bay, where light, land, and sea shaped each brushstroke. The work balances abstract marks with representational forms, holding a quiet tension beneath its calm surface.
At this point, I had no idea where to take the painting next. Somehow the forms and shapes had separated from each other and from the place itself. I was stuck.
I left the blocked-in painting on the easel in the studio for two days. I could see the painting as I went about other tasks. I sometimes just stood with it for a while. Finally, I decided I would see if I couldn’t make some progress with it.
I started with the shapes of the shells adding volume and definition.
I then removed, shaped and whited out marks in the sky and sea.
The painting still wasn’t working for me. The various parts remained incongruous and I couldn’t feel the sense of the place. Basically, it was making a lot of noise for something that was still dead on the easel. I was going to have to try another approach.
In the morning, I packed my plein air gear and took the painting back to the sea with me. Once set up, I took a long look at what I had on the surface and thought about where I wanted to take the painting.
My guiding mantra was - do just enough to resolve the painting and not one brushstroke more. I started with the sky and sea to pull it back towards its representative beginnings but this time using a specific sky and sea that was visible right in front of me along with the dank scent of a low tide, sea and the comfort of warm sun on my skin.
It worked! I went back and forth painting sky and sea while limiting the number of brushstrokes used as I attempted to keep as much of the abstract mark making as possible and still be able to bring the work to life.
The painting came to rest and I was ready to pack everything up and head back to the studio.
An hour later I straightened the horizon line slightly but I did nothing more. An image of the final painting is taken that I shared at the beginning of the post along with these three details that accentuate the abstract gestures which remain in the finished painting.
Reflections: Could I have got to this place through my more familiar process of loose impressionist mark making while using my whole body and mind to capture the energy and essence of the place? More directly, are the abstract marks necessary? Do they contribute to the wholeness and overall meaningfulness of the painting? My answer is ‘possibly’ for all questions but I am not sure.
SECOND PLEIN AIR COMPLETED IN MAY 2025
Wednesday, 11 June 2025
I have taken my questions from the previous post about my painting process and questioning the value of abstract marks to wholeness and overall meaning of a painting.
In the second painting on May 22, 2025, I approach my subject more directly by firstly and lastly standing on the beach at low tide between the reefs.
I focus on the close-up textures of weathered sandstones, mussels, oysters, and seaweed. The colours range from soft pinks and whites to dark greens and purples. I want to capture the tactile surfaces and natural complexity.
I work swiftly from life, emphasizing sensory experience over strict visual detail to explore form and colour in this small coastal scene.
I want the painting to distill the tactile complexity of a small natural landscape fragment, drawing attention to the interplay between abstract shapes, form, colour, and surface. The view point is low to the seafloor, looking across the Strait of Georgia to the mainland of British Columbia. The homes along the shore are to my left and slightly behind me while I work. As usual, I acknowledge and then ignore their presence. I am the only one on the beach itself, standing in the bright late morning sun with the wind and warmth drying out my acrylic paint faster than I think to spray it with water. I move back and forth, crouching down and then standing on my toes, feeling the place envelope and merge with my sensory system until there is no sense of separation.
But then, as if I had not been there applying paint with my brush, the painting comes to rest. The results are gestural and yet not aggressive. Somehow I can feel the sand-like broken shell bed under my feet when I look at it.
The tide is coming in and I must get back home. I pack up and leave no trace except for my footprints on the seafloor along the bottom of the reef.
Reflections: I set the painting in the studio where I can see it as I go about other tasks. I contemplate the roughness of it and the movement captured in the mark making. There is a sense of satisfaction in having rendered what I felt and experienced along the shore for those few minutes of the day. I leave it be, a record and a statement of purpose in exploring the tension between abstract and figurative expression.
My late night peppermint tea is cold as I sit writing curled under a blanket in the wicker chair that sits in the corner of the studio. The house is quiet as it is 1:41 am with a full moon is shining in the big window over the valley. The peak illumination is at 3:44 am on this 11th day of June, 2025. I hope to be sleeping again by then and will post this at a more reasonable hour later in the morning. First, I will sit just a little longer and enjoy the freedom from long lists of responsibilities and chosen commitments. The moon asks nothing of me even though I am reminded of a painting inspired by a similar view and a poem from a few years ago.
The poem is translated in The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry (1993) by Stephen Mitchell, p. 162. However, the story behind the poem is one that has been passed down through time with variations in its details even while the intent or lesson remains the same in the retelling.
More about Ryōkan Taigu (E and Lopez, 2013, pp.724–725, Kazuaki Tanahashi, 2012)
Reference list:
E, R. and Lopez, D.S. (2013). The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp.724–725. Ryōkan reference.
Kazuaki Tanahashi (2012). Sky above, great wind : the life and poetry of Zen Master Ryokan. Boston: Shambhala.
Mitchell, S. (1993). The Enlightened heart : an anthology of sacred poetry. New York: Harperperennial.
THIRD PLEIN AIR COMPLETED IN MAY 2025
Sunday, June 15 2025
It is Thursday, 29 May 2025. Again, I go to Reef Bay with my plein air backpack of materials. This time I am going to attempt a more abstract than figurative study by focusing on the main large shapes and the sensory feel of the elements I am observing rather than their visible characteristics.
The exercise is modestly successful. Here a tile image record of the process as an overview.
It had been raining during my chosen early morning painting session and this work was completed over an hour from noon until 1:00 pm after the weather had cleared. This time of year, the light is fairly washed out at this time of day but there are nice dark shadows for contrast.
Plein air painting of ‘Sandstone Reef at Low Tide Study’ by Terrill Welch still on the easel at Reef Bay on Mayne Island.
Later, I take a final image with my digital camera and saved it with my artist notes for my archival records.
Reflections: I begin to think about the concept ‘drop in the ocean landscape’ as a way to push my practice more to the abstract end of the continuum between abstract/figurative mark making. I am wondering, can I maintain an umbilical cord kind of connection between these first plein air observations while painting large paintings of their abstracted details?
UNDERSTANDING PLAY IN MY PAINTING PRACTICE
Sunday, 15 June 2025
It is Sunday, 8 June 2025. The temperature is rising quickly but with the breeze it is intoxicatingly pleasant down in the sandstone at Georgian Point right at the entrance of Active Pass. This is not a ’landscape of the small’. The view is too full and grand for that. I only desire to take it in its wholeness. I gather references and return home as David settles in with soft jazz music playing in his office. I go to the studio and pull out the oils and sketch in a the view on a deep red ground covering an 11 x 14 inch gessobord.
The laundry does a final spin. Mounds of damp, cool linens fill my arms as I reach beyond them for the door handle to the covered deck. Swaths of terracotta and navy brush against me on an early summer breeze while my finger grip handfuls at a time and secure the clothespins to the line. We are supposed to have warm temperatures for the next few days but, with a bit of luck, I can still ease into the rhythm of brush, paint and surface without the oils turning to the consistency of warm butter. I close the outside door behind me, cutting out the mournful whistle of a ferry that vibrates just above a droning seaplane over Navy Channel. Now I am free to paint. It is almost noon. I have two and half hours before I need to go pick up my painting from the regional art show. Not much but it is what I have and it will have to do.
It is now twenty minutes to one as I reach to load the first brush with paint.
At twenty minutes to three, I have the painting done. I stand back and say to myself - this is what pure play feels and looks like in my practice!
This is what it is like to give myself over to the conversation between a specific moment of sky, sea, and land. This is getting at the very essence of my connection to this place and what it has to say to me and me to it.
Reflections: How does this approach fit into my current project of exploring the tension between the abstract/figurative continuum? Is there a way to bring some of this approach to play into the ‘landscape of the small’ or even the ‘drop in the ocean landscape’ approaches? I have no ready answers and place this post here as a marker to recording the fullness of my painting practice.
WHAT HAS (AND HASN’T) SOLD
I have been playing a little bit of catch up to understand the interests of serious fans and art collectors of my work at this specific moment. Even with my “Token of Appreciation savings” no original paintings were requested for purchase. There were many notes of encouragement and appreciation. Art collectors even made a point of seeking me out in person to tell me about how impactful my paintings that they already have in their art collection are on their daily lives. All of this reminds me that it is not the artwork but rather our global circumstances that are the primary cause of this current hesitation. This is not something I can do anything about and it would be foolish to try to find a savings amount that would trip that rightful hesitation. The more prudent approach is to acknowledge and support this reasonable pause in purchases until art collectors have more confidence in making discretionary additions to their original art collections. And this is what I shall do!
There have been sales though. They have been happening in the print and product offerings of my artwork on Redbubble. There have been sales of framed prints, posters, throw pillows, totes, aprons and greeting cards mostly from Canadian customers. Therefore, I have taken the time to add a couple more new designs featuring a few “Summer of Flowers” paintings. I am particular pleased with the throw pillows and totes!
So, in honour of resent increased interest in my Redbubble prints and products here is the link that will that you to the 600 available designs.
https://www.redbubble.com/people/TerrillWelch/explore?asc=u&page=1&sortOrder=recent
Also, Redbubble follows social responsibility and sustainability practices that can be reviewed at https://www.redbubble.com/social-responsibility/sustainability/
In addition, prints and products are produced as close to place of purchase as possible which should help with avoiding unexpected tariff impacts. However, it is always important to double check tax implications at the time of purchase.
So there you go! 😊
WHAT I AM READING
I have of course been reading a wide variety of material but there is a specific blog post from a good friend, writer, artist and art collector of my work, Charles van Heck that I would like to share with you. I think you will really enjoy this article because it is deeply linked to Mayne Island and the Southern Gulf Islands through a favourite author, Jane Rule.
Charles van Heck
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Alas, it is time to draw this visit to a close. I find it hard to believe we are halfway through June and the longest day of the year has arrived. Happy Summer Solstice!
I encourage us all to keep our spirits up and lean into the simple things in life that bring us the most joy while taking time to enjoy the company of other like-minded individual. This I am sure will come between raising our voices and taking action when necessary. May the next month bring you an abundance of warmth, kindness, hope, clarity and compassion.
Warm regards as alway,
Terrill 👩🎨❤️🎨
P.s. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me directly at tawelch@shaw.ca if you prefer. It is always lovely to hear from you either way.
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