A.N.Other new Direction

February 11th 2016 

Don't wait for a good idea to come to you. Start by realising an average idea – no one has to see it. 

Be brief, concise and direct. Anyone who over-complicates things is at best insecure and at worst stupid. Children speak the most sense and they haven't read Nietzsche.
Polly Morgan - artist

Keep it simple.
Daydream. 
Give yourself plenty of time to do nothing.
Susan Phillipsz - artist


http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/jan/02/top-artists-creative-inspiration

After one of a series of self-conscious discussions about the direction and relevance of my creative work with course tutor Ian Chamberlain (the erudite, elegant etcher) the quotes above make sense. I have been attempting to over-complicate my work, thinking about what i 'should' do rather than what makes me happy. Therefore I have begun to concentrate on working with my drawings which are my strength. I started by working on a large scale silkscreen print (A0 size) which morphed into a painting and then into a digital textile print. By working into my original silkscreen prints with acrylic paint and trying to join up the figures, I began to produce a form of vibrant, 'dancing' cohesive 'Matisse-y' pattern. 

I intended the colour palette to be limited but vibrant. I want the impact of colour to coincide with the simplicity  - both linear and tonal. I thought then that this simplicity could perhaps be translated into more abstract mono prints selected from the original image using a viewfinder and working from my cropped photographic 'projection' images. 

Therefore this is what I have started to do; using some of the photographic projections I produced late last year using the female form as a canvas - I have begun taking small areas and using digital manipulation (photoshop and illustrator) and traditional paint techniques simplifying the shapes on canvas and on screen, to recreate the female form.

The vibrant colour within my work, the fluidity and multi-layered style is Dufy-esque, Rauschenberg-like and motivated by one of my current Professional Practice influences, Miss Bugs.

Inspiration for Professional Practice

18th February 2016

My initial research will be exploring (through studio visits, sittings, interviews) the diversity of creative work made by a selection of traditional and contemporary artists; discovering how they place their work and the different methods for doing so (from a position above selling at art or craft fair level).

Primary Research:

•    visiting working artists in a studio setting – Bristol and London.

•    documenting each artists work through a series of case studies

•    approaching a local gallery with a view to record the timeline of events leading to the promotion, set up and exhibition of a local artist

•   my participation in ‘art, design and makers’ fairs: specifically Bristol University Botanic Gardens Easter Exhibition

•   submitting work for a series of local exhibitions (RWA Summer   Exhibition, Centrespace Exhibition)

Secondary Research:

•   researching fabric and textile designers with the intention to produce a range of my own silkscreen and digitally printed samples, taking   inspiration from my chosen artists and current market trends, which will be used for inclusion in future print collections by professional textile fabric mills, design companies and other relevant outlets.

Miss Bugs  
http://www.missbugs.com

Mr Joe Black
http://mrjoeblack.com
http://thefashionabletruth.com/art/joe-blacks-first-asia-exhibition-was-hosted-by-hong-kongs-opera-gallery/#.VqTuN8dMrJw

Mr Peter McGrath
http://www.petermcgrath.co.uk/index.php

The Cube Gallery
http://www.cube-gallery.co.uk

Exhibition 

A selection of work produced by a selection of third year MA Multi-Disciplinary Print and MA Design students  

Thursday 28th January 2016

 

I was inspired by Nick Greenglass - MA Multidisciplinary Print - digital prints for 'The Digital Hand Project' where he combined the traditional print process with the computer generated - using silkscreen and photographic digitally manipulated imagery. 

"The Digital Hand Project explores the relationship between the hand of the artist and computer technology, as well as the more personal relationship between human and machine. It is as much about experimenting between digital and non-digital technique as it is about questioning the effects of electronic culture on identity."
http://www.nickgreenglass.com

Annie Lywood - MA Design - showed work which was extremely innovative and unusual. She specialises in e-textiles with specific areas of interest:  

•  textile interfaces - surfaces that recognise touch gestures, enabling controls to be embedded in    clothing

•  designing technology to be more sensitive to human needs
•  exploring the making processes of e-textiles.Despina's silkscreen images - looking at abstracted textures on a variety of surfaces -  appeared to be an almost visceral response to work printed onto eclectic facets and planes. The degraded surfaces and aged patina's enhanced the textural theme.
Mood electronics for a digital age.


Despina - MA Multidisciplinary Print - Her abstracted textural silkscreen images appeared to be an almost visceral response to the theme of degradation and surface decay; with eclectic facets, planes and patina's evoking this in her printwork.

2nd ABC Bookclub Meeting      

January 2016

Our first ABC meeting was an eclectic look at books and how beautiful, strange and experimental one could make them. The meeting began with a talk by an ex Bower student and Book artist. Her work was rather tribal in appearance - think Tonto meets Mystic Meg - using a combination of stitched and printed designs for her 'Scroll' and 'Rag' books.  Here are some examples of the 'Rag' books she made - I liked their textural, almost skin like qualities. There was also a melange of 'Cracker' book ideas and an introduction to the variety of bookArt made by the members of this little group.

The second Artist Book Club meeting was chaired by the dynamic duo of Kate and Kate and the theme of this meeting was 'make lots of books' for the imminent Bower Library Exhibition and the 'Turning the Page' Norwich book fair. Also we were shown a multitude of ideas for making exciting creations of our own using a range of techniques. 

 Here we looked at examples of altered books as opposed to specific book types eg. the Double Concertina, Turkish Fold, Origami, 3-stitch Pamphlet and my personal favourite the 'Secret' Fold-out. 

Linda's Fold Out book and Corinne"s Rubber Stamp double concertina 'Tree' book were examples that would appear ideal for creating a more fluid, flowing book template for my figurative work. Although, I have the ability to make anything potentially precise look like its been constructed by one or both of the Chuckle Brothers.

Dates for the imminent exhibitions are:
Bower Ashton Library Exhibition - Monday April 18th 2016
Turning the Page: Norwich Book Fair - 24th and 25th June 2016

ALTERED BOOKS

 

We also discussed books as pieces of art which appeals to me - the idea of using the page as a canvas or piece of creativity in its own right. An example of this is the work of Tom Philips 'A Humument' http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/humument and also the work of Sam Winstone.

Check out the beautiful book pages as paintings by the Russian artist Ekaterina Panikanova. 

http://www.ekaterinapanikanova.com

PLACE: kurt jackson                                                                     10/10/15 - 3/1/16  Victoria Art Gallery Bath

kurt jackson place bath

Kurt Jackson's latest touring exhibition 'Place' sees him collaborating with 32 writers from a diverse range of backgrounds. The resulting body of work varying in scale from postcard size illustrations to large canvasses reveal the physical diversity of the British landscape whilst providing an insight into the concept of place - that collective sense of identity, meaning, longing and nostalgia present within the British psyche. 

By inviting 32 contributors to write a personal transcript of a place they felt a connection to, Jackson was able to gain an insight into how this eclectic mix of writers, scientists, poets and thinkers view the British landscape.

This creates a unique opportunity for him to shift the location of his work away from the immediately personal, to places, environments and landscapes that generate a sense of attachment in others.

For me Jackson's landscape work has an immediacy to it. His figurative canvasses (in particular those inspired by the Glastonbury festival) have a vibrancy and fluidity to them which resonates within my own practice. The combination of textures and the apparent hidden addition of the handwritten and printed text within the large scale canvas work connects directly with the viewer drawing one into each juicily coloured painting... its as if you are seeing the landscape through the artist's eyes and the text is a little secret code to assist in this journey.