Husb and I caught the midsummer sunset at Mynyddbach Common, one of the city’s high points, last night just before 9.40pm.
The colours were extraordinary and my digital camera didn’t really catch the range of colours in the lower sky. Of course, I had to have a scribble, with Daler Rowney artist quality soft pastels.
Bog Art and MWGA launch: Cinema & Co, Swansea, Tuesday July 9th from 18.30 – 20.30 with art, literature, short films, a pop-up kitchen and FREE CAKE! Please come along.
Rosie Scribblah and Patti McJones (aka The Revolting Women) are officially launching Bog Art alongside the launch of the satirical book “Making Wales Great Again” (M.W.G.A.) by Swansea author “Notsogreatdictator “.
If you want people as in “The People” to see art where’s the best place to put it? Art galleries are where art lives but not everyone see themselves as the sort of person who goes to art galleries which is why lots of people don’t go to art galleries, but everyone has to use the toilet! So we thought why not let “The People” take in some culture as they take a seat in Cinema & Co. We put artwork on the walls in the toilet in case you’re not very clear on exactly what we did. All the work features women artists and heroines and is by me and Patricia McKenna Jones. We are both very interested in the role of women in history and art and take great pains to bring their often-forgotten contributions to light again. Not just because they are women but also because their work and lives are uniquely inspiring and show a depth of commitment and skill that needs to be seen and recognised.
My work is a set of silk screen prints of my favourite artists including Kathe Kollwitz. I’ve loved her work for many years and I think she’s one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. I defy anyone to go around the Kathe Kollwitz gallery in Berlin and not cry – her work is profoundly moving. She suffered the tragedy of losing her son in World War 1 and her grandson in WW2 and her war memorial, ‘The Grieving Parents’ in the Vladsio German War Cemetery is imbued with a terrible sadness and hopelessness.
Patti’s paintings are about women who fought to defeat fascism during WWII. One is Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944) a half Russian, half Indian Muslim woman who signed up to the Special Operations Executive (a secret army with the aim of helping resist Hitler): She helped foil enemy operations in occupied France but was eventually captured and shot at Dachau after proving her worth many times over.
Swansea author Notsogreatdictator (not his real name) is also launching his new book of satirical snippets based on the weirder and dafter aspects of life in Wales and especially Swansea. Copies will be available for sale and he’ll be there to sign them.
There will be a pop-up kitchen from Goggi (including vegan food), the excellently stocked Cinema & Co bar and FREE CAKE made by Patti, Notsogreatdictator and me.
Here’s the itinerary for the evening, we would love to see you there –
I did a lino cut today, well it was on vinyl, from an original sketch I did in my sketchbook when I was on a field trip recently with the Fire Lab, to study Victorian culverts on the Tafarn Y Garreg road towards Brecon.
The drawing is quite abstracted, I was looking down along the stream bed as it wound its way down the valley wall into the River Tawe. I transferred the drawing, in reverse, onto the vinyl using powdered chalk and a hard pencil and then cut it with my Flexcut tools.
I do quite a bit of teaching, to adults, and many have a big problem with drawing, they feel that they can’t draw and that when they try, they get very demoralised because “it isn’t perfect”. So many people have unrealistic expectations about drawing and don’t realise that, like any skill, it takes commitment, practice and dedication. They also don’t realise that even professional artists don’t get perfection every time we put pen to paper, or even most of the time. I started drawing from a sheep skull earlier today and the first one (below) was a bit rubbish. But instead of giving up, I turned over a new page and started again, scribbling away with a ballpoint pen and producing something I’m happier with.
I did some drawing this evening down at the Zoology Museum in Swansea University. It’s a small place but jam packed full of fascinating specimens. I did a reduction drawing of the skull of a large fish. There was some debate about whether it was a whiting, like the label said, or a cod.
I’d prepared some thick khadi paper in advance. First I cleaned off an old drawing board that had been used for paper stretching and make sure it was clean and smooth. Then I stretched the wet sheets of paper, sticking them down with brown paper gumstrip. Finally I gave them a couple of coats of white acrylic gesso, to give me a resilient surface to work on.
And here’s the last drawing I did at the Glynn Vivian art gallery in Swansea the other evening. Husb and I went to the private view and curators’ talk for the new drawing exhibition, “Hand Drawn Action Packed“. It’s a really good show and it’s free entry too. I scribbled these heads into my little A6 hardbacked sketchbook, using a ballpoint pen. I like ballpoint for sketchbook work, it flows easily and gives a lovely scribble … and that’s what I’m about.
Husb and I were at the preview of the new drawing exhibition, “Hand Drawn Action Packed” at Swansea’s most excellent Glynn Vivian art gallery the other evening. I scribbled of course, which was fitting, given that it’s a drawing exhibition. I find it difficult to cram an entire subject onto the page – I was always criticised when I was in art college for this. I used to point out that Egon Schiele and Käthe Kollwitz often did the same – and if it’s okay for them ……. Anyway, I solved it by putting the bottom of her legs onto a different part of the page.
The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea has a fabulous drawing exhibition, “Hand Drawn Action Packed“, which opened with a guided talk from the show’s curators, Roger Malbert and Antonia Shaw. These events are always good for a quick scribble, people are generally quite still. I always carry a sketchbook – this is an A6 size hardbound one and I prefer to draw in ballpoint pen on this scale.
And a captive audience is good practice for drawing a crowd, getting the perspective and proportions right, without too much moving around.
There are ten artists featured, Marcel Dzama | Marcel van Eeden | Inci Eviner | Yun-Fei Ji | William Kentridge | Nalini Malani | Otobong Nkanga | Raymond Pettibon | Amy Sillman | Rinus Van de Velde.
I liked them all but particularly William Kentridge, Rinus Van de Velde and Nalini Malani.
Husb and I went to Swansea’s Glynn Vivian art gallery this evening for the preview of the latest exhibition “Hand Drawn Action Packed“, an exhibition of artists who draw. It’s fantastic to see a drawing exhibition in a prestigious gallery. Of course, I had a scribble. Well, I would, wouldn’t I?
There are ten artists featured in the show, Marcel Dzama | Marcel van Eeden | Inci Eviner | Yun-Fei Ji | William Kentridge | Nalini Malani | Otobong Nkanga | Raymond Pettibon | Amy Sillman | Rinus Van de Velde.
A few years back I did an artist residency at Wingtip Press in Boise, Idaho, USA. It was a wonderful experience and I keep an eye out on what’s happening in printmaking in Boise. The irrepressible Amy Nack, founder of Wingtip Press sent me some information about “Print Boise River”. It’s a project celebrating the beloved Boise River by building a 150′ paper river with flip flop prints, grant funded by Boise City Department of Arts and History.
Flip Flop Fish Prints!!!!! Brilliant idea!
The big PRINT BOISE day will be July 13 at the Anne Frank Memorial.
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