Part 2: Exploring More Silent Pathways

Alison Critchlow
This blog follows Part 1: Navigating Silent Pathways

Setting up the studio

It is the Autumn before I start work on my painting – I knew there would be a gap of time between making the two pictures, so I deliberately kept hold of the colours and shapes we used in June’s workshops to help me begin. I use six identical panels to work on- it is important that the size and format are exactly the same because I want the paintings to ‘talk to each other’, also they are precisely measured to fit the library windows.

Two images of work in progress in Alison's studio - the first showing alternate black and white panels on the wall with a vase of flowers and some paints, the second displaying six abstract panels painted by participants from Cumbria Deaf Association

So I clean up and empty my studio walls – putting up the finished CDA painting (out of the studio splash zone) and the panels I will paint on the opposite wall with a big pot of flowers just at the edge of vision. I arrange them- black, white, black, white- just as we did in the library and I begin in exactly the same way, using our original cut out shapes. I make myself take phone snaps whenever I stand back, because I want to record how the painting evolves- I have tried to keep them in chronological order to give a sense of it.

Three images showing a black painted panel on the wall with ferns and paint in the foreground, paper stencil shapes, and initial white-on-black drawing

The process

Using alternate black and white panels sets up a push pull rhythm across the painting from the start, which is interesting to work against- dominant at first, until I get some areas blocked in. This is a process of feeling my way- push pull- dark light. Like all paintings, it builds up in layers- sometimes looking a bit strange and then coming together, only to veer off again on a crazy tangent -but eventually a painting begins to emerge.

Three images showing a six-panel painting in various stages of progress, with brightly coloured paint applied in an abstract way to black and white panels

I start to enjoy leaving black, empty sections- drifting thin transparent paint across them and painting thin dribbly areas against solid dark shapes. A few close up photos below to show this detailed interaction of paint. To me this is when the marks start to challenge each other and the process of painting becomes intuitive. Passages of coloured dots and squiggles begin to take on a life of their own moving in flurries across the panels.

Three images showing details of an abstract painting: flashes of bright reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, upon more geometric structural shapes in black, white, greys and blues

This is similar to how I usually work, employing a free and expressive approach to painting- the big difference is that I’m using acrylic paint here (normally I use oil). I am keen to use the same colours we used in our workshops- and I keep looking across to the collaborative painting which is fizzing in its own patch of sun on the other wall.

Two images, the first showing Alison's painting in a well-advanced state, on the studio wall with fresh lilies in the foreground, and the second showing the CDA painting leaning on the wall in the sunlight

A note about the language of paint

The pace, direction and weight of marks is really important – I think of the texture and speed of marks as being like the words in a sentence. It is also in this close up relationship with the painting that decisions get made- some elements step forward and become more important others are pushed back. I love it when heavily textured or carefully painted areas of weighty paint come into contact with simple chalk lines, or when a line drawing seems to talk to a brushed airflow.

Three images showing details of an abstract painting, the first in vibrant reds, pinks and oranges with black and white shapes, the second with blue and yellowy hues, and the third a stark, sweeping black and white image with a tiny blue detail

A few more in process photos here- you can see that the stencil shapes keep coming and going and even the colour swatches work their way in.

Three further images of abstract painting in progress, two showing vibrant detail and movement in many colours, and one showing the corner of a painting on the wall with coloured swatches and stencils stuck to it, and stuck on the wall adjacent

Reflections

Conversations start coming back to me as I’m painting- especially about pathways interweaving and dancers improvising- different experiences with deafness and about how painted wiggles and shapes start to become tracks for your eyes and your mind.

It’s really interesting making a painting which is responding to a collaborative piece. It means there are more voices in the studio than usual. A visual call and response gets underway which leads me to all sorts of flurries and tumbles of colour that I didn’t expect to paint. My finished piece has a pulsing cinematic quality that took me by surprise. In fact I made a few unexpected decisions- collaging some areas and carefully copying one section from the first painting right into the middle of my piece- a visual anchor tying the two artworks together.

'Exploring Silent Pathways' a painting by Alison Critchlow. A vibrant six-panel painting in a wide range of warm and cool colours, abstract and full of movement

‘Exploring More Silent Pathways’ by Alison Critchlow

Working with CDA has been wonderful and I am very grateful to Rebecca, Shelley, Jan, Lou, Summer and Suzie who dedicated whole hearted time and energy to this project. Working with a group who are used to the idea of visual language has been really refreshing. BSL is amazing! It is very clear and to the point- there is no scope for waffle (which is also very refreshing).

The idea was to create bold and eye-catching paintings which pique curiosity in passers by whilst giving them a friendly poke in the ribs! An invitation to wonder what these artworks are all about- to learn a little more about them and the people who made them and refresh our ways of seeing. Generating a spirit of curiosity, human connection and imagination seems ever more important in the face of troubled times and making abstract pieces allows everyone to experience the painting in their own unique way -honouring difference and inclusion.

Here are the two finished paintings side by side...

Two paintings side by side for comparison, 'Navigating Silent Pathways' by participants from Cumbria Deaf Association, and 'Exploring More Silent Pathways' by Alison Critchlow. Both are vibrant, abstract, colourful, and echo each other in form/feel

LEFT: ‘Navigating Silent Pathways’ by Summer Kiggins, Lou Taylor, Jan Bosson, Suzie Bryant and Rebecca Kiggins
RIGHT: ‘Exploring More Silent Pathways’ by Alison Critchlow

‘Exploring More Silent Pathways’

This painting is a visual response to the first artwork ‘Navigating Silent Pathways’- made with Cumbria Deaf Association. The two pictures are made to be looked at together- you might think of it like watching a dance or listening in on a conversation between two paintings. I have used the same processes and intense period of focused time and energy to dive deeper into the pathways we created together - pushing our ideas about colour and visual language further- delving into the empty spaces.

It fascinates me that paintings communicate beyond words – how colours affect us and how marks and shapes can conjure up a place for imagination and discussion. That is what these two paintings are up to – they’re chatting over thoughts about deafness and the many ways it impacts people in West Cumbria, often in ways that hearing people never consider. In those painted patterns and squiggles there is a lively debate taking place about visibility and inclusion and whose voices get heard (or ignored).

Look at both paintings – notice the differences between them as well as the places where a shape has been sent over from one painting to the other. You will see a visual call and response unfolding.