Tag: Fine Art

Nothing

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , 35 Comments

What have you been working on?

I am struggling to do things again. This incident with the theft from the garden has knocked me back. I’m jumpy and sent hubby out into the garden tonight to see if there was anyone about because I heard noises. It was only the neighbours thankfully.

I want to be doing art, drawing, experimenting, painting. But life keeps bashing me. I’m not happy to think I will never do things again. I think I can work my way through things, I’m just not sure.

Meanwhile I’m sitting watching TV, or listening to the radio. Hopes are low, but I still have them. So busy doing nothing as the song goes, but hopefully not for long.

The French Impressionists

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , 14 Comments

Who are your favorite artists?

Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Monet, Manet…. And many more artists. The beginning of a modern French movement, that started to move away from classical art towards a more emotional, abstracted style of art.

The French Impressionists held a ‘salon des refuses’ in 1863 of paintings that had been refused by the official Salon. It was organised because so many paintings had been refused and the Emperor Napoleon III arranged it.

Many of the upcoming French Impressionists were part of this exhibition.

My favourite artist is Monet, from his repetitive paintings of haystacks, to his paintings of the facade of Rouen Cathedral in the 1890s in different light conditions and colours fascinated me. Then his later huge paintings of waterlilies when he lived at Giverny. This was as he got older and his sight was affected by cataracts. I think I remember reading that he was one of the first people to have a cataract operation?

Of course the Impressionists were only the start of changing artistic styles. Post Impressionists, fauvists, expressionism, pointellism, then cubists and so many other schools of art.

Basically there are too many things to talk about. I have books about the Impressionists somewhere? I don’t know where.

Painting

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

This was a painting I did a few years ago, it’s of the upper story of Cheddleton Station, in Staffordshire, England.

I still love painting, but my health is affecting what I can do at the moment, I really want to do more. And somehow the anxiety over it is making me struggle to start. Because I’m worried whether I will be able to do a good enough job. I know I’ve been doing a lot of digital art, but it doesn’t have the same quality to me as actually painting.

I’ve spent years being an artist and I don’t want to stop. I admit some of my work isn’t as good as I’d like, I paint fast and rely on my skill to pull things into shape. I’ve certainly put in the hours to get to a good standard. But I wish I could go back in time and make better decisions about my art.

I haven’t stopped, but I might not do as much as I used to, I’m just hoping the physiotherapy I’m due to start will help.

Artist, illustrator, singer

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

Basically I would work for free if money wasn’t an object. I’m not bothered about sales, it’s the joy of getting my hands on paint, paper, canvas or pen and ink.

If I wasn’t creating art I would join a choir that travelled round and just did spontaneous performances of cool songs. Simply to make people feel better. I would do it without pay, just for the pleasure of entertaining people.

All I would need is enough money for food and shelter. Certainly I would try and share with other artists if money were no object. I would set up a small gallery near the coast and talk to people who visited it, but not as a salesperson, but to discuss art and creativity. I don’t enjoy selling, I’m an artist, not a seller. X

Robin Hoods Bay

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , 4 Comments

A painting I did in situ in a house in Robin Hoods Bay in Yorkshire about 7 years ago. We were away on holiday and we’re impressed by the house which had it’s living room at the top of the building to give views of the cottage rooves and the sparkling sea in the distance. Sometimes I want to visit there again. .

Yin yang cats

Posted on Posted in Cat, Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

My attempt at wax resist printing that I did with the brilliant Belinda Latimer a few years ago. I enjoyed trying to do Batik in her workshop, creating layers of colour. I also did a print of a couple of fish that I called Pisces had framed in a deep wooden frame. Another example of my experimental art practice.

Overcast seaside

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Another painting of the Devon coastline. This is an old photo and I don’t know if I painted it in dark tones or if it was taken in a dark area. The headland in the distance gives you an idea of Devons rolling hills. It’s similar in Cornwall, hills that are rounded, climbing up to the moors. Dartmoor and Exmoor being two of them. Also in the foreground you can see golden sands surrounded by the dark jagged rocks that you see at many of the coves in the two counties. I hope I can visit again soon.

Making fused glass

Posted on Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.

A few years ago I met a fused glass artist who showed me how to work with glass to create jewellery, bowls and other hand made craft pieces. A friend of mine helped mount the glass with wire weaving.

I wish I had learnt more about it so I could experiment more with glass. This piece was made with dichroic glass which gives it a metallic sheen. I made it into a pendant.

The trouble is that I can’t afford my own kiln so I’m limited in making things at workshops. The original glass artist moved away and it took a while to find another one, I’ve been to a couple of workshops with her and really enjoyed it.

I’m interested in doing other crafts too, like ceramics, but again there is a lot of cost involved. But I am a bit of a jack of all trades (master of none?)

I could have chosen a much more important subject to show how I have learnt from experience, but I’m not in the mood to consider a serious subject today.