Author: Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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Off-piste sheep drawings

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Should have been drawing clouds but there aren’t any. Sheep are a bit cloud-shaped though, right? All in biro on sugar paper. Oddly different styles – one channelling my inner Henry Moore, the other rather minimalist. Sheep have interestingly flat heads and a kind of plimsoll line down from the ear, above the eye down to the nose. They also have the weirdest legs which always look as though they’ve been attached by someone who thought they were going the other way. *** 1st March and we have flat grey skies. Fortunately, my models were obliging again. Biro on sugar … Continue reading Off-piste sheep drawings

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Part 3 Project 2, exercise 1

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Clouds. The day I started this exercise there sky was completely cloudless so I’ve resorted to some photos I took earlier. I really like the clouds we have here; flat bottomed things that often appear in regiments following the river valley as if they’re mirror images of each other. I can imagine some of them as intergalactic tourist boats come to look at us the way we do at fish. White and grey charcoal on black sugar paper. Inktense on parchment coloured sugar paper. I keep forgetting sugar paper is very absorbent so there’s not much fluidity for the likes … Continue reading Part 3 Project 2, exercise 1

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Part 3, project 1, exercise 1 and 2 – trees

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Back down to earth with a bump. It’s a long tumble from a fantasy citadel to a conte sketch of a tree. This first pop is from my window which meant sitting on the windowsill over the radiator – not a position to be held for long, but also not to be swapped for standing outside, at least not just yet. It’s a massive evergreen Leylandii type with a massive bole at the base and squirrels in the branches. It’s going to need more attention than I’ve given it today to make any impression on its stature and gravitas. Still, … Continue reading Part 3, project 1, exercise 1 and 2 – trees

Where to find work for saleLeave a comment

Black and White exhibition at The Basement93

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Just some of the marvellous pieces on display at this boutique shop-gallery [and thank you Google for the pano] in Steyning, west Sussex. People make the most extraordinary things; familiar and unfamiliar at the same time like those little raku sheep and the sturdy pigs standing four-square next to them on that stack. Blow a magic breath over them and they’ll come to life. If you’re looking for an original gift for someone (or yourself because goodness knows you’ve earned it), this is the place. The exhibition runs for a little while longer at 93 The High Street Steyning and … Continue reading Black and White exhibition at The Basement93

art course, work in progressLeave a comment

From fire screen to fantasy citadel

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’ve unpinned this now but it might not be the end. It’s gone to sit on the studio wall while I let it stew and maybe give it some competition. The new piece will be bigger – four A3 sheets pasted to an A1 sheet instead of two on an A2. That’ll show it. As you can see, there’s some bleaching by the camera (an iPhone 8+) in the close ups when they’re on black so the bottom picture gives a better idea of the whole. The bricks are troubling though – too distractingly flat and prosaic – so they … Continue reading From fire screen to fantasy citadel

art course, work in progressLeave a comment

Iterations in the life of a piece of art

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

The brief is to produce a still life or interior of at least A3 size and demonstrating a number of capability criteria. I won’t go into those because, here at least, they’re not very interesting. More so might be the process, from spotting the target to getting to grips with the piece itself. It starts with a photo. I’ve had this fire screen for years but, unlike a lot of familiar household items, I still see it because it shines and burnishes itself in almost any light. There were sketches to get a feel for composition – did I want … Continue reading Iterations in the life of a piece of art

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Contemporary art

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Tom Deininger This is spectacular but also a little creepy if you have a horror perspective on dolls. https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2019/02/05/artwork-becomes-different-closer-get-just-amazing/?fbclid=IwAR1AHB_Q_eR7owNudCMOjMSRQaylNK39wlbhx5C13KX2Irm-YFEncjLe4kY I’m far less spooked by this one but it’s still a horror in that it’s salvaged plastic from the beach. Our mess, our pollution. We’re the teenage bedroom of the universe. http://www.projectvortex.org/tom-deininger.html# Continue reading Contemporary art

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What’s happening on the art front?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is sketchbook work towards a larger degree piece. I’ve been looking at Gustav Klimt and his mosaic style paintings (and discovering I’d never get that gold leaf look because he used actual gold leaf!). This is a fire screen in my house. It has candle holders fixed in rows to the back so the design is intended to flicker gentle light through to the observer, rather than to act as guard against a roaring fire. They’re both made on a layer of white gesso applied to black sugar paper; one with inks, the other watercolour pencils. Each has been … Continue reading What’s happening on the art front?

Research & Reflection4 Comments

Videos, TV docs, films

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

8th Feb 2019. This is likely to be a constantly updating page of listings and reviews. I’ve taken it from my Drawing blog and will probably run them in tandem. Abstract: the art of design. Abstract: the art of design. Netflix 2017. This is a documentary series featuring designers/architects/artists operating in different commercial arenas. It’s easy to imagine that slick, polished adverts, stark photographic portraits, or magazine front covers, just get there through some act of private genius. But even though extraordinary talent is clearly a factor, so also is a work ethic that requires constant exploration of what’s required, … Continue reading Videos, TV docs, films

Assignments1 Comment

Part 2, Assignment 2

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

 I am thinking of going for an interior again after what felt like quite a turning point with the previous exercise. This time more horizontals and with this ornamental firescreen that always reminds me of a Klimt painting. I took a series of photos to focus the letterbox idea in my head and pasted them onto a landscape orientation A4 sheet to use for reference and palette. Google sometimes stitches these together to form a panorama and I’m hopeful that it will, given time. Then I set about making a composition, moving some items around and foregrounding a couple of them, whereupon … Continue reading Part 2, Assignment 2