Starting Over

Today is the first day of a new sketchbook and it is always a scary thing. Even though, I have learn to avoid being too precious about a sketch book. This is always a nervous feel as the pen hits the page. I decide to start with a typical tree picture. What drew my attention was the bulky circular trunk of the tree, probably where it had been pollard.

The previous sketch book was a good 200pp A5 and so it has taken some time to get through. A change of tack is moving up to a A4 size, which is exactly the size of the scanner. This is to avoid black line through the spine. Half the number of pages probably 96pp and on slightly heavier cartridge paper rather than the smoother calendared paper that is less opaque.

Another layout, I have changed from using all the pages, to using the right hand page for the main sketch and then use the left hand page to play around with the image or quickly sketch what I felt should be the main form of the image.

Stone and Wood

I was told that Malham Cove is more spectacular that Newbiggin Crags and in some ways it is, but I went to Newbiggin first , when I was at my foundation college and the place is special. The limestone pavements is split and runs like a river at times across the top of the hill. The twisted trees stand out in such a landscape and when the weather is good, made another contrast against the blue sky.

A couple of quick sketches that I did using a brush pen, which I am still getting use too. What was also fascinating was the comparison that I had with the exhibition of Clare Woods exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield.

Morecambe Winter Gardens

The Morecambe Winter Gardens is a old theatre that has been closed a good few years, but it doesn't deserve to wither away and die. We had visited Morecambe as my Grandma and Great Auntie were residents in the past and some times it doesn't pay to revisit old childhood haunts. Morecambe is not now the most glamorus of sea side towns, but does have some gems.

Unfortunately, the centre of the town has been split by some large supermarkets, lying by the side of the railway line. Opposite the Midlands Hotel, a famous Art Deco building seen in many Poirot TV series. The old Marine land sea aquarium has gone as has the old lido. The town reminds me of Brighton in the early 90s, down on its luck and waiting for some thing to happen. It suffered the indignantly of being one of the top five places not to live.

Just like the theatre, Morecambe might find its way to surviving and re-inventing itself to a wider British audience.This is definitely a project that needs supporting as you can imagine how wonderful a performance would be in this theatre,even its current state. I look forward to going back and seeing it revive.

The Singing Line

The view from Box Hill looking down toward Dorking. These are meant to be for series of big block print on a large size. I have been thinking A0 (840 x 1,188mm). So using my large brush pen and changing tack from just wanting to use only colour and no black.

 The view from Box Hill towards Denbies Vineyard with Ranmore church and common on the hill top.

This is another view that used a portrait and wanted to exaggerate the central shape. The idea being have the centre part folding in on itself.

One of the changes to I did was to listening to music, whilst I was at work. I usually do when in my studio, but I decided on trying it out and started with the album, Lungs by Florence and the Machine. It was the track the Drumming Song that grab my mind and led to the next series of sketches.

Out of Australia

The British Museum has a small print room, wait up on the third floor. You have to know where you are going or you would get distracted on the way up. I was there to see the Out of Australia - prints and drawings from Sydney Nolan to Rover Thomas.

Previously, the rains in London at 'flooded' out the museum with tourists and I could not get in. So I was determined to go. It proved well worth while and I wish I had gone sooner especially as there were connecting events that I had missed.

There was a wide range of work starting with the Angry Penguins through to the present including aboriginal prints. I was able to see some of Fred Williams work, whose work I knew from one or two paintings. These images were just as impressive, impressionist in their view of the landscape. The marks were stripped back to just squiggles, yet shimmering in the overall image is a landscape, muted colours might indicate where it is geographical.

As with a lot of Australian art, the styles and themes have taken time to travel. The cubism and surrealism of Albert Tucker. Yet, these artists do not slavish copy what has emerged from Europe or later the States, but used it as references to show their own Australian landscapes in this new style.

Running along side this exhibition was another called Basket and Belonging. Looking at aboriginal use of traditional skills of basket waving and how it relates to the culture of these people.

New Cartographies

This exhibition at the Cornerhouse in Manchester has finished. Even though it dominated all three of the floors, overall the number of exhibits on show felt light.

The theme of New Cartography was the line between Algeria, France and the UK. The galleries were split into three parts - movement, place and memory. The first dealt with migration both from and to Algeria and what it meant to be a person on the seas of the 20th century histories and tides. Place looked at what Algerian landscape is whether it is desert or urban.

There were three stunning large, colour and black & white photos of the Saharan landscape. You had a stony landscape, then a caravan of camels almost lost in the bleakness of white sand and the last, a typical desert theme of sands with rocky mountains dominating these shifting sea of sands.

Memory considered the places with unusual video and interviews discussing migrating back to Algeria or looking at container ships moving across the harbour. A witty comment on how trade historically would have been across the desert sands.

This exhibition was a subtle one and appearing slight. It still gives me reasons to think a bit more about it and find out about the artists who participated in this show. They are on my fringe of vision and give me, the opportunity to look into another world, but also out back into mine.

Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hpeworth is one of the main pillar of British Sculpture during the mid part of the 20th century. The other being Henry Moore, both were born in Yorkshire and this shows in their work. The strange rocky outcrops and crags that litter the moors are ingrained in their pieces. Both these sculptors were compared and contrasted now and then. Whereas Moore's reputation has suffered as some of the other mainstream British artists, I would suggest that Barbara Hepworth's is growing stronger.

One of the results is the new art gallery in Wakefield dedicated to her work. I visited the new building this weekend, which was only its third week of opening and has already, it seemed that there was a large flow of people coming to view both the art and the gallery. This could be seen by the way all the car parks had been closed and buses laid on for a park and ride. The building is a series of blocks linked together and not very warming. The inside is better, maybe a little too harsh minimalist, but I rather liked the shape of the rooms. One of the odd things was the windows have been blocked off, so you had to walk around these obstructions to see the views, across the river.

There were two rooms dedicated to Wakefield's own collection of historical pictures and some of the town own artwork of the same period. I gave a wry smile where there was catalogue proclaiming an exhibition by Henry Moore was packing them in. This was to set the seen of art in the 30s and 40s with some of the other sculptors work who were contemporaries. There were a couple of 'lost' artists who had were working at the same time, but never developed as 'bigger names' or nor any little gems, but people who would have influenced her and Moore with their beginnings in Yorkshire.

Another room was dedicated to the marquettes that Hepworth worked on, uusually, I had only know the small pieces that had been worked on like Moore's or even some of the small Rodin ones. However, she usually worked in a full size and it was odd seeing some of these bronzes worked out in plaster. The rougher, yest white surfaces. The large winged form was pinned to the wall and another more horizontal, rectangular pieces looking like a 3d Mondrian painting.

Besides and other room showing more polished pieces of her work there were room showing a current sculptor called Eva Rothschild with a show called Hot Touch. Her work is fascinating, both clever and witting with its use of space and usual materials. Someone whose work I will be more interested in finding out about.

All in all another gallery to show of the work of both one of the UK's major artist and some of the contemporary works as well. Definitely worth another visit.

Going to Gauguin

At last, I managed to get to the Tate Modern major Gauguin exhibition and it was absolutely stunning. The rooms were laid out in thematic order, but also tried to show the chronolgy between the pieces, how ideas recurred or were altered. This is really a must see exhibition as it has been a good few years since any previous Gauguin exhibition, I think there was a Post Impressionist exhibition around 79/80s, when I was at college; one I missed as I was 'up north'.

Starting with self portraits, this was to show that Gauguin almost created this idea of a mystical artist shaman. Yet, this has been debunked by Waldemar Januszczak's documentary about Gauguin's life. There were some fantastic paintings, Gauguin's use of perspective to add people of objects in unusual viewpoints, showing his love of Japonisme that effected the majority of French and European paintings at the time.

I was impressed that there was two rooms putting Gauguin in context with the historical events and the places that he visited. Posters of the exhibitions, that he would of visited that fed the imagination. Some sketches showing how ideas developed or how he perceived of his own work, Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.

What always impresses is finding pictures that have not been reproduced or printed as iconic images. There were several in this exhibition, and then by placing them in context with more well known images. It made you re-consider these works. You can see how the images are worked, the shapes that carry a lot of the paintings, yet the differences in painting are not that great. It is simple. You can see the use of complimentary colours to offset the ideas and how they played through.

This exhibition is going to Washington this year and if you can go, then you must. As it shows a one of the greats in context of his own times and with his own pieces.