Art@41: thoughts....

Art@41: thoughts....: Since my crit last week, I've really been thinking hard about what my art is and what it means to me. I have come to the conclusion - with ...

thoughts....

Since my crit last week, I've really been thinking hard about what my art is and what it means to me. I have come to the conclusion - with help from my friends and hubby that I need to be honest about my work. I seem to give only surface, shallow impressions about my work....when to be honest its much deeper and much more than mere "pebbles"....

I have said before that the pebbles represent a lot of things to a lot of people, I haven't really been very articulate in saying what they represent to me....over the next few weeks I am going to try and do some soul searching and explore where I am with my work, where it's going and try and formulate how I want this to come across. A good friend said, it's not so much about the choice of materials more the meaning....I think I need to seriously look inside myself to be able to deliver a more coherent and together collection, especially for my final exhibition.....which is a culmination of 3 years study and can be the starting point of the beginning of me being an artist....

so bare with me if my ramblings get heavy, or they appear disjointed

 - OK that's nothing new!...

I'm a working progress, 

...just trying to learn how to express myself through my art!...

...so I'm looking for the light...

... the true reason why I am drawn to do what I do and how I do it...

so, a step...or even a stitch at a time... happy reading, bye

Art@41: .....assessment over...next phase!

Art@41: .....assessment over...next phase!: ok, assessment was pretty much a disaster.... ...totally tongue tied and really did not articulate myself well in any way, shape or form....

.....assessment over...next phase!

ok, assessment was pretty much a disaster....

...totally tongue tied and really did not articulate myself well in any way, shape or form....pretty much a rubbish really!....ah well...feed back said I had to stay focused on one area....heavily emphasising that assemblage boxes have been done, re done and re done again! ....so I take the hint and will concentrate on "pebbles" just for the final exhibition....

....my love of Louise Bourgeios' later work with cloth has really inspired me....so much so I'd love to make my own fabric book about my journey with pebbles similar to "Ode à l'Oubli" but using some of my old coats as the main fabric support....they are after all what I have worn on my walks when finding my pebbles...showing, marks, shapes, text and prints...

.....I'am working on some ideas....but in the mean time I have always wanted to make a column in fabric shapes just like she does...

 Louise Bourgeois fabric totem, with detail below

...using the random shapes of pebbles as my idea...I often make these or we find them dotted along our coast....randomly built and left for someone else to find or to be taken by the sea... 

... using fabric from old coats and trousers, stuff  my family and I have worn when out and about on our walks....I can't decide tho' as to whether I should also add the markings onto the pebbles or just the shapes...also what should I fill them with...

sketch book ideas....

....and so I have tried some different fillings....the thing is that although pebbles are hard, cold objects to touch, to me I feel a fondness, a soft comforting element as each one reminds me of a moment, a time, a memory -  thats why I collect them....using fabric helps portray my connection and my emotional link with them...so some should be hard and solid - a strong memory, others soft and squishy - distant/past times....

top: denim/scrim stuffed with foam block

next: canvas with marks embroidered - polystyrene balls

next: canvas painted - expending foam

bottom: canvas - memory foam offcuts

I have to confess....these are just samples and are about the size of footballs....the best and most illuminating was the expanding foam.....possibly put a 'tad toooo much in as expanded exceptionally well and the effect is lightweight and very firm, neat round shape...might try again and not put quite so much in!

also I'm not sure how large or small I am going to do them...or whether I do different totems....one all soft , another solid and strong....everything is really in its early experimental state at the moment so bare with me while I share my trials and errors along the way!

I am however going to use 4 of my assemblage boxes....the sewing drawers with the pebbles I made using ink and stitch...I like them too much and feel they work well with the rest of my ideas...

....by the way I got a grade of 2:1!

anyway, happy reading....bye

Art@41: Art@41: ...where does the time go?

Art@41: Art@41: ...where does the time go?: Art@41: ...where does the time go? : ...another week over another weekend sped by and I seem to be consumed with ideas....I'll have to save ...

Sand tray...

...influenced by Joseph Cornell and his sand boxes...

He called his box constructions ‘pocket museums’ but this blog mainly looks at his sand trays...

What I love about his boxes is how encourages viewer participation

            he encouraged viewers to freely make associations between the elements in the works, 

                                gaining ‘direct access to the projects, browsing through them.

His portable collections - "pocket museums"  necessitate the viewer to take out the contents and objects, peruse them and either return or re-arrange them.

Cornell believed that wonders, miniature worlds, and aspects of realities and dreams embodied by his works would inspire others and that they might also take the time to explore the world about them, to ‘pursue beauty and knowledge in the “warp and woof of daily life”, just as he had’ 

see the book I recommended in my last blog...

....my first attempt at making a sand tray has had a few problems...

apart from not behaving when I tried to bake the case for an aged look!.... 

view of inside the tray...

...one of the problems was that I have incorporated a compass needle..

 it keeps popping off if the tray is shaken too vigorously! so I have had to make the tray accessible, I made a fabric hinge as I didn't want it to be obvious.
The sand can disappear  behind either the mermaid or the crescent on the opposite side....a bit like the tide coming in and out...now you see it...now you don't!

I couldn't resist using this Victorian mermaid!

I decided to add washed ink onto the lid to give the effect of being underwater....

I think it would look better if the ink was much darker....

I also think the sand needs to be really dark blue too...it's too light at the moment! 

...coating the box in brown paper and distressing it created a sense of age...I really wanted some old or odd handles but cannot believe how hard it is to find trays that don't have built in handles!!!...I will keep searching tho'!

It kinda works...but needs some refining...it swishes like the sea but is not quite right....originally I had a pebble in to highlight how they roll around and erode....but it was way too noisy...and destructive!

I'm not sure about the compass now...I prefer the minimalist look...I also think it needs to mature a bit, so I'll have another go....

I've set most of my work out for my crit' tomorrow morning...

anyway, happy reading....bye

Art@41: ...where does the time go?

Art@41: ...where does the time go?: ...another week over another weekend sped by and I seem to be consumed with ideas....I'll have to save them tho' as I have a critique with ...

...where does the time go?

...another week over another weekend sped by and I seem to be consumed with ideas....I'll have to save them tho' as I have a critique with my lecturers on Wednesday and need to get some sort of organisation going with my collection of sketch books and research folders...

...I decided to put all my research together and make a sort of folder to house them all...

...I just have to add some text to my sketch books and put my work up and then thats it....time to create for our final exhibition....thats if the lecturers like my stuff!!

Yesterday we (Hubby and I) went for a stroll along the beach...our crazy dog as giddy as ever!...all to find some more pebbles with holes in and a couple of marble size pebbles.....I didn't really find any that I liked but enjoyed the walk and the company...the dog was pooped by the time we got home tho'!

I finished one more of my assemblage boxes....a tea caddy...."To the rescue", it's my smallest yet...(22cm x 20cm)

I like the way when the doors open it's reflected in the glass...
almost like it would be on the sea!

...I am also working on a sand tray...

its been quite interesting trying to find out how to put things inside without them being destroyed by the sand!....another problem I had was...well...er...I thought I'd try and bake the wooden frames just like Joseph Cornell did....to try and age and add character to the box....the problem was I had sealed the edges with decorators filler to stop the sand escaping...mmmm big mistake!

...however....

I have found that decorators filler rises as good as my Jamie Oliver Yorkshire pudding recipe!....but definitely doesn't smell as good!...I did decided to keep some of the smaller bubbles that blew up from the paint but decided against the mountain that had grown in one corner!... 

baked assemblage box!

start of ideas and components...

 I have added a compass needle

 but it keeps popping off if shaken tooooo vigorously, i really want to keep it in so might have to make it possible to lift the lid of the tray....just in case!

A piece of found pottery from a friend fits inside a worn shell...
kinda resembles a fish  eye to me!

trying out how to hide the sand...it can go behind the mermaid
or the crescent ...

anyway another day of studio work tomorrow, putting work up for the dreaded critique, so I'll sign off now...

...its still a working progress but I'll let you see it when it's finished...
but to see how a good sand box looks here's a few of Cornell's...

Recommended reading!

 happy reading, bye

Art@41: ....at last my final essay is finished!

Art@41: ....at last my final essay is finished!: to conclude..... "....And finally, Constantine and Reuter eloquently encapsulated the importance of cloth in art by surmi...

....at last my final essay is finished!

to conclude.....

"....And finally, Constantine and Reuter eloquently encapsulated the importance of cloth in art by surmising “...the use of cloth in works of art is not a movement but an all-persuasive trend adopted by artists of every cut and colour. Sometimes cloth is the entire work of art, sometimes a component or a fragment. However, just as thread is assumed into material, cloth has been assumed into the fabric of twentieth century art” (Constantine and Reuter p233) it is now clearly apparent that the value of cloth is multi dimensional providing aesthetic, spiritual, social, historical and symbolic qualities. It connects mentally and physically. Through these artists cloth and its history become metaphors, carriers, bearers of significant meaning, provoking and arousing almost palpable responses through memories and emotions. It has been shown to be representational, functional or both, and as artists have discovered over time and through the results effectively established throughout this essay the function of cloth in Fine Art practice plays a crucial role...." 

Handed in and although there are some good bits, overall I was disappointed with my  end result....I felt it was disjointed and repeated itself a lot....anyway too late now.....

.....but now to crack on and do what I truly signed up to do.....be creative! we have our critique with the lecturers next week about where we are going with our studio practice, to be honest its the first real feedback we will have had this 3rd year so I'm actually looking forward to getting some feedback.....be it good or bad!

As I have been concentrating on what I find when out and about, this terms theme is "Pebbles" they represent so much to soooo many people!....originally it came about because of their markings, I'd had some surgery on my face and noticed how people looked at me differently...... marks left from life are often misconstrued!....I have had surgery in the past to remove malignant melanomas and most people would never know but as soon as its visible......? anyway whilst out walking on the beach I started to look at the pebbles, all so different, each individual pebble standing the test of time, its life a journey of endless possibilities. As a group they are so similar, we accept them for what they are, individual and original. Their marks bear testament to their relentless battle with the elements....how not only does the environment make a pebble....it can also break a pebble. ...erosion  speeding up the process to becoming a grain of sand.....

....my families battle with skin cancer also bears similarities.....genetics have delivered our make-up and the environment causes untold damage on the surface, leaving marks and scars along the way.... sometimes  eroding and cause untold damage within.......

....so  pebbles have many different meanings to many different people....I also live on the coast and I'm constantly reminded of the changing coastline and its effects....coastal erosion etc but also the beauty of what surrounds us as a country. The tranquil  seas and picture postcard scenes can transform to immense and powerful images of danger and destruction within hours....the ebb and flow of the tide constantly changing the beaches washing up new and interesting finds....

Acrylic, collage (geographical maps) on canvas

....thats where I come in ....the new and interesting finds.....ever the Magpie, always on the look out for that something wonderful to create something around....so here's what I've done so far...

chalk pastel and ink on paper

...I do have a favourite pebble that seems to have a strong theme throughout my paintings, this pieces is still a work in progress as I was initially concentrating on the marks, the crevices, I wanted them to appear similar in that they are indented, but with artistic license!!...

close up detail...

this is a large scale pebble approx 1m x 1m, I have used modelling paste and decorators caulk to build up the surface, now I'm adding acrylic inks to add subtle colour.....should I have kept it white and not added any colour?....

inside of assemblage box

outside of box!

....As you can see from my art....mixed media....lets embrace everything!, I make the boxes around frames I buy from charity shops, - they must be wood and have glass inserts. I'm even considering learning how to make dovetail jonts as I think they look sooooo much better! or I even source unusual boxes and use them as a starting point, I have two clock frames I am musing over at the moment!

...this one has changed slightly as I asked family and friends, colleagues to arrange the tubes as they thought they worked best...it was interesting watching them quietly move them around and inspect the contents! The whole box closes - it was a cigar box - and is wrapped with string, I'll put final photos on after assessment!

...anyway, sorry for not blogging for a while but I'm back and raring to go

Happy new year to you all, heres to a peaceful, productive and hopefully prosperous one!

happy reading, bye