CSM MFA – Progress Blog – Page 4

The perils of having a domestic goddess for a fella

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Holidays

I won’t have to pluck up the courage to ask my fella to extend my Weight Watchers subscription for another 3 months, he’s got eyes! I’d like to blame stress, but my fella’s Victoria sponge making ability and the jelly bean dispensing machine I have learned to break into are the real culprits. As always, sugar is my downfall, and when it comes with cream, light-as-air cake, and a knob-turning contraption, I can’t get enough! But when I bent down the other day and the button on my shorts went flying, I knew it was time to dust off my WW app once again – that time being next week of course.

My outdoor Anam Cara School of Drawing got off to a good start, but then the gazebo blew over and it started to rain, so I had to move operations indoors, which, for some reason, bought it all to a grinding halt. Instead, I painted cats all week.

When cats pop up in my paintings, it is usually a sign I am stressed about something. True to form, I did have an external stressor this week. Not that I mind painting cats, I love those fluffy little menaces, and painting them is a real pleasure, hence why I do it when I’m stressed. Here’s my favourite from this week.

As relaxing as painting cats is, I have a paper to research and write, and an indoor drawing school to attend, so I better start carving out some real time for these two must-dos, or I will have whittled myself to a nub by the end of summer with only stack of cat paintings to show for it – not the worst outcome in the world, but doing my masters is a one time deal and I want to make the most of it.

Let the good times roll!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays, Week in Review, Workshops

This week I reached the significant milestone of completing the first year of my masters. It is hard to believe how fast it has gone, but I have definitely made the most of every minute. I now have 3 whole months for summer break. That I get to spend the summer at Anam Cara is a gift beyond measure. Though it won’t be all lolling about, as I have my research paper to write, paintings to paint, massages to do, and sandwiches to make for my fella.

When we were first considering renting Anam Cara (aka paradise by the sea), I regaled said fella with visions of romantic strolls on the beach, and sandwiches. We’ve managed a few strolls, but he’s yet to see a sandwich. It’s time.

Speaking of walking on the beach. I made a few trips to the Point of Ayre this week, to visit Kyle, Jason, and baby Harold, and guess what, Harold has a sibling, Izzy. I wasn’t able to get a photo of all four of them together, but I did get this lovely shot of Harold.

On one of my treks to the Ayres, one of my jandals broke, but some good old Kiwi ingenuity soon fixed that. As good as my repair job is, their days of getting me to the foghorn and back are sadly over, so they shall now spend their retirement as my studio boots.

I’ve been painting my little heart out this week, and have made further progress. My favourite thing I painted was of Colin the long-legged guinea pig.

My last workshop for the year consisted of listening to Spanish poetry and drawing. I’d actually done the course in the first term, but it was so good, I decided to repeat it. I’m glad I did, as it was the perfect end to what has been a wonderful first year.

I’ve loved all the workshops I’ve attended this year, especially the drawing ones. They have helped me both loosen up and grow in confidence. So I don’t loose the momentum of the course over the summer, I shall be attending the Anam Cara School of Drawing. My idea is to spend my afternoons drawing en plein air (fancy for outside).

To aid me in my endeavour, my sweet-hearted fella bought me a gazebo, so I can sit outside to my heart’s content, even in the rain. Naturally, the gazebo will double as a drinking den in the evenings.

Everybody needs good neighbours

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Green, project 1, Project 2, research paper, Week in Review

I have new neighbours, Kylie and Jason and their little baby, Harold. They live in the Point of Ayre foghorn. I realised Kylie and Jason had a chick a couple of evenings back when I heard him squawking inside a hollow in the foghorn. Then last night, my fella and I saw Harold for the first time, it was beyond exciting. I wasn’t able to get a photo of Harold, as we didn’t want to get too close, but here is some footage I managed to get of Kylie and Jason last week.

The painting breakthroughs kept coming this week. A distinct style for the green paintings is emerging, and I love it. I feel like I have been given a small glimpse of what the paintings can be, and although I take nothing for granted, and realise there is still a possibility I can’t pull them off, I have reason to be hopeful.

The main focus again has been painting bigger. With the drawing practice I have been doing, it has proved much easier than I thought it would be. It’s also far more interesting painting bigger, as it allows for more detail.

To help with the bigger drawings, I bought a ginormous sketchbook, and so far I have found drawing big just as easy as drawing small.

I have also started a daily reading discipline, without which I would never get through all the books/papers I have to read for my research paper this summer. Don’t feel too sorry for me though, as this is where my reading discipline takes place.

There’s a reason my nickname was dumb-Beck

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Painting, Week in Review

My favourite uncle coined the name, not to be mean, but simply to describe what he saw in front of him – a little girl who regularly failed to comprehend the bleedin’ obvious. It was an affectionate nickname that also happened to be true, and now and then, continues to be so. Case in point, this week it finally dawned on me that if I want to paint bigger, I’ve got to draw bigger. Instead of doing this, I’ve been scratching out wee drawings in my wee sketchbook, hoping that when it comes time to paint on a big canvas I’ll magically be able to paint bigger.

Armed with this realisation, I gessoed (applied base paint that makes it easier to draw on) some A4 sheets of paper this morning, and rather than squishing multiple things onto a small page in my sketch book, I drew one thing on one sheet of paper. Currently, I am drawing hares, and I’m pleased to say, that drawing them 4 sizes bigger was no trouble at all.

I also decided to apply the same reasoning to the painting experiments. However, instead of painting a whole picture on big pieces of paper, I thought I would concentrate on painting particular elements on medium-ish pieces of paper (such as the eye below). The hope is to get better at the individual elements and eventually start piecing them together on ever bigger canvases. The great thing about drawing and painting larger things is, you can add more detail.

The weather on the Isle of Man this past week has been absolutely glorious, which has made being at Anam Cara nothing short of heavenly. My fella and I have been taking long evening walks to the Point of Ayre lighthouse, naming all the landmarks on the way, such as:

Speckled-ridge Highway (the pebbly beach leading to the lighthouse).
Smugglers Cove (a suspiciously abandoned jerrycan and buoy near the cliff edge).
Last Chance Rise (the last place you can leave the beach and ascend the cliff to the lighthouse).
Lovers Lookout (a discarded set on concrete steps that lead nowhere but provide a glorious vista looking back to the hills surrounding Ramsey).
Little Rock Cafe (a patch of ground between the heather that is scattered with little pebbles)
The Corryvreckan (a spiral like feature in the landscape that you have to circumnavigate, named after the Corryvreckan whirlpool off the west coast of Scotland, which, incidentally, George Orwell nearly drowned in 3 months before he finished 1984).
The Devil’s Garage (an abandoned concrete structure that looks like a car mechanic’s pit).
The Badlands (a wide, barren area with no vegetation but plenty of donut marks, of the car-wheel variety).

There’s other features too, but those are the main ones (or at least the ones I can remember). Naming them has made the walk a lot of fun, and it also makes me feel safer when I do the walk on my own, because if I come-a-croppa, I’ll be able to call my fella and he’ll know exactly where to find me. Though I don’t suppose telling emergency services that I’ve taken a tumble at the Devil’s Garage, between the Corryvreckan and the Badlands is going to be very helpful.

Walking in the Ayres is very inspiring, and I always have lots of painting ideas (most of which outstrip my current abilities, but I’m working on it). Having the walk right on my doorstep is, apart from meeting my fella, the most fortunate thing ever to happen to me.

The bear went over the mountain

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Research Project, Week in Review

I had a painting breakthrough this week, which is always a double-edged sword. On the one hand there was a huge sense of excitement and relief, like I am finally getting somewhere and all my previous hard work on this particular project appears not to be in vain. On the other hand, it’s like the bear in the children’s song who reaches the top of the mountain, and what does it see? Another mountain! That’s exactly how it felt, I was momentarily thrilled at the progress I made and the paintings I produced, but I was soon brought back to earth when I realised how far I still have to go to achieve the paintings I want to.

The paintings I did this week are just little snippets of what I hope to be much larger paintings. Scaling up is no easy task, and when it comes to figurative painting, I am yet to manage it, but I will surely to keep trying. One thing is certain after the week I’ve had, the drawing discipline I started at the beginning of the year is definitely paying off.

I’ve also been busy this past week writing the overview of my research paper, so our tutor can see what we intend to write about and give us feedback and guidance. I decided to do mine on the Ars Moriendi, the medieval dying how-to-manual that I mentioned in my last post. It hurt the old brain cells to do, but it was definitely worthwhile, as I now have a clear direction for the paper, which will make it much easier to write over the summer. I actually think I’ll enjoy writing it, as it is a fascinating subject, and has already sparked some interesting conversations with friends and family.

You can read my overview here if you have the time and/or inclination.

In other news, my fella and I have decided to make a documentary about Ann’s story. To begin the process, we had a pre-interview meeting with Hampton Creer, the author of “Never to Return”. It was such a privilege to meet him and his lovely wife Joy.

I absolutely love his book, it is beautifully written, and is a page turner from start to finish. It was also very special, because it was from his book that I first learned about Ann and was inspired to do a painting about her. We had a wonderful time talking all about penal transportation and other aspects of Manx history, such as witches. Once the TT races are over in a couple of weeks, my fella and I will return and interview him on camera.

All cakes are not created equal!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Week in Review

I had a very productive week in the studio, and am finding my feet with the figurative paintings. I am still very much at the experimental phase, but am slowly discovering the kind of paintings I want to make.

Here are two of the paintings I did this week. I like them both, however, the one on the right has an underpainting that I made with the sea, and I think it adds a greater sense of dynamism. I definitely think a dynamic underpainting is the way forward. I don’t like figurative paintings that look too finished or realistic, except for the eyes.

The main focus of the course at the moment is the research paper we each have to write. I haven’t got much further than a vague notion of a topic, death. So far I have been looking into memento mori (a medieval artistic convention designed to remind people they will die), memorial art (which is right up my alley artistically), or ars moriendi (a medieval instruction book on how to die). Not very cheery, true, but death is a topic I am very interested in, both as a painter and a mortal. I will to have to pick a lane soon, as we have 1,000 word overview due next week.

I actually had a dream last night about doing my research paper on the Ars Moriendi. The book is from the mid-15th century, and instructed a person in how to have a “good death”, which basically consisted of letting a group of angels and demons battle it out for your soul on your deathbed, in the hope that your soul (which was depicted as a mini-you that popped out your mouth when you died) got to go with the good guys. The likelihood of that happening depended on answering a series of questions. Didn’t get the questions answered in time? Sorry, that’s eternal damnation for you! The book was wildly popular throughout Europe, and peasant and king alike were subject to its teaching.

_{One of the woodcuts from the Ars Moriendi.}

My sister was on the Island for a few days, which was lovely. We had a family bbq at Anam Cara on the Sunday, and I showed them the Ann painting. It made my tender-hearted sister cry, which was either a sign that the painting is beautiful, or the Eurovision hoolie at my brother’s the night before was too much for her. My fella did me proud and didn’t burn the sausages, and made the most glorious Victoria sponge, which almost made me cry. Below is the only photo we have of the whole event, but to be honest, I reckon its the thing we’ll all remember the most. It was a damn good cake!

Thankfully, we did manage to get some photos of us all when the gang popped out later in the week. We had a lovely time just sitting there chatting, and marvelled at the fact that we were still sitting there chatting after all these years.

My fella is in Rotterdam for work this week and I miss him terribly, not just for his cake baking abilities. Though, it would be reason enough, as I had a go at a Victoria sponge and I don’t know what kind of WI witchery he used in his, but mine came out flat as a pancake. Still, the jam and icing has made it edible.

Birds of a feather

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Painting, project 1, Week in Review

It was another good week in the studio. For most of it I carried on with the seawater paintings, which was very enjoyable. However, I took a break from them on the weekend and returned to the figurative paintings.

I still feel like I am a long way from figuring out what kind of paintings I want them to be, so I think the best thing I can do in the meantime is to keep experimenting. It’s like the big little-man said:

Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.
_{^{Pablo Picasso}}

To that end, I’ve been noodling around with some small paintings to see what might pop out. It turns out, an owl and a pussy cat!

The most important thing I can do to achieve my goal for these figurative paintings, is draw, which I am still doing every day. This week I drew birds, and I have say, they are my favourite thing to draw so far.

Drawing in general still has the sense of an arduous task about it, but drawing birds brings it close to pure enjoyment. They are such delightful creatures, and have so much character.

By way of demonstration, when I was drawing birds outside on Thursday, one left a little gift on my page, which I took to be a very good sign indeed!

While on the subject of birds, I thought I’d share The Wisdom Daily video I made this week, until I remembered I made it about a fish not a bird. But it’s such an amazing fish, I may as well share it anyway.

Bubble bubble toil and trouble

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Painting, project 1, Week in Review

All and all it has been a good week in the studio. I continued with the sea paintings, and ranged far and wide with my experiments, with various degrees of success. One element that kept cropping up was bubbles. That’s because I have been learning about them and watching them.

Sea foam is made up of bubbles, and they are what helps the sea breathe. The sound a wave makes when it crashes is the sound of the individual bubbles being formed, and the tone of each bubble tells you what size it is. I think this fascinating, mysterious, and beautiful, and I love watching them come in and out of existence.

I have been thinking a lot about the power of the sea, something that is inescapable when you live so close to it. I came across a beautiful photo that demonstrates just how powerful it is. It was taken by renowned Manx photographer, Chris Killip, in the early 1970’s, and shows a house being taken by the sea at Cranstal, Bride (the same stretch of coast I live on). I think it is a sobering and romantic image.

For me, it is a memento mori (Latin: remember you shall die), which was a type of medieval painting that depicted various objects that reminded people they will one day die – such as skulls, hourglasses, rotting fruit, wilting flowers and, of course, bubbles. I think Killip’s photograph is an especially poignant memento mori in this day and age, with global warming and the predicted rise in sea levels etc., making coastal erosion and its attendant destruction a present and coming reality. As with sea related disasters, such as tidal waves, death can come upon a person suddenly with little or no warning, but for most, as with coastal erosion, death creeps upon us slowly, diminishing our life force a little at a time, until there is nothing left. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it’s worth bearing that in mind.

In other news, I continued drawing chairs this week. My favourite to draw are white-plastic lawn chairs. They are tricky to get the knack of, but I really love them for some reason. I have certainly sat in my fair share of them.

Week 23 Experiments

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, project 1

I thought it might be a good idea to create a weekly post (that I add to daily) of my painting experiments for the confluence project, a kind of visual-log of my progress.

_{NB: unless otherwise stated, all paintings are acrylic on paper}

Monday, 24 April

No.1 – I like the colours and balance.

No.2 – I like the light, and the highlights on the horses legs.

No.3 – Although flatter than the other 2 paintings, I like the smooth finish on this one. I also like the white line drawings.

Tuesday, 25th April

No.4 – I like the falling water (it has a mystical quality, which is appropriate for water). I also like the bird’s eye. I want the eyes in my paintings to be soulful and convey emotion.

No.5 – I love the grid, especially the white outlines. I also like the chair (for some strange reason I love chairs in paintings…I wonder if it has to do with the fact that a chair is usually the example given when discussing Plato’s world of forms). Although I do like the white line drawing, I think I prefer a more abstract drawing, like no.3.

Wednesday, 26th April

No.6 – This is my favourite so far, everything about it works for me. I think the grid is gorgeous, the inspiration for it was from a photo a friend in NZ posted of Instagram of a building in Wellington. She did her masters thesis on Hecate, the goddess of crossroads. I was just reading about Hecate and crossroads the other day. A river confluence is a type of crossroad, hence why they were seen to be imbued with power. I thought it might be interesting to represent a river confluence in my paintings with this grid, as opposed to an actual depiction of two rivers meeting.

I also like this type of chair, and think it looks good in a painting. Palette good.

No.7 – I love cranes and industrial machinery, especially those involved with water. In general, I find cross-hatching aesthetically pleasing. I think a crane (or in this case an oilrig), will work better as a line-drawing in a painting than flowers (as No.5 above).

Thursday, 27 April

No.8 – I absolutely love this painting. It is about death, as symbolised by the following: the grid – confluence (entrance to the underworld); apples = seeds of new life (the Celts buried people with apples – a tradition that is thought to go much further back); material = (the veil between this world and the next). The palette is great.

No.9 – I really like the white colour, which I made using Titan buff and a touch of orange and magenta. It is the salmon-looking colour I have been using in the grid. It goes really well with green and brown.

Friday, 28th April

No.10 – This is a gear shift from the other paintings this week. It was such a beautiful day, so I decided to take some paper and paint down to the sea. Similar to the rain paintings last term, I then painted into the marks made by the water. There are still elements from the other paintings present, such as the horse, water, and carne motif. I’m not as keen on the palette, although I guess it suits this type of painting. I would be interested to see it with a palette like No.8. It was wonderful to paint with the sea, and I would like to do more of that over the summer.

Sunday, 30th April

No.11 – This is another sea painting from Friday, that I then painted into. I love how the organic shapes made by the sea, leant themselves to the final image. It is also interesting how the sea paintings are akin to the rain paintings from last term. I think I should explore this style further. Ultimately, I’d like to merge the two styles together.

Painting with my soul-friend

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Painting, project 1, Research Project, Week in Review

It was a beautiful day on Friday, so I decided to spend the afternoon painting with the sea. Similar to the rain paintings from term 1, I put blobs of paint on various pieces of paper and canvas, and then then let the sea swish it about. I then painted and drew into the marks left by the sea. The results so far have been really promising, and I am keen to experiment some more with this method.

The reason I was able to paint with the sea, is I am now the proud owner of the most marvellous art-supply trolley (courtesy of my fella), that I can fill with everything I need and wheel outside nearer the sea, which saves me wandering inside to the studio every 5 minutes.

I attended an excellent workshop (notes below) this week, called “Joy Division into Research into Practice” with Clem Crosby. It explored a creative and organic way to approach research, sort of following a line of thought and being free to see where it takes you. I’m so glad I did the workshop, as I have been struggling to find a topic for my research paper, and it gave me an alternative way to approach my dilemma. I shall apply what I learned and hopefully come up with a good topic.

Also this week, instead of drawing horses, I have been drawing chairs. They are very enjoyable to draw, though some are obviously easier to draw than others. I love the aesthetic of chairs, and think they are very satisfying things to look at. I could go on and on about them, but I think it best I eke out my chair babble over the coming weeks, so as not to bore anyone rigid.

As well as drawing chairs, I have also been painting them (as below).

All in all, it was a very productive week painting-wise. It is amazing how much more time I have now that I have finished the Ann painting. Hopefully, with this extra time, I’ll be able to really develop the paintings for the Confluence project. Oh yes, and it was my birthday this week. It looked set to be one of those middle of the week, non-descript ones, but with a few visits from friends and family, some beautiful, thoughtful gifts, and my friend’s first chick of the year being born on the same day (to be named Rebecca, but it was a boy, so they named it Geoff) it turned out to be one of the loveliest I’ve ever had.