exercises, Project 12 Comments

The devil in the detail

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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

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Plagiarism, copyright, and fair use

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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

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‘Art is Everywhere’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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’

materials and miscellany, MiscellanyLeave a comment

Forensic Architecture

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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

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Forensic Architecture

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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

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‘I don’t know’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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’

Miscellany4 Comments

‘I don’t know’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

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’

craft fair, Digital Art, products from original artLeave a comment

New fridge magnets

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I have no shame! I had a batch made earlier using this image. [via Zazzle who do a pretty good job.] But sitting in my folders was similar image that needed brightening up a little so it stood out more from its background. Both are made with Flamepainter (an Escapemotions product), but for lifting the light I used Corel’s Paint Shop Pro which gives me more control over the brush. Here’s the result: It was originally called ‘Fuse’ because only the end of the tail was truly bright and who hasn’t been on the wrong end of a cat with that … Continue reading New fridge magnets

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Flamepainter

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is a digital painting programme made by Escapemotions who also make Rebelle. But unlike Rebelle which mimics the behaviour of actual paint on canvas (and if I can figure out how, I’ll make a short video to post here), Flamepainter is pure cat herding. With each iteration, I promise myself I’ll take some time to pin down the functions of the brushes and try to exercise some control over their output, and each time I give up at the point I’ve produced, by sheer serendipity, something that pleases me. This was yesterday’s effort, a composition achieved by selecting a couple … Continue reading Flamepainter