I cycled ten miles yesterday... passed these farm buildings on my return (first noted on the outward journey)... not particularly thrilled with these sketches as they were quite rushed; about fifteen minutes or so for the first two, less for the last one...
[barn and sheds, seen from the roadside]
[barn buildings, near a bend]
[farm buildings, viewed across corner of a field]These sketches are about 8" x 11". For anyone interested in my sketching methods, I used watercolour pencils on lightly dampened paper (I carry a tiny jam jar of water). These sketches, although appearing representational, are not what I am striving for - the regional art scene is saturated with representational landscapes. It is more to do with working quickly 'on location' which I think re-awakens a different part of my creative brain, quite separate from an isolated studio practice largely driven by concepts and processes. I am interested too in the prevailing art aesthetic-sisation of mundane, rural scenes. I am pondering whether to use my amazon voucher to purchase a book on Andrew Wyeth's landscapes...
Andrew Wyeth, House near Chadd's Ford...Today, after visiting the Harleston Gallery, I stopped by the local allotments - there will be an art & allotments themed exhibition in the future... I captured a couple of quick abstracts, looking for bold interactions of colour, both of which (here) contained the complementary colours blue and orange...
and here, I just thought the arrangement of the three different water butts placed next to the potting shed made a pleasing composition, a still life of sorts...
...The HWAT Mini Artworks & Showcase exhibition is now open...
I am not sure that my painting Fenn (pictured left) looks quite right hung so close to a small etching and a life drawing, but it is currently in a fine gallery and not on my own wall (which is nice)... the wall of mini-artworks looks really appealing - many art bargains to be had at only £25 each...
Click here to read about HWAT's Mini-Works and Showcase Exhibition...It's also the last weekend of the Artworks exhibition at Wingfield Barns Arts Centre
on artworks and deckchairs
Passed by the Artworks exhibition at Wingfield Barns Arts Centre this weekend - this is firstly a shameless plug for my own work (it's my blog after all)... but the rural setting is fabulous - nature quietly intertwined within the traces of agriculture. I like to think that my work, Farmscape II looks quite at home here...
[Farmscape II, 2010, mixed media on canvas, 60cm x 120cm]
[a detail of surface textures]
[another detail of surface textures]Found out I had sold a couple of small paintings which was food for the soul.There is an interesting fund-raising exhibition of art on deckchairs in the adjacent barn... some really good ones (such as Dave Mckee's, the creator and illustrator of Mr Benn) and one or two perhaps not so good ones (technically speaking), but all will be auctioned off to raise money for the St Elizabeth Hospice... My favourite was the one created by the artist Tony Casement, all sand-encrusted with little seagull footprints, a deckchair that would be least coveted by the sun-lover, in the social etiquette (or war) of deckchair and sun-lounger acquisition. Very pleased to see that three Artworks artists have customised deckchairs in this exhibition too: Eleonora Knowland, Elaine Nason and Janet French...I wished I had stopped longer to observe and take some photographs of the old barns' structures but I had to get back to deliver my canvas to the HWAT Art exhibition, which opens on monday... you can read more about that particular painting, Edgescape: Fenn, here......The Artworks‘ Spring exhibition is currently showing at the Wingfield Barns Arts Centre until 25th April 2010, open daily 10am – 5pm.HWAT Showcase Exhibition of Art and Mini-works will be on at the Harleston Gallery from 19th April to 30th April 2010.
easel paintings
I found this curious object in a charity shop - it was 75p and so I promptly purchased it.
This little easel is about 8" high, is constructed of stainless steel (I think) and what looks like teak wood for the board. I was thinking rather serendipitously that the two mini-works which I have just made for the forthcoming HWAT artists' exhibition would look quite amusing when placed upon it...
The displayed work in question is a very small painting, set on Arches paper, within an A5 antique white card mount... here is a larger than life size photograph of the painting...
[winter, too, 2010, acrylic and indian ink on paper, 5cm x 8cm]All participating artists will be making new artworks to fit within the same size card mount. All artworks will be for sale at £25. Here is my second miniature offering for the HWAT show (all proceeds from the sales of these works will go to HWAT).
[mist, again, 2010, acrylic and indian ink on paper, 5cm x 8cm]I quite liked creating landscape compositions at this diminutive size (it's all in the cropping), reducing the elements of land and sky to their most minimal - probably influenced by my recent sketches and drawings in some very small pocket sketchbooks... I also had some fun with the titles - winter too and mist again could suggest they are part of an ongoing series, yet another winter landscape not to be missed. on the other hand, within the wider genre of landscape painting, titles are merely descriptive indicators of the scene... and, of course, the above very small artworks are anything other than traditional easel paintings (missing the point, again)......I had some interesting conversations with some other artists around pricing and valuing our artwork... one for another post...