John Connell and 'patina'

John Connell is an artist who has said he is inspired by Wabi Sabi and uses the concept when creating his works. Here are some examples of his work.

(Untitled.)

(Chain Link Fence Pattern.)

He uses strong brush strokes and the composition is layered and messy. There is a sense of imperfection and incompletion to his work and this in my opinion represents the Wabi Sabi concept.
I really like his work because it reminds me of some of the line qualities i have been looking at in my own work. This is a piece of work I have done with his style in mind.

I wanted to look at layering and introduce a 'chaotic' effect. I used masking tape and white crayon to 'mask' some areas of the paper. i then painted over with quink ink and bleached away parts of the ink with regular thick bleach (mixed with water) and finally layered over some white acrylic paint for a further dimension.

His website is http://www.johnconnell.info/

Another piece of his work which I particularly like is this bird sculpture (Bird. 1994. Bronze. 7 x 6 x 10 inches (18 x 15 x 26 cm) 

This sculpture is made from bronze and has been tarnished (intentionally or over time?)   
This lead me to think about Patina. 

Dictionary definition of patina: 
1. A film of incrustation, usually green, produced by oxidation on the surface of old bronze and often esteemed as being of ornamental value.

2. A similar film or colouring appealing gradually on some other substance.

3. A surface calcification of implements- usually indicating great age.

I definately think this applies to the concept of Wabi Sabi


Rust could also be seen as a type of patina, as it can tarnish the surface of metal, over time. A huge part of the wabi sabi concept is the acceptance of nature and natural processes. The elements (Fire, Wind, Water, Earth) can drastically change the qualities of both natural and man made materials. DECAY, ERODE, DEVELOP PATINA. Water although so gentle can have a huge effect on such a strong material as metal over time but rusting and eroding through layers. This confirms the theory that 'nothing lasts' (Powell, Richard) and this is huge part of wabi sabi. Transience and imperfection.

Examples of patina. Bronze which has slowly discovered and been encrusted by blue and green.