Take it on the Chin Girl

Having prepared a lot of paintings for the “Mordros” exhibition, I decided it was a good opportunity to have a go at getting into the Westward Ho and Bideford Art Society.  6 paintings had to be presented for selection and scrutinising in front of a committee of RA members.

“Work submitted in application for Exhibiting membership of the Society should show a consistency of quality in all pieces, as well as a clear understanding and appreciation of the chosen media.  The Committee looks for a clear artistic identity running through all the work”.  Ok. With two seascapes and four panoramic seascapes, I think these fit the bill.

Having left them in the judging room, we returned to discover my fate;   either a big A (accepted) or big R (rejected).  Mine had neither?  I was  really disappointed to find it had been a split decision over my acceptance.  Don was absolutely gutted for me as I was told I had not been accepted.  In other words rejected…. this time; but encouraged to try again!  I went having no expectations and decided that whatever, I would take it on the chin as I had already heard the standards were off the scale of being high.

Artists are given feedback and ‘constructive criticism’ by  the secretary in front of everyone, whether you agree or not, going into great detail about presentation of work and that the mount cuts had to be absolutely perfect.  What’s being judged here…. the art or  the framing?  I knew my framing from Ian and Sally at Kilk was of the highest standard and shows my work off to its best.  Apparently, I am tackling one of the hardest subjects to get right i.e. seascape with the correct perspective and light conditions.  The paintings I thought I had got spot on were the ones they had issue with which was surprising to say the least. Other artists leaving the room listening to the feedback I was being given, were all saying what amazing work it was.Whether out of embarrassment for me or  trying to bolster my confidence,  I think they genuinely could not see why I hadn’t been accepted and agreed that the whole thing is very subjective to each judge.

So … did I set myself up for a fall just before a major solo exhibition. In one way, putting work before a panel of judges goes against everything I believe in and tell others to do.  To paint with your heart and let your instinct lead.  So that begs the question – Why did I do it.?  Having thought about this, I think that because I am self- taught and have not had the formal training of many artists, I wanted some recognition and to be a part of something.   Will I try a simpler approach and subject?  NO!!  I will carry on painting what I love and feeds my soul.  From the feedback I get I know it connects to other people too.  It’s not a case of stuff them either though.

No sour grapes.  I might try again next year. I have set my self a challenge now.  And I think through painting practice you do discover new things and are learning all the time, so maybe it will make me strive for that perfection and beauty.  As the saying goes, ” Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, so perhaps next years judges will have a completely different opinion.

 

How to inspire a 7yr old to create their own seascape?

An email from a teacher sparked some thought from me on how to inspire a 7 year old to create their own seascape . Teacher and pupil  have been looking at several cornish artists for ideas and inspiration.  These might provide a starting point, but I wanted to provide them with words of encouragement to guide them through the creative process.  Because often it is all about the process.  Often the end result is very different from the first imagined idea.  For a painting to be magical, individual and feel worthy, you have to be focused and give something of yourself to it.  So…..

There are no rules.  Don’t confine yourself to convention or what you think it should be like.  Have no expectation of what it will be like.

Choose colour and make marks instinctively.

You can make no mistakes.  Don’t judge your painting or let others criticise it.  Keep going with it even when you feel like giving up.  If you feel stuck and don’t know where to go next, step back and feel excited about the next move.  Make it instinctively .   I can promise you won’t regret it.

Happy painting peeps!!

 

 

 

A Brief Fling

I am sure you will have noticed that I have not posted for a while.  I have also not painted for more than a few weeks.  After a fab holiday in Ibiza, I really need to find some inspiration, so thought I would have another dabble with the Artrage programme.  Because you are not wasting paint or paper and only wiping a few pixels when you make a mistake, you can really let loose and all sorts of images start to appear.  Don’t ask me where the one above came from?… hopefully some deep creativity unbound from the constraints of the costs of raw materials!!. It does have its limitations ie, lack of control, as my finger slips and slides over the touchpad, but maybe that is also the beauty of it  - its looseness, imperfect lines and mismatched proportions.

Is this a brief fling to get me back into painting or will it become something more?

 

New Venture; paint greetings cards – if I have the time!

August has been a month of dipping in and out of summer events, beach, coffee with friends and catching up with family and extended family.  I haven’t picked up a paintbrush with my hand, but in my head have painted a thousand pictures.  This spawned the idea of creating quick vignettes on blank cards for two close friends as I was struggling to find a card among the thousands that are now out there, and even the funny ones either didn’t hit the spot or had been done before and all cards now seem to be incredibly expensive.

So… in an hour with my first cup of tea in the morning, I have painted a couple of cards in acrylic for close friends which have unwittingly made perfect presents in themselves.

Card for Annie - It's ok. she's already seen it.

The whole idea of painting something quickly first thing in the morning reminded me of the paintings that David Hockney created on his ipad from his bedroom each morning and sent to friends which were turned into a massive exhibition.  Maybe I am onto something here!!

 

Roll on Port Eliot 2012

We have been back from the Port Eliot Festival for four days and are already looking forward to next year.   There is so much I could write about and so many photos I could post.  Someone said of Port Eliot that “if you asked 1000 people for a story of their experience of Port Eliot, you would get 1000 different stories”, and hereby lies the problem.  I can only say you need to go and experience this festival of ideas yourself.

Me and Don enjoying a Bloody Mary Elevensees

.  What sets it out from others is I suppose the mix of literary talks with the mix of music, cinema, food, fashion, comedy, cabaret and of course the beautiful setting, which allows all the different aspects to be laid on without really being aware of the any of the  rest of it.

Taking in the magnificence of the Round Room

One thing for sure is that it could be summed up as “London meets the Cornish”, where you see the “Beautiful people” strutting their stuff, the families whose children are called Tabitha, Henry, Hector and Aerial trying to organise themselves miserably alongside the often badly dressed cornish who always appear stouter and rounder and just love beer tent hopping. This of course is finding the extremes at both ends of the scale and in between there are the most lovely people who are genuinely there to soak up as much culture,and music as possible.  One of our favourite parts is “Caught by the River”, the inspiration of three music producers who also have a love of nature, their ethos summed up by the words “An antidote to indifference”  www.caughtbytheriver.net

Chris Yates, Jon Berry, John Andrews and Charles Rangley-Wilson talking Words on Water

My festival diary is written, full of memories of everything we saw, the chance meetings with new people, the inspiring talks we hear and the great music from Ahab, to banghra band RSVP, blues from Hat Fitz and Cara, theatre from Bellowhead, dance your heart out to Trance from The Egg and the mellow sound of Louis Eliot and many other great acoustic acts.  It really is a smorgasbord of creativity and inspiring thought, washed down with some good ale and great cocktails.

Suggs (Madness) at the Boogie Round , 2 a.m all singing "Lets go fly a kite"

Another post on my new heroine to follow very shortly!!

 

Creative Mojo

Where’s my mojo??  A bad back – my own fault, too much dancing.  Winter in June – can you believe this weather!!  and Wimbledon, all mean I have had a very uneventful week.  However, it was brightened today by having coffee with two artist friends at the gallery where I am part of the “Eye to Cornwall” exhibition at the moment (see previous posts for details).  It is very refreshing to get a different viewpoint from other artists and Gabrielle, by name and by  nature is a real Angel.  She has such charisma, intelligence and love, she lights up your day whenever you meet her.  Encouraged by her comments, I came home, researched how to make my own canvases instead of buying ready made and started playing around with a newly discovered paint programme online.  It is called ArtRage.  http://www.artrage.com/artrage-demos.html . This link will take you to a download which gives you a whole month to play around with it for free. After working hard to get the exhibition pieces together, I realise the importance of play, new experiences with art, and taking time to try new things which are all working to bring back my “creative mojo”

 

Peek-a-Blue

Another new painting which is in the exhibition “An Eye to Cornwall” at The Willoughby Gallery, The Castle Bude. EX23 8LG

This painting has been totally reworked as I was not happy with the original.  But some of the old painting has been allowed to show through and created wonderful scratched out lights and texture.  Peek- a – blue is a bit of a pun on peek-a-boo as it was quite a grey day and just a little blue sky was peeking through.

 

Peek -a-Blue. Oil painting framed 30cm x 20cm

 

More Paintings- “An Eye to Cornwall”

Dimity, Widemouth Bay

It takes time to get all this internet stuff sorted, so sorry for the unprofessional disjointed way I have presented it.  Its a case of finding time to edit, crop and present pictures of my paintings.  Some of the following are some of the smaller paintings on show, but with no less impact.  One is the largest at  I wonder how they reproduce in your eyes and how they compare in real life.

Windblown Gorse in a Cornish Hedge

Summer Warmth

Dancing Surf on an Incoming Tide 100cm square

 

Go for it!

I am painting my largest canvas to date 100cm square.  It requires a large brush and lot of bravery to get the first paint down.  I had an idea in mind and like to paint my underpainting loosely.  This gives me a feel for it and I love what the paint does sometimes when very wet, running into other colours and creating great effects which I try to preserve leaving them to show through subsequent layers.   Cobalt blue for summer skies was applied liberally. My first intention was to paint a distant seascape looking over a cornish hedge, but when dry I viewed it from different angles and a different painting completely was coming to me.  I have ended up turning it upside down as lovely foamy waves started to appear.  So it is going to be a large seascape with the tide running up the beach.  I will leave it to your imagination at the moment as all will be revealed in due course.

 

Brilliance of cornish gorse painting revealed

As promised from my Brilliance of Cornish Gorse post, here is the finished painting.  It was actually finished two weeks ago, but as always I like to put my paintings away and then review them to look at it with fresh eyes. This revealed a need for more colour in the foreground to give more depth to the underside of the gorse bush.

THE BRILLIANCE OF CORNISH GORSE - CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE TO SEE DETAIL

My inspiration was taken from a day in March when there was low light through a light cornish fog which made the yellow of the gorse really jump out at you.  To get this effect, my underpainting was purply pink overlaid with a opaque pale cobalt blue . It became a real exploration and adventure in colour with pinks and yellows being laid over dull greens and burnt siennas. Hope you like it. It will one of my paintings for the exhibition in June.