As well as unselected works I include activities without a material outcome. The accompanying commentary explains how each work, or activity, has played a part in re-establishing my studio practice, practically and conceptually.
Items are organised by technique. This does not indicate that each section's activities took place separately. The reverse is true. Cross-fertilisation of ideas, within and between techniques, occurred all the time.
Items are organised by technique. This does not indicate that each section's activities took place separately. The reverse is true. Cross-fertilisation of ideas, within and between techniques, occurred all the time.
Presentation
The fifty-two small paintings combined to make 'River Walk' (below) were not new. This presentation of them was.
Seeing so many images in close proximity changed my view of what I had been doing, and gave me a renewed impetus to focus on truly everyday places, a decision which forced me to work differently.
Exhibiting this piece was the first significant step in re-establishing my practice, nudging it in a new direction.
Seeing so many images in close proximity changed my view of what I had been doing, and gave me a renewed impetus to focus on truly everyday places, a decision which forced me to work differently.
Exhibiting this piece was the first significant step in re-establishing my practice, nudging it in a new direction.
'River Walk', Oil on canvas, or card, on board, 120 x 420 cm, installation view (composite)
I arranged a second exhibition near the end of the module. It was in my own home, this being the only space available to me. A work composed of many parts and presented piecemeal (on this website) would be incomplete so, irrespective of the small number of people able to view it, 'View From a Train: 23 Seconds' has now been displayed as intended, and in the company of other related work.
Drawing
The drawings below pre-date my large collage of paintings, and show me seeking a more abstracted view of familiar scenery. I like some of the mark-making that they contain. Basing work on direct observation has since been eclipsed by my use of photographs as source material. That notwithstanding, I hope to recapture some of the gestural qualities shown here in future work.
Charcoal, pastel and gouache on paper, 42 x 55 cm
|
Charcoal and pastel on paper, 42 x 55 cm
|
My established habit when working en plein air is to make a preliminary sketch of the motif, to acquaint myself with the location and better understand it. In advance of each of the twenty-four paintings that make up my exhibited piece, 'View From a Train: 23 Seconds', I maintained this practice using video stills as source material. The drawings (graphite on paper, each 14 x 25 cm) are sketchy and gestural or carefully measured and technical or, where required, a combination of the two in a single image.
The drawings below were made in front of original paintings in order to better understand the Classical landscape tradition (those shown, by Poussin and Wilson, are in the National Museum Cardiff). I have learnt at least as much from direct observation as from reading. I fully expect both sources of insight to have an effect on my work, but how this will be manifest I do not know.
Ballpoint pen on paper, 19 x 26 cm
|
Ballpoint pen on paper, 16 x 19 cm
|
Painting
These small panels (all oil on canvas on board), plus three of my exhibited pieces ('Small Works'), were made in preparation for larger paintings. Each was made to the same scale as the planned finished work. (Paintings are shown to scale, maximum width 51 cm.) I practised and refined methods for working from photographs, and applied paint as if for a larger canvas. I made unpredictable mistakes, forestalling as many of these as I could in the larger pieces.
The final painting (below), and another scraped clean from the same board before it (not recorded), were unsuccessful. Insufficiently controlled application of paint, muddy colour-mixing, poor composition and inaccurate drawing guaranteed this. It was dissatisfaction with these pictures that led to experimentation with the video source material itself.
Oil on canvas on board, 50 x 100 cm
Video
I have exhibited one video clip ('View From a Train') which highlights a single frame by holding it still within the footage for a few seconds.
I made twenty-four such clips, holding still the view after each of twenty-three succeeding seconds. As in my collage of paintings, I combined these in a mosaic to create the short film below. This video, too, can fill the screen but doing so only proves how far I had to push the 'phone app to achieve this effect. My plan to repeat the process at high quality was overtaken by an intention to depict all twenty-four frames in a sequence of paintings instead. Paint rather than video, as medium, accords the images a different character, perhaps a different status.
I made twenty-four such clips, holding still the view after each of twenty-three succeeding seconds. As in my collage of paintings, I combined these in a mosaic to create the short film below. This video, too, can fill the screen but doing so only proves how far I had to push the 'phone app to achieve this effect. My plan to repeat the process at high quality was overtaken by an intention to depict all twenty-four frames in a sequence of paintings instead. Paint rather than video, as medium, accords the images a different character, perhaps a different status.
A video-related episode illustrates less tangible, perhaps more fundamental, learning. A short film that accompanies my written statement for this submission was prepared with a commentary. Accidentally, it was watched by fellow students without sound, and yet was well received. This caused me to rethink and, as a consequence, I present it here without words.
Throughout my professional life I relied on clear language to explain and persuade, and have felt tempted to do the same with exhibited works. The print below was made as I began Masters-level study, to clarify my thoughts. It illustrates the sort of thing I considered placing alongside works to 'guide' others. The strength of feeling evoked by my wondering aloud about offering an explanation has surprised me. I believe it is only an 'outsider's view' (I have completed no previous formal arts-based study) that has allowed me to contemplate breaking a taboo. Whilst certainly wanting to remain unencumbered, I have, equally, begun to understand the 'insider's' view of the place of indeterminacy in allowing a work to speak for itself.
Throughout my professional life I relied on clear language to explain and persuade, and have felt tempted to do the same with exhibited works. The print below was made as I began Masters-level study, to clarify my thoughts. It illustrates the sort of thing I considered placing alongside works to 'guide' others. The strength of feeling evoked by my wondering aloud about offering an explanation has surprised me. I believe it is only an 'outsider's view' (I have completed no previous formal arts-based study) that has allowed me to contemplate breaking a taboo. Whilst certainly wanting to remain unencumbered, I have, equally, begun to understand the 'insider's' view of the place of indeterminacy in allowing a work to speak for itself.
Printmaking
I expanded my repertoire of printmaking techniques to include lithography. There are clear parallels between the quality of mark achieved by this process and my drawing style. Early experiments met with mixed success, but were promising. These experiments have necessarily been curtailed but, when circumstances permit, I expect to return to this technique.
Lithograph, 20 x 50 cm
|
Lithograph, 19 x 50 cm
|
Ceramics
Inspired by the work of James Tower and by the forms of small trees encountered on regular walks, and beguiled by first class workshop facilities, I reacquainted myself with this medium after a gap of many years. I learnt new technical processes, namely plaster mould-making, slip casting, and glaze preparation. This experimentation has also come to an end for the time being.
'James Tower's Vase Forms', graphite on paper, 20 x 50 cm
|
'James Tower's 'Copse'', graphite on paper, 20 x 50 cm
|
Three unfired clay forms. Component parts slip cast from hand-built originals. Diameter of largest sphere: 11 cm