Being good isn't always easy...

Ahh. What a week.

Since finishing my pieces for the exhibition last week, which doesn't even open for another 4 days, I've been really struggling to think of something to do next. Until now the exhibitions I have been part of have been at the end of the academic year, so I'm not used to having to plough on with work once they're out of the way! I have still been doing bits and bobs in the studio but none of them have captured my imagination.

I've been a bit of a geek today and got some books out of Falmouth library on one of my Strange Fascinations- shipping lanes. They have lots of cool maps in! I know, I know... I'm weird. But if it gets me re-inspired, why not? :)

One lady who has kept me smiling all week is Joss Stone. I'm going through a phase of listening to her stuff at the moment, and this one in particular I can't get enough of. She's made me fall in love with a song that I usually despise. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBH8o8XXnVM

I would also like to belatedly congratulate her on being the first nose ring-wearing, cider-drinking Bond Girl- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1295310/Joss-Stone-unveiled-latest-Bond-girl--new-video-game.html

x

Exhibition pieces

From 2nd-12th February I will be showing a triptych of paintings in the Fine Art Level 2 Show at The Poly in Falmouth (if you're from around here please go and have a look or come to the Private View on Tuesday 1st!).
There's no particular brief for this exhibition, it just gives the staff, students and members of the public a chance to glimpse what we've been up to since October 2010. These are my as yet untitled paintings, with my artist's statement underneath...



"My work is concerned with the overlap between the physical world and our perception of it. Recently I have been exploring negative space in my drawings: focusing only on the space in between and surrounding solid objects. I am interested in the way this can create fragmented images and bring up new associations that are unique to each viewer. Systems and structures are layered with elements relating to sensation, memory and sound, informed by my personal experience of synaesthesia."

On a slightly less arty-farty level, I am happier with these paintings than anything I have done previously, certainly since starting my degree course. I feel like they represent my intentions much more clearly and are the kind of work that I've wanted to make for quite a while, and could never quite get to.

The central image was only half-done in my opinion- I was going to build up the layers to a similar extent as the other two- but my tutor Virginia said she thought it worked well as it was, and that it acted as a "pause" separating the others. After looking at the images with this fresh viewpoint I'm glad I stopped where I did. Now I'll just have to wait and see what everyone else thinks when they go on show on the 1st!

Second Year, Term 1, part II

So, to pick up where I left off... I started using oil paint this term, in combination with negative space drawings in black pen. There's no particular conceptual element to my work at the moment. I just find outlines, flat shapes and silhouettes absurdly attractive and get a kick out of drawing, painting, layering and generally messing around with them. But that isn't how I discuss it with my tutors! ;)

I wanted to move onto (relatively) larger-scale work, and so after finding and priming a lovely MDF board- I love its smoothness in comparison to canvas or wood- I started making this painting.

In hindsight, the making-it-up-as-I-go-along approach didn't really pay off. There isn't much I like about this, and the composition (or lack of it) is what I dislike the most. However, my tutor liked it and said I was being too hard on myself, so that cheered me up slightly! Despite this negativity, this painting was a useful stepping-stone between the smaller-scale work I was making before and what I'm working on now, so all was not lost.

I took pictures of the different stages of this work, and I actually really like the first one I took, consisting of just the painted MDF board and black pen drawing. Hmm.

Anyway, after this painting I went back to the drawing board and started to consider composition more carefully. It was then that I came up with a little study on canvas board, which I have annoyingly lost the photograph of. I was much more pleased with this and it became a basis for one of my current works in progress.

Another factor which restored my optimism was buying new artist-quality oil paints (Winsor and Newton, to be precise). From the first brush stroke I knew it was £70 well spent, and I spent the next week in a love-induced haze. I'd recommend these paints to any student who thinks they'll be spending a substantial amount of time oil-painting; I bought mine from www.jacksonsart.co.uk.

Here are the two paintings I'm currently working on (I know they're mounted wonkily on the wall!):

At the moment it's the end of the Christmas holidays, but when I get back to uni I'll have 3 weeks to finish these (and possibly create a third to work as a triptych) and then they will be displayed in my second year exhibition... eek.

Ok, this is the final post in which I'm catching up with posting past work. Hopefully from now on things will start to get more interesting and this might start to properly look like a blog!