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.

Colour Field

After the jpeg trauma yesterday and as my eyes were beginning to glaze-over consulting the photography manual last night - I took a break and looked at one of the colour field paintings I did last week (based on the garden photo colours) and played around with the image for a while using Gimp and fractals.


There seems to be differing advice about compressing and decompressing jpegs ranging from absolute disaster to no problem - so the day ahead will be spent in the company of the printer to see what I can rescue - deep joy.

I've only had the camera six years...

I have mentioned several times on this blog that photography is safe from me but I wonder if I am safe from it. Here I was tootling along taking a few snaps of this and that when the fancy took me and then all of a sudden I hit the wall of realisation that there's a world of difference in the little old 4x6inch photo, what gets posted to the webpage or what I might like to have reproduced for a larger canvas. Yes, there has been a slight niggle in the back of my head somewhere that I ought to do some research on this matter but we arty types get busy with the creative bit.

Today, I wanted to take a look through the portfolio for this year and although I have been so much better at documenting work, for a lot of it I did not save the original image only images ready for the web. This is not a problem for work I still have around the studio but for work that has gone into the world, I am left with jpegs. Not the end of the world but it means a few days now of checking what formats the work is saved in and spending evenings in the company of the photographic manuals for some basic information on file saving for nitwits!

The small canvas above is one of the 'Fired Earth' landscapes in spray acrylic paint - hand manipulated to give it texture. This was the last of a series I started late last year and finished last month.

Garden Photos IV & Other Stuff

Blustery day outside and a couple of hours to spare before an appointment this afternoon. The garden is starting to look August weary but still lots of colour to be found out there and I am busy collecting as many shots as I can before autumn sets in and the perennials die back. The sunflowers above are just about to 'go over'.

I have been using the colours of the garden to paint some simple 'colour field' works on canvas and paper and enjoyed not particularly thinking about anything other than the juxtaposition of the colour. Will photograph and post later - nothing particularly fantastic but a joy to have the opportunity to simply play with paint.

On a more serious note - for me anyway! I reluctantly made a decision not to take up the option of the Professional Printmaker's programme this year. I had to stop last year for family reasons and although I badly wanted to start it again this term, the 'family reasons' are ongoing and would just make something that should be a rich and invaluable experience, a major stress. I've had the tears and tantrums but feel relieved to have made a decision - for this year at least! The Print Centre is such a vibrant place to work and the output is of such a high standard that it has been a difficult decision but I will keep up with printmaking in the studio here and catch up with the Print Centre workshops through the year.

I am feeling more relaxed about workload now. There are things I want to do with my own professional practice this coming year which will be easier outside a formal educational framework.

The Garden Photos III

A busy family week and in between visitors and travelling, I have been pressing on with the garden photos and thinking about using the images. I am enjoying grabbing the camera and getting a few shots as the flowers appear and its good to do something positive when I just don't have enough time to spend in the studio.

I like the fact that flowers are so unfashionable in the artworld, naff, twee, kitsch and all that stuff. Sometimes, you get sick of 'the concept' and sometimes you just want to see what's going on under your nose and not have to explain the 'outcomes' and intellectualise everything.

I'm not in a bad mood - honestly.