Been Thinking About Pathways

A travelling week and mostly tied up with other things but spent some downtime looking at more of the photos from the Pathways project and thinking about what else could be done with this collection of images - all the sketchbook information and preliminary work having been left at Qube for exhibition use.

It has been good to have this time to work offline. And of course, I now have a head full of ideas but no time for a couple of weeks to start anything new - so it will have to wait until I am back in the studio. Such are the frustrations of life! But still, it helps to take the laptop away with me and be able to use the graphics creatively when you can't get into the studio. I am increasingly finding that one informs the other very nicely and brings so many different elements to my work.

The second workshop began last week (day 2 this week) - ours was over two consecutive days and it will be good to see what the participants get out of their two separated days - I know they were approaching it in a different way, with different artists leading the workshop and it will be interesting to see how this impacts on their finished work. I can't help feeling that having a week in between and time to consider the project might be beneficial. Or would it destroy spontaneity?

I am really looking forward to seeing the exhibition and how these different approaches affect people's work.

52 Suburbs

http://www.52suburbs.com/


Came across this fantastic blog - well worth a peek!

Never Ending Circles

I have been reviewing some of the photos from the two day Pathways workshop. Considering sensory elements to a greater degree was something that came out of the workshop for me. Of course you are generally aware of the sights, sounds, movements around you but we are not often in a quiet place where you do stop and pay attention in a mindful way and without distractions.

Colour is usually my primary concern and how to use it in an abstracted and expressive way. Sitting at the edge of the pond, I was picking up the blues, greens, umber, burnt orange, pinks from the immediate landscape.

And then I heard a couple of splashes in the water and looked up to see a kingfisher darting across the surface, leaving behind these lovely circles in the water. I was too late with the camera to catch the bird, it was long-gone.

This is only the second time I have seen one but then I don't spend a lot of time hanging around ponds.

Pathways at Qube Oswestry

Day Two of the workshop - tiring but very satisfying day. What amazed me most was the quantity of work that has come from this project so far - it was quite staggering to see how much had populated the walls and floor space by late afternoon.

For work on canvas (all 12 x 12ins) Jood and Janie gave us a limited pallette of acrylic paint, graphite sticks and oil pastels to work with in order to give some cohesion to the finished pieces. Again, despite the fact that our styles were all quite different, the finished work hung together well and it will be interesting to see them as part of the Pathways exhibition at Qube in October.

For me it was good to work with other artists again and it gave me some new practical ideas to add to my own artist's vocabulary. Particularly, the sensory element of the Quiet Lane experience and how to develop that in my work.

A video excerpt below of Janie demonstrating oil pastel and graphite technique and Jood talking about oil pastel layering.

For more information check out the links below.

http://www.qube-oca.org.uk/arts/pathways.html
http://marttn.wordpress.com/

Pathways at Qube Oswestry - Quiet Lane

Working on a two day artist-led workshop at Qube, Oswestry. 'Pathways - Artists' exploration of environment through creation'. This week's workshop is being run by Jood Gough and Janie McLeod. The second workshop 22nd and 29th September being led by Gill Crozier and Judith Harrison.

This morning we spent a couple of hours along the Quiet Lane collecting images and information to work on over the next two days. There are six of us participating and of course we all approached the task in different ways - sketches, photography, abstract and representational.

Back at the centre we pooled our information and began exploring the information gathered to get a sense of our 'Pathway' experience - not only visual images but the sensory impact of the Quiet Lane.

Jood and Janie led us through a variety of mark making methods and toward the development of ideas for a 'finished' work tomorrow. By 4pm there was some really good work underway and I am looking forward to Day Two.

I will try and post some pictures tomorrow - I was so engrossed today, I forgot that bit.