Fancy a dip?

Today I went on a day out to Plymouth. I planned to do some sketching on The Hoe but it was far too misty to see anything :(
Instead I went with my sister to the lido and took lots of photos. I will probably donate most of them to her art project, that's why we were there, but I'm sure I can use them in my work somehow too...

The little book of maps

One of the little projects I set myself in the last few weeks of second year was to make my own sketchbook. Falmouth has a brilliant little maritime bookshop which I investigated one rainy Saturday, and discovered a treasure trove of old maps and sea charts. I bought one and chopped it up to make pages for 2 of these little sketchbooks. I don't think it's bad for a first attempt, it hasn't fallen apart yet anyway!

Examples of sketches will come in a future post.

Horrendously neglected

The title says it all. Islands and Cities has indeed been horrendously neglected... and I have no excuse. 

However, we have kissed and made up, and I have made lots of promises of being better in the future, which I hope I can keep. In keeping with this new spirit, I will fill the gap of the last 5 months with some pictures of what I've been up to artistically since then. Admittedly it isn't much, but please take into account that 2 of those months have been spent working in a "proper job"!

The four drawings above are tracings of satellite photographs. I won't go into detail about what or where they depict, because personally I'm more drawn to the shapes and forms they make. I made several of these tracings, which informed my paintings towards the end of second year.

This piece was something I did absent-mindedly while stuck for ideas- just glueing an old drawing on tracing paper to a half-finished painting! However, my tutor really liked it, and it fit nicely with my investigations into the layering of paintings and drawings.

These two paintings were in progress in my previous post. As you can (hopefully) see, some of the satellite tracings made their way into these pieces.

I made a pair of larger paintings after this series, but due to my laptop dying, I will have to wait to go back to uni to re-photograph them!

Waiting...

Islands and Cities has been neglected for a while because there hasn't been that much to say! I had an eye ulcer that kept me at home for a week, and other than that the map paintings are coming along slooowly because I'm experimenting with different layering techniques and each one takes up to 3 days to dry :( it's rather frustrating!
However, here's how they look at the moment:

The original 8 paintings has been diminished to 4, just so that it's quicker and I can use the other 4 boards for the next set of paintings. The top two on here have one more layer of imagery on them than the bottom two, which is why they look denser. I'm not massively enthusiastic about these- there are bits I like and bits I don't, but the main aim of doing them is just to try out different painting, drawing and layering techniques so I can take the best ideas forward into larger pieces of work.

Tutorial tomorrow so we'll see what Virginia says! 

Only dead paintings are executed

At the moment I'm working on a series of 8 paintings based on the squares of a map. It's not the map above, though drawings made from that one will be used later on in the process. The one I'm using is one of the shipping route maps I mentioned in a previous post.

I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone by not planning the paintings too much, as is my habit. I've been working and reworking them, and trying to be more experimental with paint handling. I think it's too early to judge yet how they're turning out, but I hope that by challenging myself I'll grow in confidence with my oil painting!

I also had my mid-year assessment last week with my tutor, Virginia Verran (Winner of the 2010 Jerwood Drawing Prize, don't you know!) which went well. She suggested that I start a "quotes book" to keep a track of things that interest me that may not necessarily be to do with my studio practice, but that inspire me. I only have two so far, but I'll share the first one because it's the one I keep repeating to myself...

"Only dead paintings are executed. Living ones come into being. They are a record of decisions; the sum of actions taken and reactions to them, of judgements made and of the reconsiderations and revisions that those initial judgements prompt. Painting is process; painting is doubt; painting is the suspension of disbelief and the physical affirmation of formal and material intuitions for which there is no prior justification. Painting is what painters do while others argue about painting."


- Robert Storr, Cage- Six Paintings by Gerhard Richter

Exhibition time!

My paintings fiiiinally went up in the 2nd year Fine Art exhibition at The Poly in Falmouth on Tuesday :) The 2 days of hanging the show were a bit of a nightmare, but it all turned out fine in the end. Here's a photo of me with my paintings- the horrible flash does nothing for them whatsoever, but it's the only one I've got!

I had the obligatory group crit of the work today (holding a discussion about our work in groups of 5 or 6 led by a tutor) and people seemed positive about the paintings. However, I get the feeling that the graphic style/diagrammatic nature of the way I work makes people see it as inaccessible and a bit cold... I hope I can somehow combat this!

Anyway, if you're reading this and saw the exhibition/have an opinion on the paintings as you see them on here, don't hesitate to let me know what you think. Reactions to my work are always welcome :)

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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

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