Another story about exhibiting at the Mall Galleries!

Patrick and I took the 8:10 train.  Once in London, we went to the British Museum for a coffee. From there I walked over to Trafalgar Square and down to the Mall Galleries.  

On arriving I found my exhibitor's label but decided to save it for later. I walked to the 'naughty' room and to my surprise my work wasn't there. Instead, I found it in the main room, hung with other flower and still life works by RBA members and other exhibiting artists. I met quite a few members in the hours that I looked at work, drank coffee and introduced myself.  David Paul Rowan introduced me to others and put me at ease. Gabriella (last year's NEAC drawing Scholar) and Sergio came to support me. 

PV day

During the day, I met Terry Watts and saw his impressive paintings (one was on the invite). I found Mick Davies (after his wife greeted me and introduced herself) - I was a big fan of Mrs Hokusai's Hairdo!

work by Mike Davies

I visited Messums to see Antony Williams' exhibition. https://antony-williams.com/messums-exhibition-2019/ Later, other friends and family met me at the exhibition.

Tom Marsh and me

It was brilliant to meet Tom Marsh, a regular exhibitor at the Mall Galleries.  He knows some of the plein air painters I met during my NEAC scholarship year. I also introduced myself to Annie Boisseau whose work I admire.

On Thursday I went to John Sprakes talk/book launch/poetry and music event, held in the exhibition. I had met him at the PV and his congenial nature and strong vibrant paintings recommended me to the talk.  https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/artist/john-sprakes-rba-roi

Brian Johnson and one of my paintings

While there, Patrick's dear friend, Brian, appeared, and we looked at a bit of the work, including my paintings, together.  His adorable words, something like 'it's quite exciting to be able say my friend has work in an exhibition here,' made my day.

Mr Wei Shao, and a fellow opera singer

The following Saturday, I went to the RBA's annual dinner.  We were entertained by the Patron of the RBA, Mr Wei Shao, and a fellow opera singer with a piece from La Traviata. Patrick and I enjoyed our table with dinner companions: Peter Newsome & Marion Eastwood (member and exhibitor) and Lorrain Abraham, member of the Society of Marine Painters who was an exhibitor in the RBA show.  I also had a wonderful encounter with revered Chinese artist, Feng   Sixaio https://www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk/royal-society-of-british-artists-honours-chinese-artist-sixiao-feng/ His wife and daughter-in-law took photos of me by my work and explained his practice in China.

As ever, the whole experience was delightful and exhillarating.  And I feel that I couldn't have got more from it, which is also good. (unless I'd sold…)

You can find the catalogue online here: 
https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/royal-society-british-artists-annual-exhibition-2019 my work on page 10

Drawing to fix things in time

Voluptuous Bouquet, pastel on paper, 23x22, 2019

For Mothers' day, Figgy got me a bouquet of flowers.  There were protea, some heather and some dried fuscia flowers. I had never had my own protea which was exciting. Today I combined some of the flowers with some tulips that have been in the house and were on their last legs and set up a new 'story'.  

Story suggests intentionality.  I liked the green in the kantha and found a green cup then my rubber stamp tin for the spots and for the cup to sit on … the figure is me, languishing in the scene. I suspended a fused plastic collage from a staple and then edited out the frame as I worked. The vase is a charity shop find, vintage Honiton, as I discovered.  It conjures up Duncan Grant for me. There is a deco linen tablecloth with a green, beige and ochre motif and a pashmina in the background. In the front, the kantha some velvet and the back of the velvet, a swatch of fabric from a fabric book and a mexican belt. As I drew the tulip moved and the leaves withered. I wanted to fix the bouquet and the only way to do it justice was to draw it. I had to learn a new language to say soemthign baout the protea.  

News From England

News From England, pastel on opened altered book

We've had a little snow over the past few days and we live on a hill so it stuck around enough to whiten the ground.  Our dog, Lyra, loves the snow and charged ahead, rolling on her back and sniffing wildly. Early morning with a dusting of snow is certainly news and the milky pink light delights us all. 

And I'm still filling up my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. The mug was a gift from my friend who accompanied me to the Bonnard exhibition!

Private View New English Art Club

Private View,  Mall Galleries, In front of the 'Scholars Wall' my work (12 small pieces) on right

People kept asking me if I was nervous before the Private View. The answer was 'no'. I hoped the work would speak for itself and all the members were so kind to me I was just excited and trying to enjoy every moment.

My day began by rendezvousing with Jane and Jo on the train. We made our way to the The Mall Galleries, arriving by noon. The atmosphere was wonderful.  There were many people and more red dots were starting to appear. I had sold the little egg tempera of Dawn at the 'first sight' exhibition on Tuesday night so had already exceeded my expectations!

I went over to Messum's to meet Annabel and Patrick for 3pm.  Rose Hilton's vibrant work was wonderful to see even though they were busy adding other artists to the exhibition.  I was wearing my exhibitor badge and David Messum kept looking at me so I explained.  He had been at the critics' lunch the day before (as had I) and had been trying to think how he knew me… it was all rather surreal. When I told Paul Wuensche (other scholar), he and I joked that we should make a habit of wearing exhibitor's badges as a rule.

Pauline arrived 5 ish and she went straight to my wall and was very excited to share that I had sold another piece, this time it was the image that is in the catalogue of Tiziana, labeled 'untitled'  Pauline, Annabel Patrick and I made our way to the drinks table and clinked glasses. Figgy, Jonny, Livvy Padfield and Kate Hills joined our convivial group. 

At 6:30 Richard Pikesley, president of the NEAC, then Sir David Clementi (Chairman of the BBC) addressed us, awarded prizes and the new scholars were announced.

I had many wonderful conversations with members and visitors between Monday and Thursday but perhaps my most thrilling was when Melissa Scott Miller came to find me to tell me that Anthony Eyton wanted to speak to me. According to Melissa he had spent a long time looking at my wall and when I spoke to him he spoke encouragingly and enthusiastically about my pieces, calling me a 'really wonderful artist'. He told me his work was up high at the RA Summer Exhibtion this year and I promised to look for it. Nothing could have prepared me for that encounter. 

Sir David Clementi at Mall Galleries NEAC exhibition 2018

And there is an afterword: On Friday I met Lesley and Ian en route to Wales from Rome to bring them to the exhibition.  I took an early train down and went to see Gabriella's exhibition in Fulham.  Gabriella is one of the new scholars. As I was preparing to get off at South Kensington to change to the Wimbeldon train, I locked eyes with someone I recognised… it was Anthony Eyton again, on his way to the V&A about a commission! He remembered my name, having as he said only 'met me in the past 24 hours' and repeated all the nice things he'd said about me and my work to the man who was accompanying him to the V & A. I had to pinch myself.

When the Title Comes First

Add caption

There's a Suffolk Open Studios group show coming up soon and I had to submit my titles weeks ago.  I am always determined to show new work, even if what I showed before only got one outing. This time I chose the titles for the work based on some things I had done recently.  You know the thing when you like something right after you do it or you think it will grow on you, only to find it just doesn't really work.  That was what happend with my titles for SOS this time. I'm just not sure about the pieces I made associated with the titles so this week's job was to see what I could do with the titles. The titles I was working to were: Jam and Book at Breakfast, and Daffs and Lemons.   The previous blog post has something I arranged to fit the title Daffs and Lemons and today it was the other title's turn. 

Colour of Morning Dog Walk

Returning to the dog walk drawings, I considered the light as it rose and the colours that light can make. I wasn't remembering colour so much as finding the colour that felt true.
Sometimes when I walk I can't help but exclaim about a particular light or the slant of the horizon and recreating that was the goal.  In the top monotype I rolled a bright pink over the plate and wiped and painted back in colour, thinking of Milton Avery.  On the bottom this is the second pull.  The first was nightlight and I wanted to find the light of cold in this one.  The cold is coming!

NO need to go far for inspiration

View from Front Garden,  pastel on paper, 14 x 15

I've got some monotypes to make for an upcoming show and today was supposed to be devoted to that until I decided to go outside to draw.  It is cold today, about 3ºC when I was standing in the front garden. I had three layers on the bottom and four on the top and I still had to stop to warm up after about an hour and 1/2 before going back again. I much prefer being cold and standing to being warmer in a car, though.  Besides, I need to get 'match fit' for my plein air painting with John Dobbs in a few weeks time. It's funny to think that I will take the train and bus to paint the Thames when I have so much inspiration right here.

I've been reading more of the Jason Gaiger book, thinking about how we read the marks on the page and whether denotation comes first.  I suspect everyone can recognise that cold wintery sky.

Now maybe I will make those monotypes!

Instead of daily pages…

Every morning we walk Lyra, rain or shine in some direction and home.  On Saturday morning there was some spectacular ground fog rising up as the sun began to glow. I took my camera, something I rarely do and took some pictures as we walked, to have reference photos but also to focus my mind on what was special about this day at this time. 

In the past I have drawn from photos by projecting them on the wall.  I've used charcoal when I've done this and have tried to feel as if I was in the place where I took the photo, as I've drawn. This time, I used six dilutions of ink and thought about the value of what i was looking at.  I used postcard sized photos I printed as reference.  the ink is from the Works.  I suspect I should buy something a little stronger, but for this it worked.

I thought about some of the things Neil Pittaway had shown us and talked about and worked at evoking the feel of a dog walk in the morning, not getting bogged down with making things 'right' just finding the feeling.

I worked on the ink sketches (A4 size) around our visit to Tina and Christopher's (for lunch) and again this morning.  On Friday and Saturday my friends were talking about how they use 'daily pages' to begin their days.  We walk Lyra and I think visually and it feeds into what I do. 

The Continuous attempt to solve problems from every angle.

Swallow Time, oil on prepared book page, (painted area 15 x 10 cm)

After a large pastel, of course it was time to do a small oil. I wanted to make a companion piece to an earlier painting on a book page. I approached the set up and the painting in a similar way to before, although this time I began using only brushes that were too big for what I was doing, (a suggestion from Louise Balaam). I was actually wedged in a small space in my studio and I kept having to shimmy out to find stuff.  In the end I just gave up and decided to do what I imagined with the tools I had …

First I found some book pages, glued then gessoed them and then I rearranged things from the previous pastel.  This is something I do now.  I try to finish what I start, ignoring structural elements if I can make things work and then look at what I've done and do it again differently. Matisse did that. 

So the things in my head today were:
- use more paint
- don't fiddle (use a big brush)
- mix the exact colour to begin with and lay colours right next to each other 
- use lots of variety, pace things
- design the page and use value to effect
- Dorothy Eisner

I am more purposeful. Working across media  and in different ways leads to very different outcomes.  Scale matters.  Composition changes radically depending on the shape of the paper.

Urban and Rural Landscapes

Wet Field Combs, pastel on paper, 16 x16 cm

I sat in the landrover today and twisted myself into a position where I could see the view from the verge. There are signs all over that say CONSERVATION Keep off. This is new.  If I'd had my plein air easel I would have been able to position myself and to stand.  As it was I was cramped but warm and protected from the howling wind. 

The clouds raged across the sky and sometimes it was white and blue and sometimes it seemed to threaten rain and go all grey. I caught it somewhere between the two.  The unploughed field looked brown and red and blue and purple and yellow and then on the verge in front, there should have been grass but it was puddling and muddy in the middle. I kept thinking about Barbara Rae.

My mother loves the trees when they are leafless. Patrick and Juliet can identify them by shape.  I just find them a little sad.  I met someone at a preview in Colchester, not long ago, who told me he only paints unbeautiful things.  Today when I was drawing in the car I felt the view was so beautiful that no matter what, I was on the verge of schmaltz. Perhaps beauty is the curse of the rural landscape for this slightly cynical New Yorker?

Rainy Museum Day, pastel on altered book page, 9 x 12.5 cm 

Meanwhile, before Christmas I was in London nursing a rotten cold, visiting exhibits and hauling my supplies for drawing from pillar to post. At one point I sat in the National Gallery near a window and drew the wet weather.  It was a pencil drawing as I learned that you need special permission to use pastels or watercolour in the National Gallery. Using my sketch and a photo I took, I tried to evoke that November moment, today. 

I hate the idea of drawing buildings.  Perspective makes me a little sick, because I don't know any and all those angles overwhelm me.  I could read a book and learn but that would be at odds with my teaching, so I struggle… The thing is,  I love breaking the paper up with angles so it's a bit of a catch 22. And I guess city drawing can be less (on the surface) beautiful so you need to really commune with it to find something to say!

New Year, new defiant start - NEAC Drawing School

 I ran into Mick from The NEAC drawing school at the Life Room exhibition at the RA. That bit of serendipity felt like a great beginning to my January in London - such a small town that I run into one of the only people I know! I'd already seen the Drawing Year exhibition at the royal Drawing School so I mooched around dragging my bag of tricks, a new bag of tricks until 5:40, having a tea here and happening upon an exhibit there. 

When I arrived at the Mall Galleries studio space at the back, ready to begin my second six months as a Drawing Scholar I felt puffed up and determined to BE MYSELF and produce work that isn't just jumping through hoops. NO, that's not fair… It has not been jumping through hoops, it has been back to art school and art school is about being open enough to do some things that you don't succeed at so well, trying things and gaining new perspectives and skills, to see where it takes you - to grow.  I've been doing that  and it's been great, but over the break I realised that I also need to apply this learning to 'my practice' so I don't just produce work that doesn't feel like me in the sessions and end up hating what I show at the exhibition in June.

Mick was wonderfully receptive and in the two hour session I made two prints and printed two ghosts. I brought my pastels but was so excited about the journey of the line and the pentimento that direct monotypes bring to life drawing that I never got there.  Perhaps next week!

Looking again - why I like after studies

Waiting for the Party, Oil on prepared book page, 10 x 15 cm,

When I began this blog in 2009, I had a basket of ten objects which I drew over and over in different situations. I learned through experience that objects are dependent on their context and become real through relationships. It's not surprising that the way I work, colour laid next to colour, helps me to find the reality of what I see in front of me. And perhaps this explains why I like to work from observation best of all. 

The image above is a little darker than the real thing.  It is another grey day here in Suffolk and I photographed a few minutes ago when the day is getting darker.  Still it gives the flavour of the slightly different arrangement  point of view, shape of paper (not canvas this time). The still life extension to the front.  The apple sits inside the spoon with the blue handle. When I came to paint, holding up my frame deciding on my point of view, I realised it would be better to omit that stuff in the front. I was moving in and cropping out. 

I like after studies because problems have been solved.  But this time I made new problems in version two which were equally difficult to deal with.  Luckily this little painting is small - 10 x 15 cm painted on a prepared book page.  But small is difficult in a different way.

I traded a simple orangey cloth for some of the pattern of the previous, but it was difficult to keep the colour from becoming insipid.  I painted and painted until it was believable. Each shift somewhere else meant I had to go back to it. That red vase is a devil! I picked two of them up a few days after Christmas. when I looked at them I knew their modern form would confound me but why not? My mum chivied me on. The pom poms make me think of a mexican hacienda.

Thiking about it, what I like about after studies is the same thing you like about a sequel -  the opportunity to connect with the subject in a different way so that it lives again in a new guise.

Christmas Relics

This January once everyone was off to their own homes, I decided to find a selection of objects that evoked this Christmas. Every November I try to say something about the coming of Christmas for my Christmas card.  This year I wanted to punctuate the holiday season by paying tribute to the colours we associate with Christmas while developing my theme of objects in conversation at a moment in time. I used mostly newly acquired Christmas gifts and focused onthe colour RED.

I am trying to synthesise some of my NEAC artist advice.  I keep hearing this voice saying 'What are you trying to say'?  I ask myself, 'is it consistent'?  Is the painting - brush strokes, areas of detail, focus interesting enough but tied together and convincing. Am I using enough paint.  should I glaze or not glaze.  Do Ibegin by drawing or by blocking colours next to each other.  It's a minefield of my own making!  

I nearly quit many times and stopped when I felt I had the balance right on most levels. Red continues to be a difficult colour to use and why do I always make such patterned and complex set ups?

Use more paint

It took me a long time to get going today.  I didn't have any success in the pastel society this year and when I was thinking about it, I mused that they don't like flowers.  Of course, we don't paint to to be selected, bought or even cheered on, but it did go through my head that maybe I need another muse.  Hey ho, instead of doing something as controversial as that… I decided to take a pearl of wisdom from Louise Balaam and USE MORE PAINT.  In fact not only did I think about Louise's words, I also thought about Julie Jackson and her playfulness with the materiality of paint, Alex Fowler and his blocks of just the right colour as I began and sustained this painting today.

I would still be painting but it was so dark without articfical light at three that I had to abandon it.  Not only is there a very dark shadow on the white vase, I can't see the colours I'm mixing.  annoyingly, I'm not sure when I will be able to return to this.  In London tomorrow, at a Colchester Art Society Lunch Saturday and then the inevitable massive clean-up that precedes a visit from  friends coming all the way from America.  

What about watercolour life drawings in an altered sketchbook?

Doreen is a special model, utterly natural.  Today she moved around the room slowly with her lavender piece of organza for the first fifteen minutes. I mostly made a contour drawing as she moved - which was confusing. Doing that got my eye in, though, so when we had ten minute poses, I was primed to look with care.

I have never mixed watercolour with pastel before and today it just sort of happened. For one thing, I forgot the pad I had prepared so ended up doing different things to what I had imagined. I forgot my kitchen roll so every mark needed to work. 

Some of the drawings/paintings are on cartridge paper, others are in two of my altered sketchbooks.  The tan pages are watercolour ground over book pages.  The orangey is a pastel ground.  I drew in the wet watercolour with the pastel. It was all fun.

Three days of workshops

So I've been in London again for most of the week, taking workshops with NEAC artists in the Mall Galleries learning centre, but we've mostly been outdoors doing things I never do. It's been hard and I like a struggle, even when the results aren't to my liking, but it's been hard. 

Julie Jackson's plein air 'painting the summer light' was set in St James' Park.  Most of the day was overcast but the sun did peek through around lunch time and it was that light that I tried to capture.  People came and went, benches were moved and because I arrived late (someone jumped in front of a train) I didn't have my distance glasses or my reading glasses, I had my 'occupational' lenses which are middle distance.

Julie was brilliant at planting seeds of advice that helped me through my stuck periods.  I liked painting at my smaller plein air easel but found the palette a bit small and I didn't really have the best brushes for the job.  This was my first oil painting outdoors from observation, ever and I think working bigger would be better for me.

 I had about a 1/2 hour to begin something else, the intention was to paint morning and afternoon light on two canvases,  and this was the start of another view from my easel. I enjoyed working looser and the blue ground was probably an easier base for painting. I didn't clean my palette and my turps was pretty grimy, but the scene inspired me more. 

 Neil Pittaway showed us the properties of watercolour in the morning in the learning centre.  We experimented on sheets of paper, blending, mixing, trying new techniques.  In the afternoon we went out to St James' Park.  Neil demonstrated how he works and we went off and found something nearby to paint. I enjoyed looking with a brush but I never got beyond watery nebulousness. Neil's work had so much variety and energy and hopefully I will apply some of his approach in the future.  This day mine was dreamily dull. Above is a detail. 

Yesterday was painting the figure with James Bland. James did a wonderful demo of approximating colour by comparing light, value and saturation.  His painting was full of colour. I found bending behind to mix my colour on a chair with the glare of the lights difficult, and my palette became a muddy mess. Stella was far from me and silouetted by a window behind. I ismply ran out of time to pull it together and looking at it there are many problems.For one, Stella is much, much prettier than this. Although this 16 x 20" painting feels disappointing and I will paint over it at the first opportunity, I feel I learned a lot from James.

6:30 Am Barn Door

What I noticed yesterday as I made four drawings (in between working at the fair and celebrating Katy and Jim's twentieth anniversary) was how different it feels to draw the bright summer sunlight and the flat light of the fog rolling in. The satisfaction of creating the feeling of light versus the joy of the colour and shape are really at the heart of why I like to draw and doing both at the same time, outside in a little book is a thrilling conundrum.

Astilbe and Path

Millstone Planter

I tend to avoid the complexity of abundant flowers when I choose a space to draw, but in this case those flowers define the space and finding a way to suggest the way they make me feel seems urgent. 

Red Barn and Boat

Uncle Chuck's Garden Now

No doubt as I commit myself to page after page, there will be some weaker drawings but I hope that even those will pin down what makes this holiday house what it is.

Squirrel and Bird

Holiday House

Pillows and Box Garden

While still in my studio in England, I created a new altered sketchbook. It's a beautiful thick book entitled 'Holiday House'. I tried putting beeswax on the cover and shined it up and I think it looks splendid! I am in the process of filling this new altered sketchbook from cover to cover.  My goal is to complete it while here.  There are about 30 remaining pages to draw on. 

My mornings begin by preparing the pages, I have already gessoed the pages once; I tape the edges and choose a background acrylic ink to blend with the pastel ground. I use a hairdryer to dry it quickly and find my space.

The barn is dark (even in daylight) so I needed to drag a light over to see the colours I was using as I looked out the window. In the garden I have used an umbrella to avoid glare on the pages and at night I used a head torch. The light faded fast and it was hard to find the edges … the mosquitoes were out too!

I would love to use this book as a way to find a residency somewhere. Can you think of a beautiful place where I could spend a week or two finding and recording what makes it special and memorable?

Morning Octagon

Nightlight from Apple Tree

Cypress Box and Hostas

Ferns and Fence

Jan Looking Garden