New Pendant

I haven't made any jewellery for a while although I have lots of ideas for new pieces, my RA submissions have hijacked any artistic time I've had this month. However I'm seeing a friend this evening who celebrated her 50th birthday recently and I wanted to make her a piece as a gift. With time at a premium I wanted to add a pendant to a lovely three string necklace of mainly brown and amber coloured crystal beads that I found in the junk shop a while ago. On what was probably my last foray into a charity shop before tearing my tendon I picked up an etched metal picture in a wooden frame, quite popular a good few years ago, it has a floral design with birds and an Oriental bent to it. It's a little textured and mostly coloured with different golds and some black outlines. I thought it would compliment the beads nicely. Although it's quite thick it cuts easily and is fairly pliable so I cut a rectangle as a starter for my pendant. After some investigation, I discovered the metal is copper so I sanded it back to bring the copper through. I wanted softer edges for the piece so I rounded the corners and curved them in a little. I wanted to add some movement to the piece so used part of an old tarnished metal earring, the individual pieces all move independently. I added a bead using copper wire and used the same copper wire to attach the pendant to the necklace. The photo doesn't really do it justice - I didn't have my trusty professional photographer friend to hand! - but I wanted to share a pic as I have to part with it tonight!

Self Portrait Progress

The race to complete my Royal Academy submission continues albeit slowly! :oD After some trial and error (on my husband's part!) the canvases are now all bolted together securely and are quite sturdy although I think the addition of a vertical baton on the back will definitely make them rock solid. I've now drawn on my outline and am ready to start painting the canvases once they've all been separated again. I seem to have given myself a little tiny face but it's only a guideline so I can fiddle with it as I go along.



I'm setting up home in the dining room temporarily to avoid having to go up and down the stairs to my studio on my crutches too often. I don't think I mentioned previously but I'm working with a magenta, violet and turquiose colour scheme rather like this previous painting:

Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

Some of you will know that a piece of my assemblage was shortlisted for last year's Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition and it was such a blast that I thought I would have another stab at it this year!

This year I thought I'd like to submit a sculpture and a painting (as opposed to two sculptures last year) and plans were all going relatively smoothly until the Achilles monster stuck it's oar in! LOL Having already paid for my entries (yep, just call me tight!) and after a degree of ponderance I decided I would go ahead notwithstanding the plaster cast.

So, here's my first piece, Helicoidal Impulse.



The base of the piece is a vintage brass bell, and yes, if you hold the piece up and thwack the bell it is very musical! :O) The spiral is made from vintage Paxolin circuit boards supported on a bolt through the centre of the bell.


A view looking at the underneathof the spiral.


And, a view looking down.

Bearing in mind that I have to post my entry form by this weekend it would make sense to have completed my second piece as well but nooooooo, that would be too easy wouldn't it now? LOL

My second piece is a self portrait based on this photo:



This year I'm working on a body image project and have recently had a naked photo shoot. Wandering off the point briefly, if you've ever had body acceptance issues I highly recommend having a naked photo shoot. It may sound a bizarre thing to be suggesting but it has been the single most empowering thing I have ever done for myself. If you're local to me (or even if you're not!) then I recommend my good friend, Rob, he's excellent at putting folk at their ease in these situations and takes fantastic photos! If you want to know more, email me.

So, back to the painting... I'm going to do a life size (ish!) portrait but not on a straightforward square canvas! I am using nine canvases of varying sizes which will be joined together like this:


I will do a basic drawing of the figure with the canvases connected but will then paint them seperately mixing paint for each as I go so the finished painting will be purposely imperfect and a little fragmented. Watch this space for progress updates!

Studio Goings On

Determined not to be hampered by having my left leg encased in plaster for eight (count them....) weeks I'm still managing to haul myself up to the studio! ;oD My second joint exhibition with Rob, 'Cos Mothers are Special, begins on Saturday with a preview tomorrow evening from 5pm to 7pm. If you're local, do pop in and say hello, there's nibbles, soft drinks, great artwork and I might even let you have a doodle on my cast! LOL



To whet your appetite, this is one of my mixed media canvas pieces made for the exhibition:



And some detail:





Earlier this week I made a card for a friend's birthday yesterday. I wanted to make something quite simple and whilst pondering what I had within reach of where I was sitting ;oD I spotted this fab vintage French book I picked up some time ago in the local junk shop. The pages were all falling out anyway so I helped them on their way and used the cover as my card. Richard is an erotic artist and writer so I thought the addition of a vintage pencil was appropriate. Simple but effective I hope!

Graffiti

Whilst trolling past a boarded up shop near one of my favourite junk shop haunts the other day I spotted some Banksy style stencil graffiti sprayed on the wood and whipped out my camera to capture it! ;o)

Demons Will Charm You

This is the textured canvas piece I blogged about a few posts ago. Rob has done a great job of capturing the depth of the layers in the piece. I worked with acrylic paints and glazes, inks & textured gels (glass bead and sand), collaged on some shapes cut from Latin Bible pages and added some vintage green resistors. The title of the piece comes from a song lyric from Sweeney Todd and reflects the moods and emotions I went through whilst creating it.


Detail of canvas.


Detail of canvas with resistors.


Detail of collaged papers.

Valentine's Day Gift

Some husbands bring their wives red roses on Valentine's Day, or a box of chocolates or maybe some lingerie but what precious gift did my husband bestow upon me? See below....



Yes, my husband brought me a load of vintage capacitors and resistors that he found in the shed which are of no use to him! LOL Unromantic? Nooooooo, they are a much much more welcome gift than any of those boring traditional things! I've already used some of the green babies to finish off the mixed media canvas piece I shared a little snippet of recently. ;o) I should have some pictures to share of it soon once the lovely Rob has photographed it for me. Watch this space!

Treasure Hunting!

Once the snowy conditions improved earlier this week I had a jaunt to Dowhnam Market, a town about 20 miles from here just over the border into Norfolk. My paternal grandparents retired to this town (from Essex) when I was a baby and so I spent a fair bit of my childhood there little knowing I would end up living so close by as an adult. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Downham and always enjoy visiting. ;o) On Tuesday I popped into a little antique shop that I love to browse about in and found some delightful treasures! The shop is a series of little rooms run by a lovely, somewhat eccentric and always talkative, elderly lady. The rooms are packed to the gunnells with all manner of interesting fodder for a junkie of all things used like me! At the back of the shop is a room where all the less interesting (to others!) stuff is heaped on shelves and all over the floor. Rummaging about I found an ice cream box full of wooden pieces, covered in filth and long ignored, they were just desperate to be liberated! ;o)



The shop owner didn't remember where they came from but they look to me like they have come from a church. Any ideas? I haven't cleaned them up yet but alot of the pieces are painted gold in part. There was over 80 pieces in the box including some decorative brass upholstery pins and a sweet little trowel.

Also in the back room was a huge hanger, I estimated about 150, of different brass escutcheons, I would've loved to have bagged the whole lot (and may go back to bargain with her I think) but I couldn't afford her price so had to be content with these few babies:



I also found this lovely silver coloured piece amongst a heap of tins, I don't think it's real silver, it's certainly not hallmarked, and I'm not sure what it is, possibly a napkin ring, but I loved the pattern and think it'll be a base for a pendant. It's about 5 inches long now it's flattened out.



Whilst waiting for my haul to be wrapped it was pointed out to me that there were more shelves of goodies behind where I was standing so, of course, I found some more treasures to up my ever increasing bill! These keys are gorgeous:



There's 42 in the bunch, all different, and none of them are longer than an inch or so.

Last but not least, I found this set of rubber stamps:



They're all wood mounted and haven't seen much use by the look of them. Not really sure what they would've been for, connected with the weight of parcels maybe? They'll be fun to use in art journals and collage pieces. ;o)

I'm in the mood for more scavenging now....

Sexy Texture!

I'm working on a canvas in the studio, lots of delicious layers going on to it, acrylic paint, acrylic glazes, sand and glass bead textured gels and inks to date, all in deep purple and magenta tones with some blues thrown in. I have no idea where I'm going with it and I think there are lots more layers to be added yet but I thought I'd share a little pic of it in progress!

Inside and Out

So, this is what it's been doing most of this week! Not a sight we see that often in this neck of the woods! I'd like to say I've been warm and cosy in my studio but it's not much warmer in there than it has been outside! However I have been working on various things, at least until I lost all feeling in my fingers and toes when I'd retreat to the open fire to thaw out! LOL



This was the state of my desk after I'd finished getting ready for the exhibition last week! And the floor around it was pretty much the same so first task of the week was to reclaim some workspace. That job done, I've been working on a canvas, building layers with textured mediums, acrylic paint & glazes and ink. I'm undecided whether it will remain a painting or whether it will be a background that I attach an assemblage piece to. I have a few pics in the camera so will post some tomorrow.
Rob and I have talked about doing some collaborative work together involving his photographic images and I would create assemblage/collage frames. I've begun a frame to compliment this image of Rob's:



It's from a FenVAC art day visit to a spartan little church in a village near here. It just invokes tranquility to me and that's what I'm trying to convey with the frame as a compliment to the image. At the moment I have collaged Latin Bible pages to the frame as my base and I plan to add some stencilling in black before adding an assemblage piece, possibly incorporating a glass test tube. I'm trying to keep the frame monotone but I feel some accents of red may creep in!

Inspired by this post on Something Sublime, Deryn Mentock's blog, I've also started a jewellery art journal this week. I keep an ideas book but it's scrappy and all over the place so I'm going to use my new journal to record my many and varied jewellery ideas. ;o) I'm currently trying to work out some pieces that will appeal to men and finding it very difficult!

The Art of Love Preview

So, the day arrived at last and I hung the Art of Love exhibition on Friday morning. It took me nearly three times as long as I planned but I was happy with the results. Mounting exhibitions is fun although when you're not just doing it for yourself it becomes something of a responsibility! Fortunately Rob was as pleased as I was with the way the exhibition looked. ;o) Every time I hang an exhibition, be it for FenVAC, myself or for Rob and myself, I learn something new. Grasping the mechanics of how to best exhibit artwork is a steep learning curve but one I wouldn't miss being on!



Rob and I held a preview for the exhibition on Friday evening and it went really well. ;o) We both made sales, there were plenty of visitors, lots of chat and laughter and hopefully everyone had a great time!



These pictures (taken by Rob of course!) hopefully give you an idea of the exhibit. ;o) Chatteris library is a small community library and is a lovely space to exhibit in. Rob and I hope to exhibit in other libraries in the area during this coming year and bring our art to as many local people as possible. The exhibition is at the library until 14th February and we both hope lots of visitors will take the opportunity have a look at our work in a familiar, relaxed setting.

Feel the Love.....

A little sneak preview of some of my work for The Art of Love exhibition....


"Passion" Mixed media piece on canvas using acrylic and tin.


"Love Tokens" Assemblage piece using spoons, a bed spring spanner, wire and found objects.


"Pinned" Assemblage using a table mat, vintage bottle of pins, and found objects.

To see more of my work for the exhibition check out my website!

Sketchbook Pages

On Saturday, FenVAC held an art morning at Chatteris Museum for members to come along and draw, paint, photograph etc the varied exhibits. The curator of the museum, Jenny, is also on the FenVAC committee so we also had access to items which aren't usually on display. ;o) I chose to draw mainly Roman jewellery pieces and these are the pages from my sketchbook:


I had a rummage (in the gentlest sense!) through a box of Roman artefacts which weren't exciting enough to be in the public display cases and found these two pieces of metal. Whilst not the most aesthetic to look at they were very interesting shapes and the colours were subtly gorgeous.


All these pieces were on display in the public exhibits. Again the colours were fantastic especially with the display lighting on them, and the shapes were really interesting to draw.


We were all but done for the morning but I had time to spare so drew this fabulous old key. It was sitting on a glass shelf so had virtually no shadow so I used a bit of artistic licence to bed it down!

It was a really pleasant morning and, speaking as someone whose only drawing pleasures of late have been from battling with trying to draw people at life class, my word, it's much easier to draw an inanimate object! LOL

The Art of Love

The exciting news is that my joint exhibition with Rob is all set to open at the end of this week. ;o) We've both worked hard at producing a variety of different work for the exhibit exploring different media and having fun along the way! Rob has been experimenting with a groovy technique using masking tape and acrylic paint to create textural pieces on canvas to go alongside his stunning photographic images.



I have been exploring the world of abstract painting on canvas with bold colours along with assemblage pieces using all manner of everyday discarded objects. I will also be exhibiting some of my assemblage jewellery pieces.



Altogether the work will form an eclectic exhibition which we hope will offer something for everyone! We are having a preview of the exhibition, with soft drinks and nibbles, on Friday, 30th January from 5pm to 7pm. Everyone is welcome so if you're in the area please do come along and say hello! ;o)

You need hands....

I'm really looking forward to life class restarting after the Christmas break this evening. It's been three weeks since the last class so I'm expecting to be a tad rusty! I wanted to do some drawing over the break but only managed to work on hands. Hands and feet are two of my dodgy areas and I'm quite pleased with some of these although I think there's a long way to go yet! ;o) Excuse the underlying bottoms on the page, waste not want not! LOL

Old Year, New Year

I meant to do this before 2008 whizzed off my radar but here we are in a brand spanking new year already! ;o)

As we do at this time of year I've been thinking about what has gone before and what lies ahead for me and I thought a bit of a review of 2008 is in order.

In my artistic life, 2008 has been a pivotal year for me and some of my highlights have been:

...becoming Vice Chair of the Fenland Visual Arts Collective

...having an assemblage piece shortlisted for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

...making my first sale!

...having my first solo exhibition

...creating my website

...teaching children's altered art workshops

...participating in an Open Studios event

...attending life drawing classes

I'm very excited by what 2009 holds for me...developing my jewellery work, working on several themes with my assemblage work, exhibiting, collaborating with other artists, experimenting and exploring, growing and learning, challenging and stretching myself... passionate, rampant art in action! LOL

Life Drawing

I've always wanted to be able to draw people but have always been pants at it when I've tried, give me an inanimate object and I'm well away, but a person? Eeeek, run off and hide! LOL However last week I went along to a life drawing class at the studio of my artist friend, Richard Savage. I decided to use charcoal as I'm much more comfortable with it than pencil and didn't fancy using pen as I wanted to work BIG! So, here are my first three drawings:


This was my first drawing and my favourite of the week! The hands and feet aren't brilliant and I couldn't tackle the face but otherwise I was thrilled with my first effort!


I usually have problems with foreshortening so I was pleased with this apart from the shot putter shoulders I seem to have given her!



Didn't get the leg shape right here and her neck seems to have disappeared!
Encouraged by this first session I went again on Monday and this week we had a nude model which I found rather more difficult but am still pleased with the results:


My first effort at a nude....the hands and feet aren't right and I much preferred it before I added the head and hair but even so I was pleased with the result.


Found this pose really challenging! The hands aren't right again, I didn't capture her position very well and then topped it with an ET head! LOL


This is my favourite of the evening! The model was talking about how your hand is the same size as your face and how alot of artists draw hands and feet too small. Once I made the foot bigger it did look better.

What do you think of them?

Overall I'm loving this new venture and plan to keep at it! ;o) I'm very pleasantly surprised at the drawings I've made so far and really wish the sessions were longer as by the time we reach the end of the two hours I'm getting in the groove and ready to motor on! I think I need to focus on hands, feet and faces at some point but for the moment I'm happy just trying to capture the human body in all it's beautiful glory. ;o)

Washed Up Sneak Preview!

My work made from the stuff I collected on the beach while on holiday in the summer has been photographed by Rob and I can now share a few little snippets of it with you. ;o) I also owe Rob for the title - Washed Up! -as that was his idea too! ;o)

So, here we go with some little teasers: