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| 1. Crossing the Severn, mixed media (2012). |
The images here are a mix of drawings and paintings in conventional art media ( such as collage, acrylic paint, watercolour), along with some digital artwork I've done during 2013 using apps on my Samsung Galaxy tablet (Adobe Photoshop Touch, Sketchbook Pro, Paper Artist).
More of my artwork, including my sketches outdoors during the summer and work have shown at exhibitions can be viewed on my Water & Art blog - http://artywater.blogspot.co.uk/ , or if you're on Facebook my Joan Lee Artist page - https://www.facebook.com/JoanLeeArtist
The coloured pencil drawings I did around the time of my liver transplant (see My Story - AIH and My Story - Liver Transplant and After) , helped keep me sane during my prolonged time in hospital.
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| 2. Secret River I - Collage and watercolour on drypoint print (2012). |
During the 1990s, I decided to focus on my artwork, I since have gone on art courses, including those organised by art groups such as Farnham Art Society and the Red Hot Press printmaking studio in Southampton. My work has been accepted for open exhibitions in southern England. I also exhibit with groups such as Farnham Art Society and several groups in the Hampshire area.
Until recently, I'd considered my health issues a no go area as subjects for art , preferring to focus on landscapes and coastal scenes. For one thing, it was a way of escaping from the health agro and anxieties, which during the good spells, I prefer to forget about. For another thing, squeamish people like me would probably prefer to see something more cheerful / peaceful (such as Secret River I shown in photo 2 above). Offline I still prefer to stick with the landscapes / coast, but after looking around online at ITP related material during 2013, I have had some second thoughts. When I told my GP I was an artist, he said why not incorporate a graph of platelet counts into some artwork? I dabbled, then, mainly with the tablet apps. I've also done a study on paper, using watercolour, pastel and various drawing materials (photo 4). I've included this here, along with some digital art dabbles on similar lines. I then heard that, as part of International ITP Awareness Month in September 2013, the ITP Support Association wanted their members, friends and family to send in Pictures of Purple (PoP Art) to display on their Flickr sight. I sent them some recent digital artwork, on the theme of tidal rivers and estuaries, including the Severn estuary with the two motorway bridges.
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| 3. Stormy Waters I - monoprint (2013) |
The Severn bridges have been a common theme in the paintings and printmaking over the past year or so (2012-2013). They reflect a mix of memories. On the evening of my liver transplant, after the pre-med, I lay in bed picturing crossing the first bridge (built in 1966) at sunset, remembering childhood holidays in the Forest of Dean and south Wales. I was in the area again about a month before my ITP diagnosis - at one point, sat under the new bridge (carrying the M4, opened in 1996) at Severn Beach, with no symptoms or any idea whatsoever that any platelet trouble was brewing. Less than a fortnight before the subsequent hospital admission, I did a mixed media painting of the bridge. Putting it to one side during the difficult period following hospital and the ITP diagnosis, I revisited the theme in early 2013, in the form of monoprints. One of which (photo 3) I sold at an exhibition in Portsmouth in the summer. These monoprints were a the basis for my recent digital art dabbles. The ITP is evoked by ominous looking skies tending to purple.
All images are copyright Joan Lee.
Digit Art Dabbles
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| Stormy Waters II |
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| Stormy Waters III |
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5. Purple River
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Living by Numbers - Art of graphs and text
The two paintings below incorporate a platelet graph, more bridge and river references. The text is a mixture of thoughts, feelings, water analogies, along with some pop song titles and lyrics which seemed appropriate. Among the latter: Living by Numbers (New Muzik, 1980), Yesterday... my troubles were so far away..(The Beatles, 1960s), This is a Low ... but it won't hurt you (Blur, 1990s), Life Just Bounces (The Fall), It's Just a Little Turbulence (Bowling for Soup, 2010s).
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| Highs and Lows - watercolour and drawing on paper (2013) |
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| ITP and All That, digital art (2013) |
