Sorry it has been a while. I have been busy working on my proposal for the degree show and the final document that we hand in which is our portfolio. I have been doing some new paintings but most of all I realize that to present on such a scale and produce a painting installation is a privilege I will probably never get again, I can imagine only exhibiting only a painting in singular in the future, to I really want to get it right and make sure the overall work is as good as it can be.
So I have been looking again at some paintings and reworking them just a little here and there, trying to move then on a little. I also have 3 new paintings, one using the ‘black’ small mdf board that was done a while ago.
I have been playing and testing with spray paint, in a more traditional graffiti way, but of course, i have lack of skill in this area and to put such imagery on a canvas is quite hard as graffiti is naturally much bigger given the medium. As such, I did 3 tests yesterday, and I feel one of them worked, the Anarchy symbol but this only works because I stopped being a graffiti artist and could not help but become a painter again and scrapped into the various layers of paint whilst they were still wet creating the vibrancy of the piece. I am really pleased with this work and its energy but spray paint, working in such a say is high risk and a know my limits. This experimentation also tells me that to incorporate spray paint into the walls or floor directly is not the way to go. It is not needed and would be far too large. So one painting using this technique is enough.
The neon signage which I tested on the studio wall has moved on a bit also. I was concerned when it came to the install that I would not get it right in the timescale and as such, I get an old MDF board and turned this into a simple painting, mimicking on a large scale the earler A4 gentle feminism text works. That way it all flows together. Once I had my board I added a white border, again to add a connection between the pieces and slowly connected the light to spell out WOMEN. I have changed it from woman to women to be more inclusive. So rather ironically, it has turned back into a painting which happens to have electric lights to it. It shows that original ideas and intentions morph as you go as you have to respond to what the work is telling you. I think this piece is almost there now. I may have to adjust the rope a little and I need to add mounts at the back but progress made.
I wanted to place an advert in the local paper the Sentinal to advertise the wedding dress as if it were a car but as this would cost me £27 and they may reject it anyway, I decided to just create a mock up and use the imagery of a car advert instead. It is a compromise but also an improvement on what I had. This will be displayed on pins behind the dress on the wall.
The painting that I have enjoyed doing most is SUBVERSION, an update on the Hollywood sign and really brings into conclusion all the issues I have been dealing with. Also, I am pleased with the large abstract areas and the flat ground sky. I can see my genuine development as a painter here.
I have perhaps one more painting left to do. We have 2 weeks in the studio left now and then we have to start the install. So I now need to work further on improving what I have and creating a model of the presentation for the exhibition.
I did test biting an apple and trying to seal it but I was not happy with the result so I have jettisoned that idea. Now is the time for honesty and ruthlessness in what is presented.
