two free art demonstrations in one week, making light of the work of not so idle hands… firstly, on painting without brushes…
this is a photograph of the artist’s demonstration area, taken late in the day; i am rather fond of the paint-splattered bath towels. it was interesting to note that the three in-progress canvases already echoed the character of the barn, but in a more reduced, minimalist manner… painting without brushes‘ aim was to show that paint can be applied (and removed) by various means to achieve textural depth and intriguing surface qualities… for myself, the particular aspect of conveying the visual appearance of the slow passage of time is key to how i paint… layering, accretion, then eroded, scarred, denuded…
and here are some of the paintings (farmscapes) and, unavoidably, some artist’s feet also appeared in the frame, my red painting mules or ruby slippers…
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and then there was printmaking for squares, another night on the tiles, demonstrating the intaglio printmaking of my collagraphs. i forgot to take my camera but some people were taking photographs of the artists at work (so i may get digital copies soon) and many came to watch, to ask, to enquire, to admire and appreciate. i think there were about fifteen artists demonstrating a range of techniques & methods over the course of three hours, from printmaking to wax batik, papermaking to sculpture..
i took along some collagraph plates, printing paper, etching inks and even my humble, small etching press, with its rickety, edwardian hostess trolley base, but i forgot my hotplate and a desk lamp… it was an event well attended and i hope enjoyed by the many visitors despite the stormy weather brewing outside…
here are two collagraph prints i made earlier, taken along as further examples of the intaglio collagraphs series, from the ongoing, globally expanding i-cons (or eye cons), aka virtually travelling ‘around the world in one hundred abstracts‘, with some help from google, wikipedia et al…
mexico (city), intaglio collagraph on canvas, 2010
have i mentioned that these are really quite tiny at 5″ x 5″ but they are very tactile pieces, canvases that want to be picked up, placed just so, made a small feature of, rearranged, on their own or re-configured with one or two more for colourful company… the colours in these works have become darker but also richer, with very touchable surfaces, with a visual aesthetic recalling something similar to old leather or waxed wood, neither paper nor canvas but something else, modern & new and yet somehow aged, antique, a relic…
milano, intaglio collagraph print on box canvas, 2010
this led to a little discussion regarding the experience of artworks in galleries (especially sculpture) and the importance or need to experience through touch, in contrast to the only look/do not touch policy… is this the subtle psychological difference between (as perceived or presented) high art & humble crafts? that is, that fine art maintains its higher status by being untouchable for the many, contextually separated, intellectually distanced, suggesting that craft is essentially manual, practical, created by hand for a particular purpose, fashioned from the earth and not a product of the metaphysical mind… of course, those creative, aesthetic boundaries are continually encountered & challenged by the individual artist/maker but the conceptual classification still exists in the art world…
so, i am wondering if these i-cons are becoming something of a diffusion line in artistic terms – more affordable, ready-to-hang or display, hand-crafted artworks that reflect my artistic concerns but are more instantly appealing as objects, decorative, collectible even… but, i think in reality, these are transitional artworks, that will, in time, signify a shift in my ideas, my creative thinking, a change in methods and materials, in form and substance… you will see, dear reader, that this is where maintaining an artist journal (as opposed to a regular look at what i did today art blog) is of the greatest benefit to the artist – artists look both backwards and forwards, upways, downways, sideways, both ways – well, you never really know what’s around the next corner even if you’ve been around the block a few times…
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i have not forgotten the little postcard art giveaway – the names have just been verified & collated (all eleven of them!!), a list drawn up and then shuffled & randomised to select just one winner… but for blog tidiness it will be announced in a new blog post…
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