Intuitive Painting and Collaboration

Hi everybody,

Today I would like to share a project with you that is close to my heart. It is a collaboration project in intuitive painting with my sweet mama from whom I inherited my artistic talents and who always supported my artistic endeavours.

My Mama and Me and Chami and Lupa at the North Sea in Belgium in 2013

The first time I heard about art collaboration was in art school. Later I occasionally saw it popping up as an idea with variations in online art journaling communities but I never experimented with it myself. Now my interest got revived by one of my more recent art classes. First I was thinking to skip the lesson because I didn't have an art partner, and then I thought of my mama, who always loved drawing and painting herself. 

Flowers 1, Watercolours, Gouache, Pencils and Pens on Paper, 22cmx15xm,
Collaboration Project with my Mama 2018, Intuitive Painting

Art collaboration is not a new idea. There are many variations on art collaboration: at least two artists working simultaneously on one work; combining different art forms like for example painting and photography; passing a work back and forth while one works and the other waits; finishing one's part and passing it to the other so they can complete their portion; or mailing an art journal page or a work back and forth. One could imagine even more possibilities. I found an interesting article on the web called Famous Art Collaborations. In this article the oldest example dates from the 1920s, but let's see how we approached the challenge. 

Flowers 2, Watercolours, Gouache, Pencils and Pens on Paper, 22cmx15xm,
Collaboration Project with my Mama 2018, Intuitive Painting

We adapted the rules to our needs and got cracking. We decided to work with watercolors, gouache, colored pencils, watercolor pencils and gel pens. We each took a piece of watercolor paper and set a timer for 10, 15 or 20 minutes depending on our mood and available time. When the timer went off, we exchanged our works and continued doing so until both works were finished. At that point we both signed each piece. This activity was spread over several days. We had so much fun that we repeated the exercise. 

Manger 1, Watercolours, Gouache, Pencils and Pens on Paper, 22cmx15xm,
Collaboration Project with my Mama 2018, Intuitive Painting

First we made Flowers 1 and Flowers 2. Then we made Manger 1 and Manger 2. It was striking that both works seem to cover the same theme in both exercises. Although we have very different styles, they seamlessly melt together in the artwork. We approached the challenge by building on each others' motifs and colors. Flowers 2 seems to be a continuation of Flowers 1 while Manger 1 quite differs from Manger 2. Nonetheless the element of a manger is still recognisable in both pieces. 

Manger 2, Watercolours, Gouache, Pencils and Pens on Paper, 22cmx15xm,
Collaboration Project with my Mama 2018, Intuitive Painting

This type of collaboration is very inspiring and motivational. It is also an exercise in trust, respect, experiment, learning from the other and patience. I think it is very beneficial altogether. At the end both artists can decide to keep one of the pair of works, which they can toss for. Whichever one they end up with, they both will have such a sweet keepsake from each other.

I recommend you to try it too.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Love,

Rika