I can’t keep the creative juices flowing constantly. I think most artists are the same. It isn’t a 9 to 5 job. Some days I don’t make art, but I still like to draw, even for a few minutes, to keep my hand in. That’s where the cat comes in handy, she’s always around for a quick scribble. She’s getting to be a bit of a chonk!
I spent a lovely afternoon at GS Artists on Swansea’s High Street, working with fellow artist Patti McKenna-Jones, running a collage workshop. It was organised by GS Artists director, Jane, and Amina from Fusion as part of Swansea’s second annual 9-90 arts festival. Our theme this year is “Local Hero” and Jane and Amina chose that marvellous actor and philanthropist Michael Sheen as our subject.
We had a great group of people, some experienced artists familiar with collage and some who had never done it before. They all approached it differently and brought their own style to each piece. The session was only 2 hours but they worked really fast and did loads of work, although there wasn’t enough time to finish. They took their collages away with their “pallettes” of coloured paper shards so they can finish them at home, ready to exhibit.
The 9-90 Festival is inviting people to submit portraits of Michael Sheen to be shown at GS Artists in December. Please click here to find out more.
Here’s another family kitty… shhhh …. don’t tell Sparta Puss! She’s a very slimline tortoiseshell cat called Lulu. I drew her on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with a free app called Markers.
From November 9th at Cinema & Co, Swansea, the new BogArt exhibition by me and Patti McJones.
Art is mostly exhibited in galleries and museums that can be quite intimidating to many people, so Patti and I took up an offer by Anna, the owner of Cinema & Co, to use her substantial toilets to exhibit some of our work. We call it BogArt – art in the bogs – and it’s very democratic because people don’t have to go to a gallery but everyone has to go to the toilet. We’re not too proud to show our work here.
The work will be up for a few months but please look at Cinema and Co’s website for opening times. And here’s a short film of us talking about it …
This image has had quite a lengthy journey. I did the original drawing (below) of a seagull, or city centre thug around these parts, at Swansea Museum weeks ago, working with Edinburgh-based printmaker Kelly Stewart, sketching antique taxidermy birds and bugs from the Museum collections.
Then I created a transparency to transfer the drawing onto a photosensitised screen. When it was exposed, developed and dried I tried out a load of trial prints onto cheap newsprint paper, using Daler Rowney System 3 acrylic paint, black with a hint of purple, and some printmaking medium.
And finally I printed an edition of 6 onto Fabriano Rosapina paper (285gsm) with one Artist Proof and one leftover, which is a reject. Fabriano paper comes from the Italian town of Fabriano which has been a centre for papermaking for nearly eight hundred years.
So the new woodblock I’m working on has been cut and is now out in the shed drying after a coat of shellac and methylated spirits in a 50:50 ratio. It needs two more coats to seal it properly so I hope to be able to take a first proof from it sometime on Friday.
I’m in printmaking mode at the moment, with a woodcut and a silkscreen in development. This woodcut will hopefully be ready for an event at Swansea’s Cinema & Co this Saturday, November 9th. It’s a free event with a screening of the marvellous film “Set Fire To The Stars“, poetry, music and new art throughout the building……
I’d better finish carving this block pronto ………
I did this suite of portrait heads based on drawings from my first visit to Pakistan a few years back. I used polyurethane foamboard, the sort used by signwriters, instead of lino or wood. The block below is the one on the left in the middle row above, inked up and printed.
They’ve never been exhibited as a group before but they will be very soon, in Swansea’s Cinema & Co from this coming Saturday, November 9th.
Here’s a digital drawing of a strange little fella. S/he will be appearing on Twitter tomorrow on #MacroinvertebrateMonday. Check it out 😀
Liek many artists, I supplement my income through teaching part-time. One thing that’s become very obvious over the years is that so many people genuinely have no idea how long it takes to make an artwork. There’s a popular image that artists sit down (SIT? I wish!) and go “bish, bash, bosh” and behold – a painting (sculpture, etching etc…)
No concept of the huge amount of work that goes into each piece. Starting with sketching (because I’m old school) to explore the subject and get used to it. Then some colour studies to work out the hues, tones, tints etc… That’s where I’m at now. I’ve still got a fair bit of work to do on this digital drawing before I move on to the final medium – either watercolour or collage – I haven’t decided yet.
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