Dotted & Potted

 

Artist Elspeth McLean's dot painted mandala stones went viral in early 2015. Like thousands of others, I LOVE her work. When I see a new painting of hers, I smile. How could you not?

 

Elspeth McLean is an award winning artist whose innate love of colour and detail evolved into a unique style of painting she describes as “Dotillism”. She creates her intensely colourful and intricate artworks entirely out of dots created with acrylic paint and a paintbrush. Her refined technique has grown and expanded into the vibrant, precise and soul engaging artworks she creates today. For Elspeth, painting dots is a meditative and grounding experience which is so enjoyable she has dedicated her life to it. Through her art she hopes to connect people with their inner child and to bring some vibrancy and joy to their lives. 
 

My favourite of Elspeth's artworks: Kauai, Hawaii Sunset. I have this piece as a large wall tapestry hanging in my living room, brightening up the otherwise plain white walls.

Like Elspeth I have always loved bright colours, they lift my spirit and connect me with my inner child, as she mentioned above. When I read her Artist Statement, I felt that I was reading my own (if I were to have one that is!). I distinctly remember years ago speaking about my body of work at the time (paintings of nude fairies) to my Art class in College, and telling my fellow students and teacher that I just wanted to create vibrant, pretty artwork that is enjoyable to look at - nothing dark or disturbing. To me, creating and viewing art should be a joyful experience, and  good for the soul. 

 

I recently gave colourful dot painting a try, and have quickly become hooked. I'm not big on traditional meditation, but I've found dot painting calms me more than I ever expected. Elspeth uses it to find her happy place, and I can really see why. I now look forward to just sitting down and dot painting, it brings me calm in an otherwise hectic day. The TV might be on, but it won't be my focus. I become oblivious to the paint on my hands, my to do list and the world outside of painting. To be in the moment is so rare, so difficult to obtain. I'm grateful to have found this unique and productive form of meditation.

Purple 'Privileged' plant - the result of my first dot painting project.

I've started painting glazed pots using Glossies Acrylic Paint from Eckersley's, it takes to the surface well and is easy to wipe off when you make a mistake. Cotton buds are my dotting tool of choice. To keep it simple to begin with, I've been choosing one colour per pot and creating a gradient pattern. Practice makes better with dot painting, it takes a short while but I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it now by slowly improving my dotting consistency, one dot at a time!

Of course, it is important to find inspiration from another artist without copying their work completely. I will not copy her artworks and claim them as my own, I only want to use the colourful dot painting technique as inspiration to add more colour and vibrancy to my own household items such as pots, frames and mirrors. I don't plan to make profit from her idea, that would be bad karma!

 I've nicknamed this plant Shakira, because of it's wild and beautiful untameable mane!

 

 My super cute dotted mini bonsai pot.

 

My current pot in progress. I can't wait to show you when it's fully dotted and potted!