MY WORK - GETTING STUCK IN

Just before half term, I really got stuck into my own work and after preparing all my 23 backgrounds, I have been paintings my 'motifs'. It is a time consuming and steady work involving a lot of paint mixing, layers of vanish in between most colour changes. But the results are quite stunning and the light is really bringing all the layers together, six done, many more to go.

I am first stenciling the motif and proceed by working details in with paint and inks as per details below:







I now don't want to reveal too much about the work, I need to keep an element of surprise for my end of year exhibition. It has been set for the last week in June, and it feels there is a lot more to do until then! But it is all very exiting!

AIE WEIWEI, OROZCO AND HILLIER = TATE IS GOOD

I spend last Sunday taking a break from making art and looking at it instead.

I went to London's Tate Modern, to see Ai Weiwei's sunflower seed sculpture. I knew it was no longer an interactive piece of work and guards were dotted around protecting this 'dangerous sea' of grey seeds on the grey concrete floor. Apparently the lead paint on the porcelain could harm us so we are no longer able to walk or touch them. Shame as that would have made them a little more interesting... they are now just gathering dust, like a forgotten toy, what a tragedy for such a beautifully executed art piece...







After this disappointing start, I made my way to the Gabriel Orozco Exhibition. The artist has thrown away the concept of art made indoors in a studio so most of his work is using readymade transformed in one way or another. He has a very keen eye for curves and spheres and some of the forms seem very mathematical as per following works:





Otherwise, like a lot of artist using ready made, it is the way work is collected and exhibited which makes it interesting. For me, the 'cut in half and stuck back together' Citroen DS, was the best piece, because it refers to my French upbringing. The aerodynamics are emphasised even further with this new face lift:



A sea of tires occupies one of the rooms, all collected from roads and totally dissociated from their origins, they take on a very different role and become beautiful, resembling sleepy black snake:



For me, the most subtle work was Orozco's scroll filled with numbers cut out of a phone book, a real coding nightmare:



A creative, playful and inventive Mexican born artist very well worth seeing!

I also went to Tate Britain, to see the long awaited Susan Hillier show. However, after the brilliant Orozco exhibits, I was a little disappointed: maybe because the scale of works was different. Hillier's work is on a smaller scale, this probably makes it far more intimate. What stole the show for me was her beautiful moon pictures: a wonderful collection of her pregnant tummy, changing month per month and telling her personal story, quite magical:



I think Tate has some amazing shows on at the moment, and I just can't wait to make it to the Watercolour show at Tate Britain!!

MUST BE CRACKERS....

I have now finalised all my drawings and have managed to do some colour studies, to help in my tonal decision process, as per above example. I have actually totally disregarded the above for now and will be sticking to a much more 'earthen' theme for my paintings - not to say that I will not use these pictures in some way in the future...

My end of year show will soon be upon me (probably last week of June this year) and I have about 19 weeks left (give or take) to finish everything of. There are lots of holidays within those weeks such as half terms, Easter, Royal Wedding, etc...so for me it is full steam ahead.

I have created stencils of the drawings so that they can be transferred onto their support. The 'support' has now been created and consists of a background made with casting slip and transferred onto a wooden base, so that the work becomes more permanent, as per examples below:




The next step is to seal the slip by applying a layer of vanish subsequent to which I am ready to add the base colour coat. I have chosen a metal base, which will be tamed by layers of vanishes. Here is a sneaky peak at the first base coat:





The final work will look something like this:



Won't bore you with the how and why, you can just come to my end of year show and ask me in person!

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN

I recently had to spend a few days on the children's ward at the Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and was surprisingly greeted by a unfamiliar view: artwork from artist Michael Craig-Martin. The enormous colourful frieze spelling the word 'KIDS' somehow made a bleak space much warmer and welcoming.




The project was funded entirely from gifts raised specifically for it, from the Waley-Cohen family and others interested in art, with the support of the artist.

For me, this vast piece of art transform the views from all the windows, and rather than stare at a bleak wall, the colours lead nicely into a view of the atrium. The immense scale helps cover the wall with an interplay of objects and giant letters spelling KIDS. Here are some details of the objects:






Just made my stay that little bit more interesting.