Untitled 11-m

Untitled 11-m

Oil on Linen

2011

I spent about three weeks worth of broken work on this painting - I think I've discovered quite a bit in doing so however, I can feel the way I manipulate the paint has changed

Diptych Study 11

Diptych Study 11

16" x 11"

2011

Preview to the Degree Show

If you've not heard about it by now, where have you been and how did you stumble across this blog? The De Montfort University Fine Art Degree Show will be opening tomorrow!

The dates are as follows,

The Preview

Friday 17th June

5.30pm - 8.30pm

The Main Show

Saturday 18th June - Thursday 23rd June

Weekends

11.00am - 4.00pm

Weekdays

10.00am - 5.00pm

Whilst there is a chance Don might not being coming, (he hasnt got back to me yet) you can be sure that I'll be there. You'd better be too, otherwise you'll be square (in some cases its actually hip to be square, not this instance however).

Final year Assessments, and the upcoming Degree show

Many, many weeks ago now perhaps even before we broke up for Easter, we had to produce a completed proposal form, for our upcoming Degree show.

So, I give you Exhibit A - one completed proposal;

Now, admittedly I dont actually remember scanning this in and yet, I found it lying around, gathering (pretend) dust in my final year folder on my Mac. There was a wonderfully scrawled sketch showing the  desired space on the back - however I dont seem to have scanned that in sadly, but what you may notice is that I asked for two walls, which were situated opposite each other - in essence a bay. This was for my planned triptych and (finished) diptych to sit. 

Things didnt go quite according to plan however and so instead of hanging the triptych, I painted and hung a tetraptych. A tetraptych, is basically four panels instead of the original three, found in a triptych. 

A wonderfully elaborate plan of its layout may be found after the jump, along with the trials of prepping the studio itself.

The journal adventure unfolds

I decided that it might prove fruitful to keep a journal of sorts, I'm used to having something similar with the logbook we keep at Uni. I wanted something more compact however, something which I would be able to have with me at all times. 

I like the idea of having a codex of sorts, to look back through in order to perhaps fire off ideas, as the pages reveal themselves to me. I'm not yet even a quarter of the way through, and because of my habit of trying to shove as much visual information I possibly can into it, its led me to carefully fold ridiculously large papers, (in comparison) into the journal - I'm struggling to keep it closed!

I'll be sure to keep you posted on this little adventure of mine, and just how much of an inspiration it proves to be.

Triptych (or not)

I had spent several weeks in late March and early April toying with the idea of a triptych, from a rather grand photograph I had of german origin (Which I plan to elaborate on in a future post).

My main reason for this was to try to branch out compositionally, as very often I include only one or two figures in any given panel. Though lately many are paired off to form a series of diptychs, and currently my work in progress is a tetraptych (thats four panels!).

What I've found is that I can work more freely over a selection of spaces, rather than being contained over purely the one, however, the middle and right panels to this proposed triptych were hell, and I lack the time to really correct my work, so the left panel I now consider a standalone piece, Untitled 11-g.

Yesterday afternoon in the studio

I spent part of yesterday packing my paint up so I could continue working over easter, the odd thing was I really struggled in doing it. There was something very final about boxing brushes, bottles and tubes that have sat continuously on those two palettes I have which, in reality are simply desks. 

I felt a pang of remorse in removing them, its their home and yet now with the tail end of the semester fast approaching, I know they wont return. 

Its incredibly odd when you spend so much time in the studio working, its a social experience - as frustrating as that can be at times, especially when crits and assessments were approaching, its something which becomes so ingrained into your psyche. The warmth I get from seeing those brilliant white boards, and the slate blue industrial floorpaint, coupled with the usual suspects (someone once referred to us as furniture) to be found, always in their paint splattered overalls is something I enjoy greatly.

Hiatus/Return

My lack of activity since November has really been down to the fact that the past year, in terms of uni has been incredibly crazy. I've gone through periods where I feel like my work has progressed tenfold, and then times where I just fight with the canvas as if I'm banging my head against a wall.

As it stands, our degree show is coming up incredibly fast and it seems as though everyone has yet to finalise what we'll be showing.