http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 anatomy and drawing Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:32:03 +0000 a-n rss generator a-n The Artists Information Company and contributors edit@a-n.co.uk technical@a-n.co.uk http://www.a-n.co.uk/img/logo.gif http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 A colleague of a friend asked me last year if I was interested in doing a few life classes for medical students - my recent work has been based within the landscape but I have a long association with life drawing, did anatomy as a medical student myself; so I said "yes – probably – good idea, important for medics to have an understanding of the role of the body in art/culture – also dynamic demonstration of the uses of anatomy blah blah". . However, it’s going to be much more than I anticipated.  For an SSC the students select a topic, study it for four weeks and then produce evidence of their research (lots of drawings, reflective writing in sketchbooks in this case, I think) AND five thousand words of coherent writing. That’s almost as much as my Fine Art dissertation, for which two whole semesters were allocated.  This is going to be a big shift in my own artistic practice, although I've been looking for ages for an excuse to get away from the "landscape painter" pigeonhole I seem to have got myself into (although my paintings and prints aren't literal/traditional views of the countryside).  Recently I've been trying to incorporate human elements into my work, albeit indirectly, so I hope that by the time this project comes to fruition (if it does!) the shift will have become a gentle slide. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I came away from our meeting last week full of ideas, and really keen to get going.  My sketchbook is filling up rapidly - all those articles and postcards I stockpiled "just in case". The main motif of the project is to expand the experience gained by students, to make them more aware of the societal/cultural aspects of "the body" in all its manifestations and deepen their understanding of its structure and function.  Their course is already designed so that they do a lot of drawing -my job will be to enhance this, and get them to think outside the "scientific" box into which their intensive training thrusts them.   It's a truism to say that all professions/occupations etc. come with their own mindset and language.  Part of a training programme always includes training people to think in a particular way - useful for them to do the job properly, but potentially restricting if applied to daily life.   Anyone who chooses our module is going to have to be prepared to attempt a different kind of thinking (me too I suppose).Our provisional list of topics includes investigation of structure, aspects of illustration, life, death, gender,  the Universe and Everything.  We might as well be comprehensive...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 It's been an interesting few days: went to Tate Liverpool to see the Glenn Brown exhibition - nine rooms' worth of paintings.  It took us all day to go round, with a break for lunch - a very intense experience.  Apart from all its' other attributes, the work is a masterclass in the manipulation of perception. Back home, looking at my old copy of "Eye and Brain" by RL Gregory I realise how out of date it is.  Ditto Gombrich's Art and Illusion?? Must find something more up to date - if I can understand it. Spent part of the weekend talking about medical education with friends -  a GP and a just-qualifying new medic. They were enthusiastic about the idea of incorporating "proper" drawing into the student curriculum.  When I got home I found an email from a colleague saying much the same things, so I hope I can deliver the results.I also received an email image of  a tiny votive figurine excavated locally by the husband of a friend.  It dates from the 1st century AD, and they've called it Colin (don't know why).  It's an amazing object - sorry; he's an amazing  character - and I've spent all afternoon trying to capture the essentials of his appearance and charisma.  He has a rather square jawline and his nose has gone giving him the appearance of a prizefighter (or gladiator?)  Also, his feet and lower legs are missing.  So far he's generated a couple of pages in the sketchbook and some unsuccessful monoprints, but I think he's got star potential. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I have just spent most of the afternoon composing a list of topics for students to choose from - not easy.  Don't want too much detail at this stage, and I'm hopeless at educationspeak. (And artspeak too, if it comes to that.)  I thought "The Skull beneath the Skin" sounded quite snappy for one of the headings, even if it's not original.  Anyway, the list has gone off for comments, so that's that bit done.  The rest of the afternoon was spent surfing "medical humanities"/ art/ anatomists/ museums.  The16th century anatomist Andreas Vesalius is featured on a website called "Famous Belgians"... ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I've been trying to find out a bit more about votive figurines, but can't find anything that exactly corresponds to "Colin". What is he holding in his right hand, and why doesn't he have any feet? At the moment I don't know what sort of proxy sacrifice he represents - it would be nice to think that he has some healing role, but of course he might be a good luck token, or something totally unpleasant.  At least he still has his head.  I don't know exactly where he was found, but according to the OS map there's a holy well in the same area - although nominally Christian, a lot of these places are in fact much older.  I think I might take a trip out to his (approximate) finding place tomorrow, do some drawing and look around a bit.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 The research continues.....I suffered a medium-sized panic last week while surfing "medical humanities" - its' proponents seem to have carved out a real niche for themselves, and while it's great that there's a journal and a proper discipline to the study it makes it a bit forbidding for "outsiders".  I don't have a qualification in Medical Humanities; there are lots of people out there who have degrees in the subject (I know some of them); am I poaching on their territory? etc etc.  But calm down - what I'm actually being asked to do is to teach a drawing-based module to medical students, I can certainly do that and I wouldn't have been asked if I wasn't thought to be up to it (would I?....here we go again..) Had a lovely talk on Wednesday with my old tutor from art school:  she's very supportive and has made several very helpful suggestions.    On her advice I  have downloaded the QAA benchmark on fine art teaching - it looks surprisingly approachable, but then I haven't read all of it yet.  She reminisced about doing life drawing with a 4H pencil - don't fancy it myself.  Henry Tonks  was keen on it too, and he was a surgeon as well as professor at the Slade.  Now here's a whole topic on its' own: medics as illustrators: name doctors who were also artists, artists who were anatomists, etc etc. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Earlier this week, I went out to the general area where Colin the votive figure was found, and did some drawing around the holy well on the cliff.  A remarkable spot, up among the sheep and the ravens; surrounded by wild flowers and attacked by the wind.  Saw an amazing beetle hiding in a tiny scrape in the grass - my insect book identifies it as the male Minotaur beetle (appropriately classical). It has wonderful "horns", and armour.  See image on wildaboutbritain.co.uk.  Can't work out how to set up a link in this box.The holy wells in this part of the country have a long history, and some bear the signs of being looked after well into modern times.  This one is reputed to cure "mental problems", and required a proxy sacrifice in the shape of two quartz pebbles.  The whole thing is open to the sky, and the chambers are silted up.  Water still flows out, down the pasture and into the sea. It's a bracing experience getting to it, and the view is really uplifting.  I certainly came away feeling cheered and relaxed (even though I didn't have the requisite pebbles to offer.)Having polished off "The Making of Mr. Gray's Anatomy" by Ruth Richardson, I am now tackling her "Death, Dissection and the Destitute".  It's rather hard going - not because of her writing, which is good and clear - but because of the subject matter, which is extremely grim.  However, I shall persist in the name of Research. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I've just got back from a really good, thought provoking all-day symposium at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham, timed to coincide with the Wrexham Print International 2009.   There was a particular focus on the role of artists' blogs with Andrew Bryant from a-n and Pam Newall and Don Braisby from the Regional Print Centre.  The general consensus among bloggers was that blogging can really help your practice as an artist, although it is definitely addictive and can sometimes be another layer in the woven fabric of prevarication, stopping you from actually getting down to making the work (someone suggested that "incubation" was a better word than "prevarication" in this context.)  Well, anything which encourages reflection and consideration is a useful tool providing it doesn't paralyse you completely - a "good servant, but a bad master".   I've been thinking about "good" and "bad" drawing lately, and whether there's any such thing.  It's difficult to define:  there are so many things to take into account, so much art-historical and philosophical and post-modern baggage.  An art tutor once said to me "A good drawing should look like a battlefield", but does it follow that a drawing which doesn't look like a battlefield is "not good"?  Surely not.  See last year's Jerwood Drawing Prize.  See Raphael.   I got out my old sketchbooks to find  examples of "bad" drawing for the blog:  what struck me more than the quality of the work (mostly OK) was the consistency of my interests over the last forty years.  Alright, more imaginative/imaginary/illustrative stuff when I was a teenager, but pages of little figures drawn from observation - some of them not too bad at all (and it's amazing how scanning them into the computer improves them!).  But some nasty overpencilled landscapes done at the age of fourteen.  Tut, tut.     ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Well, hubris has struck in the shape of an Internet fault just when I was getting used to having Broadband - nay, relying on it.  Now I'm in the Public Library with 3 minutes to go and too much to say.  I had a fascinating visit to the Welcome Institute in London at the beginning of the week, more of which later as there isn't time now -  So, just a scrap about drawing  www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/tracey      has a discussion section about good/bad drawing which is worth looking at, although a bit scanty on contributions.  There's also an archive of found drawings - I have lots of these, really must get them organised, do something with them (along with all the other things which should have been done by yesterday)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Well, at last I'm back online - possibly permanently???  So far, the tally is: a series of engineers' checks on the line, another series of engineers' checks on the line, "oops, could it be the router?".  It was - twice.  So I'm now on the third router, and ... fingers crossed, so far so good. Since I've been away, (and I've been away properly, too) several things have happened.  Firstly, I've lost track of where I am with the project.  Must sort this out.  Secondly, the drawing "Homage, KSH" has been accepted for a national travelling exhibition - http://www.linesandstrata.wordpress.com -and that's another of my drawings at the top of the 2006 archive page!  Thirdly, there seems to be a bit of publicity about life drawing on the television at the moment...  I don't have a TV, but I did read about Artangel's project in a friend's newspaper while I was on holiday.  It was discussed on Radio4 on Saturday http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qh6g. Odd to hear apparently outward-looking media types retreating into the old "I can't draw for toffee" stereotype.  They seemed still to be suffering from the effects of school art classes:  drawing-as-a-competitive-sport; your work isn't good enough to be put up on the wall; if it doesn't look like the model then it isn't a good drawing.  I think I need to see if I can download the Channel4 programmes & find out what it was all about.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I've just watched one of the "Today's Nude" programmes on my computer via Channel4 O.D. (Now there's an unfortunate name - confirms my impression that too much television is bad for you).  A very strange experience it was too, but great to hear Maggi Hambling talking about drawing.  She used the "drawing as battlefield" analogy, but made it sound more like good sense - she didn't say that a drawing should look like a battlefield, nor did she use the term to define a "good" drawing. Not being used to the TV these days (I got rid of mine years ago, when I couldn't stand it any more) I had forgotten about the adverts.  Just when M.H. is telling us that drawing is about energy and total concentration - cut to inane fizzy drink/breakfast cereal commercials.  Perhaps it was purposely ironic?  There were several moments when the process of TV filming was apparent - deliberate shots of the camera, a less deliberate shot of someone's left knee and shoulder appearing round a corner, and a view of the camera track making an interesting line in the final shot.  But then there was the short intro. piece (probably a trailer, but you can't trail at the front, can you?) complete with slinky panning shots and the cliché of the dropped dressing gown.  Who were they trying to entice in to the programme?  I had to "sign" a declaration to say that I was over 16 before I could watch it. I played along for a bit, got out my sketchbook and drew from the computer screen.  But oh how boring compared with the real thing - flat, flat, flat.  And the image is SO SMALL.  I stopped trying to draw, and wrote "what is the point" in big letters; but of course the programme isn't aimed at professional artists.  If you've never drawn from life before it would be fascinating, and a good incentive to get out to a real life class.  And then up piped dear Maggi H. to say exactly that.  Ah, great minds think alike. Somewhat subversive of her, too, considering the context.  (As noted by the Radio4 critics; see yesterday's blog.)  It would have been interesting to have more shots of M.H. drawing (could have done with more of her opinions too).   And what a model that Matthew Oghene is:  I hope they paid him more than the measly minimum wage the models get around here. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/life-class-todays-nude/4od#2926659... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519   So it really is more than a month since I posted on this blog.  What on earth have I been doing with my time?  It's sad, but sometimes staying alive is a full time job on its' own. Still, staying alive is pretty good. I did a bit of investigation into attitudes to life drawing:  comments on the Channel 4 website, responding to the televised life classes, were typical. Most posts were positive, with many people resolving to go to “proper” life classes – so in that respect the programmes were a success.  The negative comments were predictable and concentrated on the issue of nudity on daytime television rather than anything to do with drawing: “boring”, “a ploy to increase ratings”, “disgusting; shouldn’t be allowed; my children might see it”.  I can’t imagine that my parents would have objected, even in the 1950s (the Lord Chamberlain wouldn’t have permitted it in those days, of course).  On a medical forum, where the comments were mostly favourable and certainly not outraged by Nudity on Television, I found a link to the Sun newspaper.  The Sun asked for comments in its’ usual “cor phwoar” tone – and the comments almost all said “so what? No big deal”.  I suppose Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells reads the Telegraph.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519   I went down to London (and it is "down", not "up", from here) last week ostensibly to see the William Orpen drawings at Tate Britain.  Emerging from Euston Station feeling a little punch-drunk from travelling two hundred and odd miles in just under two hours, much of it at an angle of 10 degrees from vertical, I staggered across the road to the Wellcome Institute for a rest.  (Good café, London prices; reasonable bookshop).  The "Exquisite Bodies" exhibition was still on - I'd completely forgotten about it. The following is an extract from a longer piece of writing: Subtitled "the Curious and Grotesque Story of the Anatomical Model", the display wobbles uneasily between the clinical, didactic or "scientific" models and the sensationalist, allegedly educational, travelling fairground shows. The elements of voyeurism inherent in the exhibition are approached only obliquely, by reference to the historical "freakshow".   Many of the anatomical models on display are smaller than life-size and not desperately accurate, and therefore relatively undisturbing.  However, the wax model of a dissected head by Joseph Towne carries an impact way beyond its' intended use for anatomy students.  It seemed to me to be pathetic, even tragic, modelled with an almost tender intimacy.  Yet it was shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and so has a long history of public exposure at odds with its' ostensible function as a teaching aid within the closed circle of medical education.  And, and, and.... it raises so many unaddressed questions:  who was the original subject of the model? how did he die? (not obviously hanged, so presumably a pauper, these being the contemporary legal sources of bodies for dissection).  Did anyone visiting the Great Exhibition recognise him?  Why should a simulacrum of death be almost as disturbing as the real thing? is the distress due to the cultural associations of head & brain, brain & mind, identity and personality?  and on and on..   http://www.wellcomecollection.org/exhibitionsandevents/exhibitions/Exquisite-Bodies  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I've had a lot of emails forwarded from The Drawing Research Network this week: the topic is "drawing exercises", and several suggestions have been quite interesting.  I liked one suggestion which treated the drawing of a simple line almost as a meditation, although when I tried it it seemed a bit ordinary.  Probably needs to be done v e r y  s l o w l y on a large piece of paper.  During a recent workshop with Sandy Sykes at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham we did  a series of warm-up exercises which, although somewhat off the wall, produced some intriguing results.  Starting with sheets of paper loosely assembled into book format, we drew under instruction: first a simple shape, "make it bigger, make it smaller, turn the page,  give it some socks" (really!) "wash the socks, give it some friends" and so on and so on until the book was full.  The idea was to use the drawings as a basis for what might be called free-form print making.The results were varied, interesting and entertaining. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93656&id=432... I don't know whether the whole exercise would be very popular with a class of intensely serious science students, but I think something similar would be worth considering.  It's important to loosen up physically and focus mentally if you're going to get any proper work done.  However, bitter experience suggests that a lot of hobby artists don't like preparatory excercises.  I'm not sure why.  I wonder if they consider it distracting from the real business of producing a "proper drawing" that they can sign & date, and show to their friends.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Looking out of my living room window, and thinking about the book I'm reading on Peter Lanyon I appreciate his comments about the landscape and the figure. "long drawings...there may be a stretch right across a thigh and a leg which would lead to paintings of very long landscapes..."  The lines of the old field boundaries lie in slow curves on the hillside, throwing shadows across the fields in the evening light. The effect is sensous, "pleasing to the senses", and intriguing, hinting at things hidden under the surface the sinews and muscles of the land.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 All quiet on the project front at the moment - the SSC briefs are submitted and now I have to wait to find out whether anyone actually selects one of my topics to study next year. It took me a whole day and a half to get four SSCs written complete with "learning outcomes" -so they'd better get picked.  (and who on earth coined the phrase "learning outcome" in the first place?  a classic example of using two words when one will do.  Two words presumably have twice the impact of one word.  Discuss, writing on one side of the paper only.) (Sorry, been reading "1066 and All That" again.  Still funny after all these years, and many of the little line drawings by John Reynolds are tiny masterpieces).... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Back to life classes after the half term break.  The "proper" model failed to turn up (again - and it's not always the same model, either) and (again) one of the tutor's friends stood in.  These "temps" are always really good, stand or sit very still and have interesting shapes, but - being amateurs - don't take their clothes off.  I don't find drapery very exciting to draw, never have, and it doesn't help my anatomy revision.... Still, I sat on the floor below the dais to get some interesting foreshortening, and then wandered around drawing the surface anatomy.  Reviewing these last drawings today, I'm struck by the resemblance between the shapes underlying the upper arm and the landscape drawing posted earlier; how the light flows over the surface planes, delineating the underlying structure.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Life classes again, and this time a model who teaches Yoga.  She held the pose for two forty minute sessions without a break: I tried it at home later and suffered acute discomfort over the greater trochanter of both hips (the sticky-out bony bit at the outer edge of the top of the thigh -  it's quicker to use the anatomical term).  It's seriously difficult to get the gesture of the pose correct when the body is contorted:  in fact, some of the limbs don't even look human. The nature of the pose raises some questions about the relationship between artist and model:  we're all concerned about the model's comfort to start with, but then get engrossed in our work and run the risk of forgetting the person on the dais.  The subject becomes an object if you're not careful - satirised nicely in "The Horse's Mouth" by (Mr.) Joyce Carey when sculptor's model Lolie eventually succumbs after days of posing in the nude for her husband, Abel:  "The diagnosis at the hospital was exposure, shock, displacement of the caudal vertebrae and malnutrition.....Abel's fussing about his lump of nonsense [the stone] and the trouble with Lolie, did not, as I had feared put me off my work." (from the Penguin edition1978, © the author 1944) Some similarities with the alleged indifference of medics to patients? Shurely not, as they say in Private Eye.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 A discussion on life drawing, anatomy & art has just started on the Drawing Research Network: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A1=ind... Contributers, so far, are enthusiastically in support of observational drawing from life as a valuable activity at all levels.   Well, they/we would be, wouldn't they/we?  The drawing versus no-drawing debate is probably set to continue for ever, a bit like the "painting is dead" debate. I don't think there's any doubt that you don't need to be able to produce Victorian Art School style drawings in order to be an artist, and probably the academic, 5H pencil, drawing from plaster casts for a year method of teaching did enough to kill off drawing for ever.  The fact that it didn't do so shows that the need to draw, or make marks, is deeply ingrained in the human brain.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Some interesting correspondence by email has produced the following link to a fascinating website hosted by Loughborough University:  http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/AHRC/index.h... Too many issues to start analysing them one by one here.  Lots of things to think about at leisure.  Our attitides to our own bodies and those of others are so complex... does it all boil down to some basic need for privacy? Why?  memo to self:  look up theories on the development of ideas of "personal modesty".  Likely to be somewhat fanciful? certainly Very Cultural.   At the Life Class yesterday the model was posing (unclothed) "in public" for the first time, and the pose was obviously arranged with this in mind.  The tutor seated him on a padded box with a cloth backdrop - relatively comfortable, and no draughts.  The pose also effectively concealed the young man's genitalia and meant that he had no-one seated behind him, out of his range of vision and likely to cause him more unease. Downside - one pose for 2 hours (including tea break).  The big problem with this particular class is that most people want a nice drawing to take home, and veto any warming up exercises, short poses or anything seditious which might be additionally challenging. Another memo to self:  remember this is a public blog, and keep rude remarks to a minimum. But I can't spend two hours with dry media on one piece of A1 paper without running the risk of producing something tight and overworked.  (most other folk are using 2B pencils and A4 max.)  So I'm usually up and down stepladders, sitting on the floor, walking round the room and generally making an exhibition of myself; but yesterday I didn't want to worry the model ...   Why do I keep going?  a question of travelling distance, I'm afraid, particularly at this time of year when the waterlogged roads have turned to sheet ice. But I am on the lookout for something a bit more challenging, if it's not too far away.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Some good news about the project, even though the SSCs haven't actually started yet (so we don't know if anyone will choose them):  we have been asked to attend a conference in Truro.        "CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN SURGERY, PATHOLOGY, THE HUMANITIES & THE ARTS -   relationships between surgery, surgical culture and the arts and humanities, or the wider theme of the ‘pathological’ and the  ‘normal’ at  the levels of biological systems, culture (and history), societal organization and networks, or the interpersonal and intrapersonal. " This promises to be interesting, and also Fun as I worked in Cornwall in the 1970s.  Mind you, those were the days when the county closed for the winter at the end of October, and didn't open up again until Easter.  I don't suppose it's like that now.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Pretty quiet on the Anatomy & Drawing front over the last month.  I have not been to life classes since before Christmas and am unlikely to get to any until the weather improves. This is due to a combination of a very dead car, over a foot of snow and the lack of public transport home after 6.15p.m. The bus service is great during the day, but there's nothing from the nearest town to my village at night.  I have had an email today with the abstract for the meeting in Truro - I do appreciate someone else writing it for me!  As there are three of us involved in the presentation it shouldn't be too stressful. My only recent anatomical experience has been discussing the position ("relations" in the jargon) of the Plantaris muscle with relations/relatives, one of whom may have ruptured said muscle.  I'm not sure I remember anything about it.  My ancient copy of Gray's Anatomy describes it as "sometimes double and at other times wanting...(it) is the rudiment of a large muscle, the tendon of which in some of the lower animals is inserted into the plantar aponeurosis (bottom of the foot):  in man it is an accessory to the Gastrocnemius..".  The accompanying illustration looks like one of the originals by Henry Carter.  I'm waiting to hear from the publishers whether I can post a copy of the illustration (from the 1935 edition, but presumably still under copyright).... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 As may be guessed by the long interval between posts, I have had other things on my mind lately, but suddenly the long-anticipated but not really expected deadlines are unnervingly very close at hand.  Next week we have the "workshop"  for tutors in Medical Humanities, then the course itself starts...and I still haven't managed to find a life model in the area.  On a more reassuring note, several students have expressed an interest in the modules - so here's hoping that we will actually have something to talk about at the Association for Medical Humanities conference in the summer. And the "Lines & Strata II" exhibition (including my drawing "Homage") has opened in Denbigh. http://linesandstrata.wordpress.com/lines-strata-2...    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Still no success in finding a model for life classes in the Medical School..... in fact, I've had no success in contacting people who might be able to tell me where to find said life model. If any of those I've contacted are reading this blog to check up on me:  I really am genuinely & honestly an artist, and I really am looking for a life model for legitimate purposes.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 The summer expedition to Truro for the Association of Medical Humanities conference is taking shape:  our paper has been accepted, and the booking form (& cheque) have been sent.  I've booked the accommodation and inspected the available rail fares...could be expensive.  Anyway, it looks as though it will all actually be happening, and my computer keyboard is running red-hot at the moment. But no life model yet.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Success at last - a genuine contact with a potential life model for the medical school.  Thanks to MB & IM.  And is often the case, when something is successful it's also relatively straightforward, leaving you wondering why you didn't sort it out ages ago. Tomorrow I'm off to the Clinical Education Centre for a "Humanities Workshop" afternoon.  It promises to be interesting as I've no idea what it will involve.  I can't help remembering my little nephew's very first school report, which read (under the heading "Humanities")  "James has a lot to learn".  At the age of 5.  There's a surprise then.  I confess it has left me a little sceptical about the use of the term  - humanities for 5 year olds?  This was in the mid-eighties, so perhaps there was a fashion for pretentiousness in primary education at the time.  Aforesaid nephew seems to have survived the experience.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Last week we had a "workshop" at the Clinical Education Centre to discuss the Project.  An interesting mixture of people assembled:  psychiatrists, a musician, historians from various disciplines, a librarian, haematologist  (and one ex-haematologist). As usual, the medics did most of the talking during the discussion periods.  I suppose a certain amount of "outgoing-ness" - not quite extroversion, but a carefully assembled appearance of confidence - is acquired during a clinical career, and is not necessary for the more sheltered groves of Academe.  (can't do the grave accent, sorry).  Or perhaps we/they just talk too much. Other subjects covered by the SSCs include French Empire history, films and midwifery, music and emotion, Muslim civilisation and medicine, patient narratives and empathy..... Today I have been photographing my old life drawings in the village hall (no room at home, and besides, it's raining so there is virtually no light).  It's also warmer than it is at home.  I think I will have enough images for the basis of a short lecture on drawing/process - it just shows how important it is to hoard as much stuff as you can fit into the house.  Taking the photographs was greatly assisted by the use of my father's ancient camera tripod, manufactured before Healthandsafety came away from the workplace into consumer life.  The tripod is easy to erect but tends to take off fingernails when you collapse the telescopic legs. And now -  a long afternoon processing the lens distortion out of all the images...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I am now at the stage of having administration work to deal with, proving that the project really exists.  "Without paperwork, there is no reality.  Discuss." At the workshop last week, we were excited and beguiled by the wealth of online resources available to users of the University library.  Eighteenth century documents online!  Mediaeval documents online!!   As much fun as searching through the Stack Room, and considerably less smelly.  But of course, you need an Athens password, and mine expired years ago.  So today I have filled in the application form and hope to be accepted back into the ranks of official University hangers-on. I am hoping to be paid, too, but haven't had the paperwork for that yet.  I just hope I can remember where I left my P45.  Do they still call it that?  I have found old payslips from years back, but nothing recent. Must be filed elsewhere. On the floor, perhaps.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 We now have three students signed up for the first two blocks of the SSC - this doesn't sound much, but it's three times the maximum number for some projects, and represents a lot of work.  For some reason, due apparently to The System, students can't yet sign up for the third block.  This makes the logistics of organising tutorials and life classes somewhat tricky as we don't know who might be available, for what, or when. However, the idea seems to be catching on:  I've had an email enquiry from another project supervisor enquiring about sending his student to "my" life classes.  Will we be able to squash them in?  Watch this (rather small) space. Meanwhile, the Drawing Research Network has been running another debate about teaching drawing to adults, and drawing in general.  Several memorable ideas have surfaced, including the catchphrases "Keep Art Live", and "practise failure"; and the persistent theme to all these debates, which is that observation and process are far more important than outcome.  Yes, but....it's always heartening to produce a drawing that satisfies you as a drawing. http://www.drawing-research-network.org.uk  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I'm sitting here in the bitter cold & pouring rain, hoping that the weather will have improved by the time I have to start travelling to the Medical School at the end of the month.  I have not been into the studio for days - too cold - and my research into the local healing wells has staggered to a halt.  I am getting a bit fed up with working in the living room and grinding charcoal underfoot into the floor. I have just signed up to Wellcome Images: http://images.wellcome.ac.uk , which is a treasury of the beautiful and the bizarre.  Having retained some of the attributes of my previous existence in the NHS, I am allowed to view the clinical images.  The conditions attached to this privilege are strict (I previously typed "fiercesome" by mistake, which is quite accurate as well).  I am  now fretting that I will not be able to distinguish "clinical" from "ordinary" images, and will inadvertently breach the Terms & Conditions.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 What a difference the weather makes to the human condition...  last week I managed to get back into my studio (a.k.a. the garden shed) for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, dodging the awakening queen wasps and actually making a start on some work.  Today I have been out all afternoon drawing at the local holy well (not to be confused with Holywell, which is not quite so local).  A really tranquil and restful spot. Thoughts about the SSC are less tranquil, as there is still no sign of a contract.  However, we're all meeting up again next week to introduce ourselves to our prospective life model, and I'm also hoping to meet the students.  I hope they realise what they're letting themselves in for - I hope someone's told them that there will be a lot of research, and drawing and thinking involved (worry, worry, worry....).... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 We have four broad headings for our topics:  Illustration/explanation; Art & Illness; Imaging the body; Death, art, culture & medicine.  Two of the students have chosen to examine the role of illustration in explanation, so I went to my local G.P.'s surgery to see what sort of patient information leaflets were available.  To my amazement, the few leaflets available contained no illustrations at all - just a few photographs of cheerful faces, and a lot of very dense text.  The asthma leaflet did at least have a picture of a couple of inhalers - which turns out to be about as much illustration as was available on a selection of websites dealing with the condition.  (To be fair, there were some video clips including several in British Sign Language, which looked pretty scary).  This is all fine, providing you a) have access to the Internet, and/or b) can read closely packed type.  There's certainly a lot of scope for an illustrator in this particular field, I think. I think my GPs must feel the same, as they have tacked up two excellent, beautifully drawn & coloured A1 posters showing the effects of smoking and of high cholesterol.  Not very cheerful, perhaps, and one of them contains the facsimile of Henry Gray's signature - he wrote the text for the Anatomy book, but Henry Carter did the illustrations.  Carter is very definitely an unsung hero.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I've had a kind & sympathetic email from the Wellcome Trust explaining how to distinguish "clinical" from "other" images - very reassuring. So that's alright, then. However, I'm not doing so well with a separate copyright enquiry to A Publisher, although I have now had an automated reply with links to the website.  Following these, I thought I had found an article by Gray (of Gray's Anatomy) until I realised that it was published 14 months after his death....and they didn't have to wait for peer review in those days.  Turns out to be by another Henry Gray (Croly).  Ah well, never mind; and I could have had a look at it if only I had my Athens password.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Just back after an exhilarating trip to the Medical School for the final pre-project meeting.  We've met our model, who turns out to be a talented artist in her own right - her planned research project relates to the physiology of drawing, so she will have a really positive impact on the project.    We've also met two of the first three students, who are keen and interested, and have already done a lot of drawing. Excellent.   The dates and times of the drawing classes are arranged, the first tutorial is booked and we should be straight off the starting blocks next week. While I was waiting in the foyer (having mistakenly arrived half an hour early) a batch of students emerged from the examination hall.  I picked up fragments of conversation  "...what about the woman with bronchospasm?..". "...and I completely forgot about E. coli...." ; Alan Bennett meets Harold Pinter.  Although I have to admit that they all looked a bit young, I was reassured by their general tidiness and air of intelligence.  I hope we looked fairly intelligent in the early 70s, but we certainly weren't that well dressed.  Afghan coats, bell bottoms and very, very long hair for both sexes.  O tempora, o mores.  And they don't do Latin at school any more, either.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I am coming up for air after the first teaching session of the module..... Got off to a good start, when I arrived to find that a very smart tutorial room (complete with PC) had been booked for my exclusive use for the afternoon, and that a visitors swipe card/ID had been arranged for me.  Unfortunately, although it got me through one set of double doors, the card didn't get me into the anatomy department or into the room allocated for the life classes as these are "restricted areas".  Ah well, you can't have everything. Then, a good one-to-one session with our first student who has decided to investigate the role of "graphic medicine" in communication between patients and doctors -which is great, as I don't know much about it, but I know a man who does: http://graphicmedicine.org The first life class probably a success, although whether I'm the best judge of that is debatable, since I did a lot of talking and general exhortation and hopping around, and assume, since I was on a self-induced high, that everyone else felt the same.  Anyway, everyone seems very keen, and they've promised to come back next week.  And I have had a lesson in thermostat management, so should be able to improve the ambient temperature for the model.  20.5degrees C. may be fine if you're wearing the normal complement of clothing, but it ain't if you're standing stock still without a stitch on....... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Slightly less frenetic this week, as I am learning to pace myself and consequently not as "high" as I was after the teaching last time.  I have always found teaching an exhausting business; more of a performance than a simple academic exercise.  Medics learn from a very early age to cope with speaking in public - sometimes in front of huge audiences in  seemingly vast lecture theatres (sometimes in foreign parts, with your own image projected behind you as if at a political rally).  Not everyone enjoys it, but somehow we get through it:  my coping strategy involves assuming a (probably highly annoying) super-confident extrovert persona, leaping about as if I had St. Vitus' Dance and trying to make people laugh.  Sad, really.  And very tiring.  But they do call it a Lecture Theatre, after all. The life classes are proceeding in a satisfactory manner, and the drawings are getting better and better.  There's still a bit of reluctance to move away from the black line all around the form, but everyone is doing much more looking, and they are looking more critically and productively. My student, Y.L., has decided to investigate the topic of explaining a common cancer to the "target group" using a graphic format.  Cue much discussion of the role of images vs. text, whether the provision of information can reduce anxiety, and how best to do this.  Yet again, most of the available Patient Information Booklets give precedence to text over explanatory images.  memo to self: must find out more about literacy rates & geographical variation thereof. Arriving back home, I have remembered to vote - telling myself as ever that people died so that I could vote, and it's an insult to them if I don't do it.  Not that anybody I ever voted for actually got elected..... Now the mist has descended on the hill, and visibility is down to about 100 yards.  A metaphor for modern politics?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Among other things, I am gaining an intimate knowledge of coffee shops and pubs along my route to the Medical School.  Opposite a smart little tea room in Audlem (great scones & pastry) stands a monument to a local doctor.  The inscription reads around four corners of the plinth, culminating in one of the best "so there" moments I have come across in a long time.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Another week passes..... "My" student is full of good ideas, and I'm expecting a draft of the graphic medicine page any day now. Numbers were down for the life class (have I frightened them away?  It's possible) but those who attended are improving so fast you can almost feel it.  We did the old exercise where you take 20 minutes to draw the whole model, take a fresh piece of paper & fold it into four equal sections (i.e. A1 down to A4), and then home in on a particular area of the model and draw that in one of the quarters.  Next, you focus down on a section of the same area and draw it to fill the next quarter. And so on until you end up with, say, a portion of a toe occupying the whole of the last A4 section.  A good way of learning all sorts of things including concentration. After the break (no tea -  the vending machine was out of order), the drawings were stronger and more confident - a result, I think, of the intense looking practised in the first half of the session.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Another week, another round trip of umpteen miles, and another excellent life drawing session.  The attendance was down a bit this week (to put it mildly), but this is attributed to exams for 2nd year students, and essay deadlines for 3rd. year students.  One poor soul has had to expunge 1,500 words from a 3,000 word essay due to a misunderstanding by Someone in Authority about what counted towards the word count. (Not, I hasten to say, for an Anatomy & Art SSC.) I am anticipating the receipt of the first essay (deadline tomorrow, 12midday) and will then have to get down to assessing it according to some pretty strict criteria.  This may not be Fun.....  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 The first block is over; the second begins.  Two students this time, who have already decided what they want to do. The life drawing session was better attended, which was a relief.  I am assured that other waifs and strays will return once exams are over. Having finished my first set of marking, I was flattered to receive an email asking if I would care to "second-mark" essays selected for distinction/honours grades.  I then realised that the message was part of a group mailing, and probably not really, really intended for newbies like me.  But it was jolly nice to be asked - thank you, Sharon.  As it's the end of the month, I might also get paid.  Whoopee.  My only other paid employment this month has been a two-day demonstration of Iron Age textile techniques to 8-11 year olds on Anglesey.  That would probably have been a whole project blog on its' own if I'd had enough notice, but I stepped in at the last minute to help out, so, little preparation and few photographs.  And I can't really link it into the Anatomy & Art project; although, it might connect into the ideas of healing wells, and things hidden and revealed in the landscape.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 We're now just over half way through the SSC block, and it's difficult to remember a time when I wasn't commuting weekly to the Medical School.  The journey is judged nicely - no need to get up too early; feed chickens, feed cats, water tomatoes, check email & set off with an hour to spare (time allotted for lunch).  Arrive at 1.31 and pay for parking permit - this is valid for 4 hours and as parking is free after 5.30 and the penalty for not paying up to that time is horrendous, I don't fancy running the risk of a large fine for the sake of a a couple of minutes.....it has been known to happen, and stories circulate of the death and destruction visited upon transgressors.  Then into the Medical School for a cup of tea at the refreshment bar and thence to the tutorials.  Half an hour or so spare for reading, or another cup of tea, and then into the Life Class.  This week, the School has been setting up for something variously referred to as OSSIs or OSCIs.  My reading of John le Carré novels suggested that Ossis were East Germans, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, but somehow this didn't seem to be the right interpretation of the acronyms.  Turns out that it's what used to be known as "Clinicals", that is, examinations of students' clinical acumen using real patients.  Most of these "patients" are old hands, almost professionals, with a vast understanding of their medical conditions and a long experience of Clinicals.  They are often happy to drop broad hints about their diagnosis & treatment, although I did hear of one who replied persistently along the lines of "that's for you to find out".  The student endured this for an hour, and failed the exam. Anyway, as a result of the OSSIs, all the examination couches had been removed from the room we use for life classes.  So: nowhere for the poor model to lie down.  But they had left us the chairs, so that was all right.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Week 8 of 12. The second block is about to finish, and the essays will be handed in on Friday.  Having marked them, I will also have the portfolios to assess, under the general heading "use of learning resources".  The marking proforma has one or two idiosyncracies:  everything is marked on a scale from 1 to 7, including Attendance.  A mark of 6 is in the "Honours" bracket, and 7 earns "Distinction".  One could fantasise about a student earning Honours for attendance, despite being hopeless at everything else.  Fortunately for the future of the Health Service, one or two other things are also taken into account (clinical competence, for example). Our poor life model, who had a racking cough last week, was too ill to attend this week.  So, I modelled for a rather small class - although you will be relieved to know that I kept most of my clothes on.  As a consequence I am now totally exhausted, and seriously thinking of going to bed despite the glorious weather.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 A small disaster has struck (can you have such a thing as a small disaster?).  Having waited all day for two essays to be emailed to me, and beginning to think uncharitable thoughts about the non-emailers, I have discovered that the server I still use occasionally for medical-type emails has developed a glitch.  The error message reads: "The xxxx e-mail service is temporarily unavailable. This may be due to a brief inter-server commmunication problem or a restart of services following system maintenance or upgrade." [ha ha... brief??? it's been off all day] "The team will investigate the cause of this disruption and post an update if the outage [outage - good grief] is likely to be lengthy. Apologies for any inconvenience.  Further information may be available on the email update page." [it isn't] "Please click the back button of your browser to return to the previous page and try again in a few minutes." So, an assessment of the use of illustration in educating the public about obesity, and a study of the work of Jenny Savile in relation to Body Dysmorphic Disorder, are floating about in the ether.  Fortunately I have a plan B, and another email address, but it is a bit irritating, to say the least. It's now 10p.m., and still perfectly light outside, but a strange pink mist has descended.  I presume the rational explanation has something to do with a sudden drop in temperature, but have been watching Dr. Who on the iPlayer, and fear the worst.  An alien invasion is undoubtedly imminent, and I haven't marked those essays.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 The essays referred to on the last post (cue bugle music) have arrived and been marked.   The "portfolios" have been inspected and included in the assessment of "use of learning resources".  The last block has started, and the two new students are, I hope, up and running with their preliminary research - neuroanatomy imaging, and the work of Gunther von Hagens.  And hoorah! with three and a bit weeks to go, my University internet access has arrived.  Better late than never (I wonder how long it lasts for?) And the best news is that our life model is better and back at work.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Back from the Association of Medical Humanities conference in Truro - I arrived home at 1.30 a.m., way past my usual bedtime.  The conference closed a bit earlier than I expected, so I shelved my original plan to stay an extra night and travel home in a leisurely fashion during the daylight.  Unfortunately the bus to the railway station was late, and I ended up starting my seven-and-a-half hour train journey at a quarter to five in the evening.  Add to that the hour and a quarter to get home from the station at this end.....it was actually beginning to get light by the time I finally got to bed.  I am too old for this!! The conference, however, was a really interesting experience and a chance to meet a great diversity of folk from all over the world.  Conferences are often huge and rather lonely events:  no-one talks to you, and if you don't already know some of the delegates, you end up not talking to anybody for days.  At Truro, by contrast, everyone talked to everyone else all the time. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera so the only photograph I have is stuck on my mobile phone. We presented our paper on setting up the Art & Anatomy SSCs to a small and polite audience in a session which also included presentations by Christine Borland and Lucy Lyons, so we were in distinguished company. The highlight of the conference, for me, was the screening of David Cotterell's film "The Green Room", made during his residency with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Afghanistan.  The film was made in the Field Hospital as the surgical staff wait for an influx of wounded soldiers. Apparently calm & detached, it is charged with emotion and layers of meaning.  Superficially, one might think that nothing much is happening, just slow, almost choreographed movements to a soundtrack synthesised from unintelligible conversations and the sound of helicopter rotor blades.  In fact the suspense is palpable; the action is occurring elsewhere - either just out of shot or just out of focus at the back of the tent.  People move with deliberation, enhanced by the video technique: they are alert, anxious even, but prepared for tasks to which they have become accustomed.  At one moment, suddenly, someone laughs soundlessly and you realise that the tension has been released by a joke you can't hear. And, with unbearable poignancy, when a casualty does arrive and is wheeled to the back of the operating theatre, the surgical team still waiting for their patient turn slowly round to look, torn between concern for the new arrival and the anticipation of their own task. The claustrophic setting is not contextualised geographically or politically within the film (although this was done in detail during David Cotterell's lecture to the conference).  There is no overt ethical judgement:  we are asked to examine our own feelings about this particular situation and about warfare in general, and to reflect upon the paradox of healing in the context of conflict. http://www.cotterrell.com... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 The last week begins:  the last two students are preparing for their deadline, and I am preparing my invoice for expenses. I'm looking forward to seeing the sketchbooks, as I think they've been doing quite a bit of drawing in the anatomy department this time.  Curiously, although students have been filling their sketchbooks with lots of stuff, there hasn't actually been a lot of Anatomy done so far.  I suspect that, at one stage, the only person doing any of yer actual anatomical drawing was me.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 There are now fewer than 24 hours to go before the final deadline for the student essays, and a fortnight to go before our deadline for assessments: so, the end of the first year of the project is in sight.  No doubt much reflection & feedback will take place, and decisions will be made about including the Medical Humanities options in next year's SSCs.  From informal conversations last night at our end-of-module party, the students appear to have enjoyed themselves, and found the Humanities options useful as a whole. (Thanks to Lisetta for the excellent hospitality.  Once again, I forgot to take my camera, so no photographs.) An interesting piece of information from the A.M.H. conference in Truro:  apparently, medical students who study Humanities as part of their course are more able to cope with "ambiguity" once they qualify as doctors.  I wonder how you measure ambiguity?  By definition, one would expect it to be a bit tricky to pin down - is a situation ambiguous, or isn't it?  Or is it?  or perhaps not?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 As far as I can tell, the project is over for the present.  All the marking is finished, and I have even "second-marked" a couple of essays:  one by a student who came to the life classes, and one by a complete stranger whose SSC was with the Music Department.  Now I need to compose my feedback essay... There's an interesting looking event at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow on September 5th., but I'm not sure that I shall be able to get there.  The event is called "Flex and Ply", and the model on the poster has been painted with a dermatome map - a visual representation of the origins of the nerves supplying the different areas of skin (more or less) - which looks like a sort of stripey clown suit.  My attempts to copy & paste it into this blog have failed completely.  The information promises "wearable anatomies" as well as art work.  Use your imagination.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 As it turns out, we haven't quite finished.  One of the students is keen to polish his essay for publication - probably in the Journal for Medical Humanities.  If anyone knows whether there are any paintings by Jenny Saville in the West Midlands/NorthWest of England, I would be very grateful to hear about them as the student hasn't actually managed to see any of her paintings in the flesh (as it were)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 YEAR 2 I have been asked to do the Art & Anatomy SSCs for a second year, which is very pleasing.  This year we're planning to do two four-week blocks rather than 3, avoiding the clashes with exams which got in the way last year. Must get organised..... the trouble with being terminally untidy is that everything is lost under piles of paper.  I had no idea that being a full-time artist would generate so much Stuff.  At least I know where the SSC Stuff is, having rescued my briefcase last year from it's 20year sojourn in the loft... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 I had a nostalgic and productive research trip to Edinburgh last week, and came back with a full sketchbook, very sore feet and several hundred digital photographs.  As usual, several of the photographs are out of focus or impaired by "barrel distortion", requiring the attentions of PhotoShop. Should have taken my trusty Pentax, but it's heavy, doesn't have a case, and anyway, it's got a B&W film in it at the moment. Edinburgh has undoubtedly perked up since I lived there in the 80s, and it was greatly enhanced by the glorious Spring weather.  In the space of a day and a half I managed to cram in most of the public galleries in the centre of town, the Royal Scottish Museum (amazing "new" extension), some of the closer private galleries, and Surgeons' Hall. Surgeons' Hall is definitely for strong stomachs only - although it's now open to the paying public and has lots of new historical displays, the core of the museum is very much as I remember it on my previous visit decades ago .  On that occasion my father blagged his way in on our behalf as I was about to apply to Medical School, and the Porter said "I expect the children would like to see the monsters....."  No, actually.  But I was impressed by the paintings by Charles Bell, done to record gunshot wounds during the Peninsular War.  They're still there, and nowadays raise a whole load of questions.  Originally their purpose was didactic, much as projector slides or digital projections might be used today; issues arising from "consent" were not considered at the time they were made - the fact that the paintings are recognisable portraits would not have been a problem, but would have enhanced the authenticity of the image.  That Bell considered the subjects as individuals as well as examples is evident from his notes on their eventual fates.  Whether he ever intended the paintings to be on public display is another matter. Compared with his watercolours of similar matters, the oil paintings are dignified and restrained - "finished", to use the contemporary term.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 More musings from Edinburgh... When I lived in the Old Town, I never visited Greyfriars' Kirkyard - mainly because it was always full of tourists, but also because of the unbearable tweeness of the business of Greyfriars' Bobby (although I loved the Disney film as a child).  Last week, however, I was a tourist myself, and besides, the Edinburgh graveyards have a particular relevance to anatomy studies...  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Well well, well.... I was riffling through my emails late last Thursday, and nearly deleted one from Artists Talking News.  However, my eye was caught by the appearance of my own name as I scrolled down the page:  a nice person called EH Cocker has nominated this blog as the "Choice Blog" for March.  (I keep having to check the email which I didn't delete, in case there's a mistake, and it isn't me after all.) I'm very flattered ("made up", as they say around here on the Welsh side of Liverpool Bay) and not a little amazed to realise that there really is someone other than me reading this blog.  EHC has written such kind things too - do I recognise myself from the essay??  I'm not sure (blush, blush) but I'm glad I don't give the impression that I'm an opinionated curmudgeon.  So thank you very much, EH Cocker, and if there are any new readers as a result of your generous review, the new term starts on Tuesday 3rd. May...  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Week 1, Year 2 Here we go again... The new sessions have started, and the three students in Block 1 have some interesting ideas with great scope for development.  During the first week they are supposed to research widely and generate even more stuff which they can then refine during the following weeks while they write and revise their essays.  Ideas thrown into the melting pot of our first tutorial include the role of plastination in medical & public education, notions of the "freak show", exploitation, consent, the increasing public availability of medical images; feminism, infertility; artists' interpretations of their own bodily and mental distress; the anatomy and function of the brain; evolving cultural mores;;;; I delivered my expanded talk/woffle about drawing and was embarrassed to note how many of my own drawings I'd included.  My defence is that a lot of the images I'd wanted to use were "unavailable for copyright reasons" (mainly on the Tate Gallery website) - which reminds me that I still haven't heard from the publishers of Gray's Anatomy about using Henry Carter's illustrations.  I think I shall just go ahead, and see what happens.  The life classes got off to a good start (thanks, Trevor) and we had three returnees from last year.  Once again, I was impressed by the rapid increase in confidence evident in the drawings produced over the course of the two hours.  None of the new students had been to life classes before, although all of them aready show considerable ability.  So - I hope we will go from strength to strength, and with any luck I will remember to charge the battery in my digital camera before next week.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Half way through the second week, and another very successful life class, from my point of view anyway - I'm not sure that the model would agree entirely as he got very cold feet (literally).  Most of the students came back from last week, as well, which is always a good sign. Last week we started off doing the "tearing A1 paper into progressively smaller pieces" thing at the beginning, in order to allay the Terror Inspired by Large Pieces of Paper.  Within about 15 seconds of the students beginning to draw on the A5 size, it was obvious that they would have no trouble filling an A1 sheet.  This week they dived into the "entirely tonal drawing" exercise with enthusiasm, and mastered it immediately.  I am going to be stuck for things to challenge them with at this rate.  Perhaps I will actually have to teach some anatomy?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 A slight delay in posting this week as my computer is poorly.  It's been creaking for a while, but the stress of downloading various software add-ons to update Microsoft Office has proved too much.  In a sinister turn of events, I can't re-install any anti-virus software.  Is this analagous to the phenomenon seen in bacterial culture plates, where the colony of bacteria produces a defensive ring around itself so that nothing else can get in?  Do computer viruses do the same?  As there's yet another Bank Holiday coming up, I don't think I shall be able to get the computer sorted out locally, and my Family Computer Adviser is several hundred miles away and rushed off his feet. Last week's life class went with a swing again, although the ambient temperature was definitely a bit chilly.  Having mastered tonal drawing in 3 minutes in the previous class, the students had no trouble with negative space.  I only wish we could use messier media and be a bit more adventurous. The essays are also taking shape nicely, about which more later.  There was an intriguing found drawing on the wall of the seminar room, just behind the door.  Some sort of oscillating pencil mark, made by a very small person defying gravity?(or more likely something swinging from a chair).... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Another day, another dollar (I hope - haven't had a contract yet). We are at the half way point of this year's SSCs: the first module finishes tomorrow and the second begins next week, after yet another Bank Holiday.  Several students have vowed to return to the life classes, even though they are moving on to different things on Tuesday.  However, their loyalties must be to the next teaching block (anaesthetics, audiology, General Practice etc.), so it's debatable whether they will have time to travel, on public transport, to the Medical School after finishing at locations in other parts of the Potteries.  The life class produced yet more strong drawings, firstly from the model on the move, and then from a long pose.  The movement drawings were particularly impressive.  Feedback has been positive (to my face, at least!) with comments about the value of the classes in learning to look and see; the luxury of being able to spend 2 hours doing something quite different from medical study; and the benefits of experiencing a different kind of concentration and effort.  Medical Humanities continue to be regarded as a soft option in some quarters (academic as well as student), but the work put into these drawings surely contradicts that.  It ain't easy... An audit of last year's students has demonstrated that they were "normally distributed" within the ranks of academic achievement, and at least one has had work published as a result of taking the Medical Humanities option.  (I've forgotten whether the term "rank" is appropriate here - I do dimly remember having to rank results for statistical analysis, but it might have been for something different.  Anyway, I'm not trying to imply that they're smelly or rotten in any sense.) So on to the next phase, and new students to guide through the minefields of wordprocessing and charcoal manipulation.  (And a Happy 90somethingth Birthday to my father, who qualified in Medicine in 1942, and whose copy of Gray's Anatomy - now covered in trendy 1970s wrapping paper - has been worn to rags with 70 years of use)  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Block 2, week 3 (or 2 and a half, depending on how you count it.) I haven't posted anything recently as I'm rather running out of new and intelligent things to say.  The current batch of students has chosen interesting topics to write about (Death, culture & anatomy, and Neuroanatomy and illustration for patients) and everyone is doing really well at the life classes. There's a good, relaxed atmosphere in the classes which (I hope) suggests that people are enjoying the experience even if/when the actual drawing is proving frustrating. I may have said written this before, but drawing isn't always easy, and surely it's better to struggle and be successful in the end than to produce slick, stereotyped accuracy.  After all, if you could get it "right" first time, and every time, there wouldn't be much point in drawing anything more than once, or possibly twice.  The more you look, the more you learn (cliché, cliché). Our professional model was on holiday during the first week of the present Block, and one of the students from the last Block volunteered to pose - fully clothed, I hasten to add.  She claimed to have enjoyed it (I was giving her a lift home at the time, so she couldn't really have said anything else), and found it difficult - as expected - and enlightening - as hoped.  It is a strange experience to have people staring at you intently, and recording their thoughts about you graphically for you to inspect.  Somewhat analagous to being on the examining couch, rather than standing by it? No new drawings to add to the blog this week, but the bunting was out again on Dr. Bellyse's memorial in Audlem.  This proably wasn't anything to do with Dr. Bellyse himself of course, but it would be nice if it were.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 Block 2 is now (as of 12 midday today) officially finished, the essays have been handed in and the students are off to their next posting.  We managed to finish on a high after a slight blip in the life drawing last week.  As usual with these things, the attendance falls off towards the end as people realise they have more pressing things to do, so last week there wasn't anywhere to hide.  With only two students left in the class I think they were feeling a bit exposed and a slight crisis of confidence ensued.  I had been racking my brains (unsuccessfully) for a stratagem to get round this for the final week, but fortunately the class was back on form on Wednesday.  We have parted friends, although I did wonder, after last week.... We've been assessing the students' sketchbooks in the category of "use of learning resources", but the standard has been so high that it seems a shame to lose them under a catch-all heading.  I've suggested we could invent a sub-category exclusively for the sketch books, and this should be in use next year.  To my surprise, the idea seems to be popular with the students as well (based on a study group of two). I'm hoping that one of the students may submit an abstract for the Graphic Medicine conference in Leeds in November, although I think a certain amount of brachial manipulation (arm-twisting to you, guv) may be required.  Let's see what the essay looks like when it's finished, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  More info from http://www.graphicmedicine.org/  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 We've been given the go-ahead to mount an exhibition of student drawings in the Medical School later in the year.  This is going to call for a certain amount of long-distance organisation. First off, contact all participants to get permission to use their artwork.  Will they have thrown it away?  Myself, I'm drowning in a sea of paper & canvas at home, but I do have a home to keep it all in.  I remember the turmoil of moving from student flat to hospital residence and back, with the Mini loaded up to the level of the windows with Stuff.  Then I moved to my first job & bought a stereo (speakers, receiver, Garrard deck) and it was even worse.  At least an iPod doesn't take up much space. Next job:  design poster & invitations....... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519 The "Anatomy and Art" exhibition is now up, after considerable organisational problems.  Some of the students had indeed disposed of their work (sounds better than "thrown away", but that's what they did).  Another poor soul had had a disaster moving house, someone else has apparently dropped out of medicine completely, and others turned out to be untraceable (very odd, that.)  Add to all this the logistic problems I didn't have to deal with personally and it's amazing that the thing turned out as successfully as it did. I went in to the Medical School last week merely to reassure myself that all the drawings had arrived, and that I knew where everything would be on the dayof the show, and founc that most of the A1 sheets were so tightly rolled that it took two people to hold them open -- a problem since solved thanks to a large board and a lot of heavy weights.  Dr. Lisetta Lovett, co-ordinator of the Humanities SSCs, had undertaken the bulk of the organisation (and lived to regret it, I think) and also helped in the final selection and hanging of the work.  In the end, we mounted a modest but representative selection of students' drawings with a couple of pieces from members of staff who attended the life classes.  We also had room to feature some work on "Art & Wellness" from the Trentham Mews General Medical Practice and Treetops' Children's Hospice who participate in the Medical Humanities SSCs.  Compromises had to be made in view of the restricted display area - loads of space in the evenings but tightly packed with bodies during working hours.  Interesting to discover, too, that foyer lighting is not quite the same as gallery lighting.... The exhibition was opened by Ann Roach, a local artist, and was very well attended.  Mark Fahmy, a medical student who chose to go to the New Vic Theatre in Stoke for his Humanities SSC, performed an insightful monologue about mental illness.  The expected music didn't make an appearance, but the wine & canapés were pretty good.   Lisetta had the bright idea of suggesting that the drawings could be "sold" in aid of Operation Smile, a children's charity: the resulting crop of red dots would have done credit to a commercial gallery.   Very many thanks to all concerned, especially the students, Dr. Lisetta Lovett, and Mike Mahon, Fliss Dunn, Paul Clews and the Anatomy team for their help.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/523519