Bank Street Arts

http://bankstreetarts.com/

I am very excited about the prospect of our MA Show venue - Bank Street Arts, Sheffield...

I am not thinking about what will appear in the show yet tho;)

The Sketchbook Project 2012

Finally the digital version of my sketchbook is online!

http://www.arthousecoop.com/library/11212#page-slide_1

Bucks Open Studios 2012

Small visitor to my studio - got to be one of my fave photos ever:)

Bucks Open Studios 2012 - Opening Weekend

Young Artists at Studio 7b

Work in progress for visitors to get an idea of my working processes

Busy working hard on mask designs

King of the Castle

Wall of inspiration

Paper based work from my exploratory project

Angela Carter's Words

I have been revisiting Angela Carter's short stories after a few years (in fact the copy I am currently looking at is inscribed inside the front cover as a Christmas gift, 2002!). I have read The Magic Toyshop (owned in several editions) countless times but have until now spent far less time on the shorter stories. I am going to record some of the lines I find useful here, with the idea of using extracts to inspire narrative or contrast when planning a painting composition. My intention is not to illustrate, but refer to and acknowledge Carter as an influence.

Flesh and the Mirror

'...artificial cherry blossom'
'...continuous carnival, no matter what ripples of agitation disturb the never-ceasing, endlessly circulating, quiet, gentle, melencholy crowds who throng the wet web of alleys under a false ceiling of umbrellas.'
'...methodical inversions or mirror images of the dwellers on dry land.'
'...rummaging in the dressing-up box of the heart for suitable appearances to adopt in the city.'
'...pulling the strings of my own puppet; it was the puppet who was moving about on the other side of the glass.'
'Our pelts were stippled with the fretted shadows of the lace curtains'
'Women and mirrors are in complicity with one another to evade the action I/she performs that she/I cannot watch, the action with which I break out of the mirror, with which I assume my appearance.'
'I wanted to take him apart, like a child dismantles a clockwork toy...'

Reflections

'It looked like the mirror image of a shell, and so it should not have been able to exist outside a mirror; in this world, it could not exist without a mirror.'
'She bent forward so that her necromatic hair brushed my face...'
'The volatile stitchery they produced occupied all the carpetless are of the floor and, in places, was piled up as high as the crippled knees of its maker.'
'...a loose negligee of spider-coloured lace'
'Her eyelids and the cavernous sockets of her eyes were thickly stuck with silver sequins that glittered in the strange, subaqueous, drowned, drowning light that suffused the room...'
'...reflected in a forest pool rather than by silvered glass for the surface of the mirror looked like the surface of motionless water, or of mercury...'
'Kiss yourself in the mirror, the symbolic matrix of this and that, hither and thither, outside and inside.'
Tiresias
'...on this side of the mirror, a smile was no clue whatsoever to intention or to feeling...'

Found Photos - All My Own:)

I take alot of photos and never seem to have enough time to do anything with them after the event. I was just looking through to find some pics of old displays and came across a few which reminded me of things I wanted to remember, usually anchored to a visual idea or line of enquiry. I'm uploading them for reference and reminders, a digital addition to the recipe book - don't know why some of them have uploaded sideways:/ x

Alice

http://www.thecherryonthecake.com/blog/alice-in-wonderland
Love the cross between fashion and literature x

Sidelines

Finally I am coming to the end of the Sketchbook Project - must not forget to mail it by the 31st Jan...I think this will lead onto more 'book work' (something I have done very little of in the last 10 years) apart from the Paul Rego altered book.http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject2012

Thinking about taking on the long lamented 30 day photography challenge just to explore different viewpoints and build up a body of imagery which could be added to the recipe book...

Also half way through registering for BOS 2012 - goodbye weekends in June;)

Lines of Enquiry for 2012

Having done a lot of thinking over the 'holidays', I felt it was best to record some of the intentions I have so I can refer back in later months.

• Broaden knowledge of painters who address themes I am interested in (currently more drawn to photographers, themes and process but not photographic outcomes
• Take more spontaneous and collecting photos with digital camera when out and about to add to recipe book
• Work on sketchbook based explorations, altered books and other objects
• Visit exhibitions and actively make notes - build greater awareness of artist's career as well as work
• Investigate Hernan Bas,Michael Borremans, Lisa Brice, Merlin James, Maki Na Kamura, Makiko Kudo, Birgit Megerle,Zhang Enl, Masako Ando, Leopold Rabus, 
• Explore literature which explores themes of magic, femininity, mirrors
• Use digital and paper collage to manipulate scale and 'plan' paintings
• Write an artist statement
• Find out more about this http://stadtgalerieschwaz.at/?page=5&l=en&sub=2&ID=57
•  

2011 Reflection

Looking back over the course of the year a great deal has changed in the way I approach and think about my practice. Although I wasn't aware, I was reworking ideas I already knew and had fallen into creating formulaic images. I think that's why it took me a while to get my thinking up to speed in terms of articulating my intention. (I still know I have some way to go on this). I was relieved to be accepted on the course as I felt that I applied late, but found the early stages quite daunting. The work that I made of take two influences was hideous and I felt uncomfortable working within my first constraints of the course. Having said that, I really enjoyed the FFF task and have used many of the techniques I explored since, for example collaging to create composite images, and painting on paper. In particular I have learnt that it is important not just to work from canvas to canvas, or on multiple paintings simultaneously; it is the collecting, constructing and experimenting in between which supports the larger works. I wouldn't want to stop these all together but I understand the value of using smaller scale and more rapid processes to explore ideas. I found the case study very useful although missed marks as I approached more like a VE rather than a PC essay. It has been strange going back to studying now that I'm a teacher as never before have I been aware of success criteria and assessment bands. I want to get a good mark but I also want to learn rather than just ticking boxes. I felt that the supporting practical work was successful, in particular the altered book which I would like to develop further, perhaps through sketchbooks or other relevant publications. The mapping the territory task was challenging but I enjoyed making the work and discussing it at open studios. I let myself down by not creating a supporting blurb - where I had been working on it for so long, I felt that I knew the maps well and didn't go the extra step to make them clearer to others. However, they did support fruitful discussions and made me work in a different way. 

I have tried really hard to be a better learner, a professional learner, and respond to constructive criticism. After the July assessment it was made clear to me that my 'reflection' was not explicit enough. I didn't realise that this was the case so discussed strategies to improve my reflection. I have always felt rather exposed by the course. It has been a brave step to write about and show my work in a public forum and now using the 'reflection' subtitle I am able to reflect on what I write without assuming that it is integrated in my main paragraph. I found the VE essay very constructive and discovered lots of pairings which I will use in my practical work. The BB task was really hard; I think this was because I know that I can rely on myself to get things done but I had to trust that others would give a truthful response, or return work to me. It did however allow me to work through my ideas about audience and how I should communicate ideas to the viewer. 

My personal practice plan describes how I intend to develop my practice in context of showing work, personal and professional development so this will help me to kick start strategies in the new year. I intend to do some book based work and take some of my compositions into bigger paintings with particular reference to the Tate's  Alice exhibition. Although the time constraints working full time have put pressure on my completion of tasks, I feel very enriched by doing the course and reassessing my work/life balance. I have found dialogue with tutors and other course members generally positive although some of the cohort have found it difficult working in a bubble. However, I anticipated that distance learning would be like this and it works very well for me. Time is very limited but I would like to speak to others more frequently via skype and feel that we should use a group crit strategy to give feedback on practical work. This also something I would like to do in the studios so I can build links for dialogue opportunities so as not to work in a vacuum. I have also had feedback from people who read my blog which has been really positive so I will continue to actively write and record my research in this way.

I am really looking forward to the holidays and what the new year will bring:) bye for now x