It has been a few months since I have written a blog post. As expected my studies have been dominating leaving very little time for the creation of new art works. My brain has been firing on all cylinders though and I just hope that the inspiration that I am soaking up at some point will be able to be translated in my art.
As I have been spending so little time in my studio, when I am there I can’t commit to anything very time-consuming. This in a way ends up being a kind of freedom as I just ‘go for it’ in terms of experimentation and materials. I’ve being producing little studies using the back of torn cereal and fruit packets as my surfaces, playing with collage, tape and acrylic paint.
I like the idea of using these normally thrown away materials in conjunction with these quick kind of throw-away mixed-media studies. There is a relevant but dynamic temporality about it all and feels like a groundswell of change.
It’s less of a blog today and more of a collection of thoughts in relation to some of my recent works.
Bursts of colour, bright scattered patterns, abstract shapes, the collision of photography, collage and paint.
This connects to that, the inbetween stretches its reach until it touches the other, moments overflow, stutter for a bit and then drop a level.
Semi recognisable figures hover and fade, double and repeat, hover and fade again.
Lines, diagonals push forth and change directions.
Acidic green sits against warm orange and yellow, light pierces the surface.
My mind will probably go faster but the making of art is likely to slow down. This is my expectation as I prepare to start my Masters of Research in Art: Theory and Philosophy at Central Saint Martins. My first lecture is next week.
The plan is to keep my studio practice going as much as I can although it won’t be easy as it is meant to be an intensive course. It will require a discipline to get myself to my studio in the first place but it’s important that I do as I’m hoping that my research will feed into and inform my practice and vice-versa.
As usual summer has interrupted my studio practice but I’ve made some progress over the last couple of weeks exploring my collage and paint endeavours. I have been enjoying working on my more simplistic work where I start with painting an acrylic ground and then follow it with collage. These works seem to have an energy and purity to them. There is something about the way the physical collage interrupts the paint and creates an opening that I would like to explore more.
In contrast to this I have also embarked upon mainly collage pieces which I shall be adding minimal paint to at some point with a view to playing with the connections between the shapes, light and shadows. This mainly focuses on interiors which I have deconstructed and then repeated bits of in places. These are more studies than finished works and as I work on them I am inclined to do all this digitally in future as I think the images lends themselves to be slick graphic works on paper (much like looking through the windows of a modern building).
I’m about to start a new body of work. This is always an exciting time as I anticipate the journey ahead and what surprises it might bring.
I’m currently preparing my surfaces – stretching, sealing and priming a number of small canvases. I don’t find this at all laborious. In fact is feels like an important part of the process and feels meditative in its nature.
This new work I intend to be a development from my abstract collages on paper I have been working on over the last few months. I will be using a similar approach for some of the work, plus also introducing aspects of work completed previously in terms of print transfer and oil painting combined.
As for subject matter, I will be using as my starting point some photographs I have taken recently where the object or objects in the photo are unclear. I have tried to capture the connections between things, the light, shadow, shapes and pattern so that the final photograph is a suggestion of something abstract and undefinable.
I plan to include some mark making within the final work whether it be painting or drawing. My intention is to try and push this more as a emotional and playful response to the abstract image. However I am unable to explain anymore than this as I just don’t know what might happen along the way.
The image shown is a photograph of mine that I’m likely to include in this new body of work.
I have just finished being involved in Open Studios in my ASC Studio complex in Kingston for the last 2 weekends. It was a busy time. Well over 250 people wandered into my little studio to view my work and have a chat. All sorts of people came and visited ranging from other artists, the occasional art enthusiast, couples looking to buy for their home and families curious to know what we are up to as well as get their kids (and dogs) out and about.
I spend a lot of time talking, explaining what I do and why I do it. I generally get a positive response. We do try and sell during our open studios but painters fare less well than print makers and ceramicists as our prices are naturally more expensive by nature of what we produce.
With this in mind, I had deliberately created some smaller collage works on paper, wanting to have some art more accessible to the general public who were just out on a wander and not out to make any larger financial investment.
It didn’t quite work out. The public was far too interested in my other work. I had many price queries and a couple of commission enquiries too but it just wasn’t in the public’s price range. I will say this now – I am not expensive. It is simply down to the expectations of the people visiting.
Should I perhaps have not displayed my major work and stuck to exhibiting just my ‘affordable’ collages? The trouble is I am not running a shop. I want to be able to have my main practice on show as it is who I am and what I do. I could always not sell anything and just work whilst people visit but the reality is it is very hard to get any work done with people wandering in and out. It also costs quite a lot to put on Open Studios, so clawing anything back financially is always appreciated.
I did manage to sell a few collages in the end, but ironically this was when my studio was so crowded, other visitors couldn’t get in the door properly, so they only had access to the collages at the end of the table. Ha!
We are meant to be trying to do another Open Studios in November. I’m not sure I will be able to participate as I will have just have started my Masters so imagine I will be in the thick of it. However, if I don’t open up, this will let down my colleagues in the other studios. What to do, what to do? I think I shall just not think about this until nearer the time. Actually I don’t want to be thinking about it at all. I want to be thinking about how to further develop my art practice.
