7th December. I’m in a weird parallel world set where one strand has things I’ve drawn selling in a gallery, and the other is littered with sketchbook pages full of lines that won’t do as they’re told. So … I … Continue reading Somewhere in Part 2 – still life
This is a small corner of Steyning’s new gallery and shop, The Basement (instagram @thebasement93), a lovely new outlet at the bottom of the High Street, near the independent Steyning Book Shop, and the remarkable Sussex Produce Company. Within a matter of a few dozen yards, you can find a unique piece of art, a hand-chosen book, and a strangely shaped vegetable you have to Google when you get home. I left some mounted prints there today of the four cat cards. Also a sheep. All hand drawn then finished in a digital painting programme called Rebelle. Have look – … Continue reading Cats playing to the gallery
Today I took a shot at a few different media, or different applications of media, with a black spoon, a fish bottle opener, and a pine cone on a plate with a black rim. As you do. First up, Sharpies. While the lines are clean they also leak through and of course they’re permanent which means that’s it, no erasing, no smudging, no change so it better be right first time. I’m not sure I’m enough of an accurate first service hitter yet so I wasn’t happy with the result. The charcoal made a difference for me; taking the images … Continue reading The devil in the detail
I’ve been struggling with this for two reasons. As a writer, and prior to that as a clinician and researcher, I was accustomed to a quite clear structure with regard to the use of other people’s words or ideas. Quotes are not often used in scientific papers but in literature, they are and they have to be minimal and clearly referenced. Similarly any supporting or contesting ideas, papers, theoretical references. That feels clear to me. Latterly, in my early (re)-exposure to the art world via local groups, I came across the practice of replication in physical media by copying of … Continue reading Plagiarism, copyright, and fair use
This has become an annual event with BBC 6 Music and in particular Maryanne Hobbs who has a knack of de-pomposifying [but never trivialising] the arts and artists. Let’s face it, much like literature, art can seem to get in its own way if the life is squeezed out of it by over-analytical thinking, by people making assumptions about what an artist’s motivations were within a given painting, or placing a construction on a piece of work that the artist can’t refute by virtue of being dead. No such problem with the call for ‘art inspired by the words or … Continue reading ‘Art is Everywhere’
This is the group of artists, film makers, architects, software developers, and activists you might never have heard of but that might be hitting headlines shortly. I came across them a short while ago in the context of reconstruction of the much-disputed chemical weapons attack in Syria. From all available images, from all available sources, they reconstruct scenes such as this in order to bring out the most plausible understanding of what actually happened, and just now they are contenders for the Turner Prize 2018. As a side bonus (to me anyway – reflected glory and all that), they’re based … Continue reading Forensic Architecture
This is the group of artists, film makers, architects, software developers, and activists you might never have heard of but that might be hitting headlines shortly. I came across them a short while ago in the context of reconstruction of the much-disputed chemical weapons attack in Syria. From all available images, from all available sources, they reconstruct scenes such as this in order to bring out the most plausible understanding of what actually happened, and just now they are contenders for the Turner Prize 2018. As a side bonus (to me anyway – reflected glory and all that), they’re based … Continue reading Forensic Architecture
Cross posted from my coursework blog. This is why I value that little phrase “I don’t know” so highly. It’s small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us as well as those outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended. If Isaac Newton had never said to himself “I don’t know,” the apples in his little orchard might have dropped to the ground like hailstones and at best he would have stooped to pick them up and gobble them with gusto. Had my compatriot Marie Sklodowska-Curie never said to herself “I don’t … Continue reading ‘I don’t know’
This is why I value that little phrase “I don’t know” so highly. It’s small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us as well as those outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended. If Isaac Newton had never said to himself “I don’t know,” the apples in his little orchard might have dropped to the ground like hailstones and at best he would have stooped to pick them up and gobble them with gusto. Had my compatriot Marie Sklodowska-Curie never said to herself “I don’t know”, she probably would have wound … Continue reading ‘I don’t know’
Exercise 1. Still Life. This is all about experimentation so I experimented with standing in front of my notice board which is very still indeed in that there’s stuff there that hasn’t moved in years. Not so my clutch of … Continue reading Part 2: exercises
Strayfish Arts 