Walker Art Gallery ~ Liverpool

We had a trip to Liverpool, to visit different Galleries.  I chose to visit the WALKER ART GALLERY, as I believed it would be a more 'traditional' type of gallery, which would appeal to me.

There were many rooms and exhibits, with a whole host of items and art works to view. At the time there was also the JOHN MOORE PRIZE collection on exhibition.

I would always have classed myself as a fan of 'Traditional' works of art, paintings by Rembrandt, Royal portraits by Holbein, marble statues.  These are the things I enjoy looking at, I don't always get modern art, I enjoy pieces when they're straightforward and I know what they are.

The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel - Louis Jacques Mand Daguerre 1824

Whilst I did enjoy these, I also enjoyed so many other exhibits.

Being interested in textiles and fashion, I enjoyed seeing the vintage textiles and clothing, from Designers such as Laura Ashley and Barbara Hulanicki, who created the Biba Shop in 1964.

However, the  pieces I felt particularly drawn to were not traditional at all. 

This stunning Transfer Printed Porcelain Plate, was created by Piero Fornasetti in 1960.  It's an unusual design, yet so very striking.

After visiting Blackburn Art Gallery, I'd chosen a painting called Hardy of Chelsea Green, which I'd picked principally as I wasn't sure if it was a portrait of a woman or a man dressed as a women.   In this painting there is no doubt it's a boy in a frock.   

One of my favourite paintings is called THE EXILED FOREVER COMING INTO LAND by GED QUINN

This isn't the usual style I favour, but I believe initially it was size of the painting and the colour of the sky that drew my attention.  It's a very fantastical and weird image, a house floating through the sky, with a man hanging underneath. 

My particular  favourite was LOUIS XV RIGAUD by Stephen Farthing (1975)

This does seem to be a style I'm enjoying, although I didn't realise it at first.  I find the whole 'collage' style of art intriguing, perhaps as I don't consider myself a natural artist, I do believe I could construct a piece of art in this way.  My abilities aside though, I find this amusing, colourful and creative, it's clear to me what the subject is.  Plus, the more you view it, the more you notice and discover. 

Although this piece in no way resembles the Ged Quinn painting, they both captured my attention.  They're both bright and colourful.  They could both be described as slightly 'strange'.  They both made me look and wonder about the Artists imagination, how they came up with their original ideas, then how they  went about constructing their art pieces.

The Stephen Farthing painting dates from 1975, which is 37 years ago, it seems easy to believe that collaged works are quite a 'modern' idea, with books and articles in magazines all about Mixed Media Collage, but  this notion couldn't be further from the truth.  Collage has been around for a long time, I find it totally fascinating and  will be researching it in some depth.

My final choice from the art galleries many treasures, is a fabric doll sculpture by Enrico David

 

As I make soft doll figures myself, and having just made what I considered to be a large doll, I was amazed at the size of this.  It's very unusual and has a huge amount of stitched detail to it. Quite fascinating!

Moving Image ~ Scratch Film

TUTORS:  Jamie Holman, Brian Nicholson

We watched two short films, one entitled KALEIDOSCOPE by Len Lye from 1935 and one called MOTHLIGHT by Stan Brakage from 1965. (See Pages)  Both pieces of film explore drawing and marking directly onto 16mm film. 

KALEIDOSCOPE ~ Len Lye 1935

Kaleidoscope features scratches and marks applied directly on the film and  accompanied with a cheery musical soundtrack.  This particular piece of work would have been quite a revelation at the time.  Times were difficult, it was between the World Wars, with unrest starting again in Germany and Europe.  People hadn't recovered fully from the First World War, there was the Depression, Shortage of Work.  Times in general were gloomy and difficult.  Art, in general probably matched the mood of the times.  Then along came this experimental film, something totally new and groundbreaking.

MOTHLIGHT ~ Stan Brakage 1965

The artist noted that when he was working with the light on, moths would fly to the light and die.  This piece of work was his interpretation of bringing them back to life, by making them move again.  He dissected the corpses and placed the bits of wing, body etc, on the film, creating a moving piece of art, showing the moths 'in flight' again.

I enjoyed watching Kaleidoscope, it felt fun and happy, and the soundtrack could really have been from the 1960's or 70's. 

Prior to watching Mothlight, I was anticipating visible and clear parts of the moths.  Intricate patterns on the wings, fine hairs and details on the legs.  I was slightly disappointed that the film seemed to be so fast you couldn't really make out many of the images very clearly.  Perhaps I would have preferred it, had it been slowed down.

After watching and discussing the films, we set to work making our own experimental pieces of film.  Using pens, felt pens, scratching on the surface, we made a six foot length of 16mm film.  For the time span, 24 frames = 1 second of footage. 

For my piece, I started by trying to recreate what I envisaged to be a piece of lace, remaniscent of a moths wing.  An intricate pattern of lines and swirls.  I also did a few lines, spots and criss-cross styles.

I'm not really sure how they will turn out,  I think all the pieces of students film are to be spliced together as one continuous film, which should make for an interesting piece of tape.

I watched the films again, and think I appreciated them far more after multiple viewings.  I particularly enjoy the Len Lye ones, probably as much for the catchy tunes he matched them with.

Below is another of his, entitled Swinging The Lambeth Walk

Screen Printing

Today we did some screen printing with Kim.  Keen to keep my chosen image along the same theme as bugs and beetles, I chose a random picture off the web of a fly.

Dye was applied to the screen, this was dragged over the image, producing the final print.  This process could be applied to many different textures, including paper, wood, fabric, acetate and card. 

I applied it onto a piece of wood, which I thought produced a good image, where you could clearly see the vein detail on the wings.  Then I tried it on a totally different texture, which was a very thin and delicate paper sewing pattern.  I enjoyed the contrast of the sewing pattern with this random red fly printed on it.  Finally I  did two prints in different colours on plain paper.

I was very taken with the results of my first attempt at printing, I know there's plenty of room for improvement, but  I can see how this process could be used in many different ways to produce some interesting designs, and I'm really looking forward to doing it again and incorporating it into a larger piece of work.

Screen Ready For Using

First Attempt At The Fly





Printing On To  A Piece of Wood

Fine Wing Detail

Fine Sewing Pattern Tissue Paper

Two Colour

Dolphinholme

Tuesday 25th September 2012

As the apparent 'Tail End' of a hurricane hit the UK this week, battering the Country with relentless rain, winds and general misery . . . .we had a touch of glamour with a 'Glamping' trip to Dolphinholme, Nr Lancaster.   

Hoods & Brollies At The Ready!

The Yurts . . . . In The Rain!

 The idea for the trip was to enjoy a couple of days in the countryside, staying in Yurts on a working farm, for  a Drawing Residential Course,  collecting primary research items and ideas to bring back to college,  where we would continue to expand and incorporate ideas into our work.  A bit of drawing, collecting items, filming various aspects, doing rubbings for prints, finding locations for photographic work and garment photography, not to mention enjoying the fresh air, having the chance to 'Bond' as a group and to have a little outdoor adventure.   



Arriving & Unpacking . . . In The Rain!



Well I say glamour . . . . .  it rains as we leave college, it rains all the way to Dolphinholme, it rains as we unpack the coaches and then, for Oh, all of 10 brief minutes it fines up, as we wander round the edges of the field collecting interesting flower-heads, leaves, twigs and anything else we find of interest. 



Green Ferns



Autumn Colours Over Water

We had to steer clear of what I assume is normally  a gentle stream flowing along the edge of the field, as it had turned into a dangerous, fast and flooding raging torrent, the bridge over it was deemed far too dangerous and slippery to cross, and we were absolutely banned from going anywhere near it.  



Dying, or Drowning Leaves



The rain got a bit heavier, then heavier still.  Then it got even worse, it rained and rained and rained!

AUTUMNAL CANOPY In The Rain

LIGHT AMONGST THE DARK

Twisted & Plaited Tree Bark



Dead Flower Head



We did manage to collect a few bits and pieces, and set about creating patterns with dyes, bleach, threads and various other items. 



Making A Start . . . In The Rain!

The rain still managed to reach us, as it blew horizontally under the shelter we were in, although it did add some interesting 'splash' designs to our work.   



Bleach On Dye



Bleach & Rainwater 'Splash' Patterns



Close Detail of Leaf Print

Edges of Leaf, Dyed and Bleached Out



Chain Stitch & French Knot Detail

We managed to get a few designs done

Bleached Fern Leaf on Green





Unfortunately taking mannequins into the woods to dress with 'found' pieces, just really wasn't an option.  However on the bright side it gave us plenty of time to stroke the goats!

My NEW Friend!

NOT My New Friend?

I am extremely glad that due to family reasons I had already opted  not to stay overnight, although the Yurts did look extremely comfortable and cosy.     A HUGE Thank You To Shaun For The Lift Home, VERY Much Appreciated!




Cosy Interiors ~ Definitely 5* Camping!

 

The farm was a marvellous place, the goats were gorgeous and the hosts were very hospitable and welcoming.  To the Tutors . . . . . Thank You, How Brave You Are!!!  . . . . . . . . . . . . . And the soup was delicious and most welcome!

All in All . . . . . It was GREAT FUN, I haven't laughed as much in a long time!!



Even The Ducks  Sheltered From The Rain!