When the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown came into place I was still working in the art gallery where we had the exhibition of Naum Gabo, Russian constructivist; “...the first extensive presentation of Naum Gabo's sculptures, paintings, drawings and architectural designs to be held in the UK for over 30 years. The exhibition marks the centenary of the Realistic Manifesto 1920, a set of pioneering artistic principles launched in Moscow by Gabo and his brother Antoine Pevsner. The statement declared that authentically modern art should engage with and reflect the modern age. ” - Tate St Ives During our time in quarantine, my colleague, Alice, decided to put together a film of the museum staff reading the realistic manifesto translated from Russian to English, not only marking 100 years since it was written but also how relevant it is today. The manifesto was originally written by Gabo and his brother Antoine Pevsner. I took part; it has been a joy and a privilege to be able to collaborate. It was really sad that the exhibition was missed by many and on my last day I found this written in the exhibition catalogue, I shared this to my Instagram: "Art should attend us everywhere that life flows and acts...at the bench, at the table, at work, at rest, at play; on working days and holidays, at home and on the road...in order that the flame to live should not extinguish in mankind" Naum Gabo, from Constructions for real life exhibition catalogue 2020 You can find out more about Naum Gabo here. References https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/naum-gabo https://www.moma.org/collection/works/173291 text for gabo pic 1 …Naum Gabo Head No.2 1916, enlarged version 1964. The Work of Naum Gabo © Nina & Graham Williams / Tate. Photo: Kirstin Prisk.
0 Comments
Happy New Year and happy new decade! I thought I would do a roundup of 2019 and what is instore for 2020 post. I don’t generally do resolutions as such but last year one of my goals was to be more active with my creativity. I didn’t have a clear set plan of what I was going to do or a timescale which sounds really rubbish, in fact I was very vague because my art has to fit around my job and family. I felt if I was too rigid and things didn’t go to plan I would feel too defeated. However I had some great successes last year and a few low lights but that’s to be expected, as they say; a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. I think it’s important to acknowledge what didn’t work rather than erase those bits and paint a ‘perfect picture’ for the world. I wrote about it here in my post 'How to deal with rejection as a creative practitioner'. In 2019 I was lucky to have 5 exhibitions in Cornwall;
When I went back to college I remember being nervous and telling myself several times I wasn’t good enough so to have exhibited and sold my work at Tate St Ives and Tate Modern were definite career highlights and experiences in 2019. The paintings I submitted for both Tate exhibitions were painted as part of a mentorship I did, one sold at the private view and the other about a week later! ‘From Trevalgon with Lanyon’ shown at Tate St Ives I had to take my artwork to London so I spent a few days there and also enjoyed the Olafur Eliasson exhibition, a few days is never enough though. I love London as it just opens my mind to more artists and I always come home with lots of new ideas. In February, many months before the exhibition at Tate Modern I went to see the Don McCullin photography exhibition at Tate Britain. This exhibition will be at Tate Liverpool 5th February – 6th May 2020. I know Cornwall has so many artists and galleries but it’s nice to get away from seascape themed artwork and look at different perspectives. So what’s the plan for 2020? I made a list a few days ago;
Are you stuck with your creative work? Do you need to finish a piece or tie up loose ends and want to try something new? Try these tips with visual examples. Feel free to print this list and use them as prompts to help, I have also made this information into an infographic at the bottom of the page.
For my second post in the ‘Meet the Maker’ series I had the opportunity to put forward some questions to my colleague Sayra Begum who will also be at Tate Modern for the staff biennale 28th August to 3rd September. CAN YOU GIVE US AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE? I would class myself as an illustrator. Since graduating from Falmouth in 2016, I’ve been focusing on one project, Mongrel. I started writing Mongrel on my MA and it’s been the focus of my creative energy since. I have around 100 pages left to illustrate and I’m hopping it will be released in Spring 2020 by Knockabout Comics. WHAT WAS YOUR PATHWAY TO THIS; HOBBY, A WORKSHOP, EDUCATION, SOMETHING ELSE INSPIRING? I became really fascinated with graphic literature in my third year at Plymouth. I was comparing Islamic manuscripts with graphic novels, using the broad definition of Islamic art. The pages either had to be based on Islamic culture, set on Islamic land or have characters that belong to the Islamic world. For example I compared pages from Marjane Satrapi Persepolis to The Ta'rikh-i Alfi, (History of a thousand years). Both these pages communicate horrific scenes of violence but Satrapi’s story telling is from a personal perspective. The following year I became obsessed with women’s life writing in comic book form. I was interested in why so many women were turning to the medium to share such personal and honest stories when the medium has a long history of being male dominated. I researched the story telling devises the medium had to offer to creators and the drawbacks. And so inevitably I chose to share my own story in the graphic novel format, that’s Mongrel. I couldn’t help noticing in both lines of research how the purpose of sharing auto/ biographical stories had evolved from providing people with an exemplary life, how we should aspire to live such as the life of The Prophet and Jesus, to sharing frank stories of everyday life. Something that’s more relatable to make us feel less awful about ourselves by that someone else has been through the same or worse. The Modern obsession with impurity. INFLUENCES IS THERE A STORY OR A THEME BEHIND THE BRAND/MAKER? In my work I’m interested in exploring auto/biography with a focus on female and marginalised voices. I use personal narrative to provide a way in for the readers to experience a place, a way of life, a world which may not be familiar to them. CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR PROCESS FROM IDEA TO FINISHED PIECE AND DO YOU WORK FROM HOME, OUTSIDE OR A STUDIO? In my home I have a little studio room where I have my large drawing table and desk, amongst all my other arty possessions. I’m really grateful that I have my own space to get away and focus. My process starts in word doc. Not very exciting I know. I start writing the script, what each character is saying, directions for my future self when planning the layout and illustrations. At this point I’ll also be working from lots of scrap bits of paper when I’ve come up with ideas of what to include in the book. In the next stage, I’ll start creating thumbnails, using the thumbnails to decide the pacing of the story, the layout and very rough outline of what I want happening in the panels. I will then create a clearer draft, developing the initial layout and illustration in thumbnails. The drawing will become a lot clearer so other people can decipher what’s going on. Finally, it’s pencilling the illustration, darkening the outline, shading, scanning it into Photoshop to clean up then, dropping it into InDesign and placing the text. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE INTERESTED IN WORKING IN THIS DISCIPLINE/INDUSTRY? It takes a lot of hard work and persistence. You’ve probably already heard that a thousand times but it’s true. You will have to really love what you do to ride out the difficult journey and get to the publication point. ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS/MAKERS YOU ADMIRE, WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION? There are so many illustrators that I am influenced by … Marjane Satrapi, Craig Thompson, Lynda Barry, Dominque Goblet, Phoebe Gloeckner… And Persian Miniatures… TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SAYRA YOU CAN CLICK THROUGH THESE LINKS Website As well as being a painter I love to dabble with fabric whether thats printmaking, sewing or surface pattern design; I love it all!
I feature my designs on Spoonflower and they have a 50% off promotion if you order a fat quarter of fabric until 1st August** and you can buy my designs HERE A fat quarter measures 18 x 21 inches so is ideal for those smaller projects where you dont need meters/yards of fabric at a time. There is also a huge variety of fabric finishes to suit your project; Cotton, Satin, Performance Piqué (100% polyester knit fabric), Chiffon, Organic Sweet Pea Gauze, Poly Crepe de Chine, Silky Faille, Lightweight Cotton Twill, Modern Jersey, Cotton Spandex Jersey, Fleece, Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra, Organic Cotton Knit Ultra, Organic Cotton Sateen Ultra, Minky, Denim, Sport Lycra, Velvet. The website explains Here the weight, estimated shrinkage and ideal uses. A fat quarter is ideal for making:
If you purchase one of my designs I would love to see what you make, drop me an email and I will feature it on my social media! **Offer valid: 12 a.m. EDT July 29, 2019 -11:59 p.m. EDT August 11, 2019 Promo is not valid on any other fabric sizes, unprinted, out-of-stock or retired fabrics, PRO-exclusive fabrics, wallpaper, gift wrap or products. Summer holidays are right around the corner! whether you’re a stay at home parent, working parent, have a holiday away booked or a couple of day trips, I think a lot of parents’ question how they are going to entertain their children for 6 whole weeks of the summer holidays, I know I do!
Whilst I will be juggling work with the kids being off there will be little time to be in the studio to paint but I can still be creative in other ways. I have been thinking of some creative activities that you can do with children (suitable for most ages and with supervision) to pass the time and make some summer holiday memories. Whatever your plans are we all hope for sunny days where we can be outside but some of these activities are ideal for indoors or you can pop on the wellies and raincoat if you don’t mind the elements.
Using a solution focused approach is a way of using different perspectives to resolve a specific situation or problem. College brief, university assignment, creative proposal… this list of prompts and questions may help you to resolve that project that you have become stuck with.
· What if we try……? · Are there any other ways at looking at this? · We could also……. · Brainstorm ideas · Put the work up on the wall, take a step back, have a tea break, look with fresh eyes · Let’s look at the options, what’s the best possible option I am likely to achieve? · Have I missed anything · Can I make this work? Is it realistic? · What could I adapt? · Who else would know about this? Do I know anyone who has experience with this? · Define the problem: what is the real issue? · Desired outcome: what do I want? · If I follow through with this option how will I feel? · What is my final decision? · Steps: what must I do? When? Where? With whom? · Obstacles: what might get in the way and how will I deal with these? · Evaluation: did it work? What would I do differently next time? Printing this out and keeping it in your sketchbook or paperwork might be useful for future projects. |
Archives
February 2021
Categories
All
My Spoonflower Shop
|