Fonzi – bexODESSA

“We Are What We Repeatedly Do” – Aristotle

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Painting, Project 2, Week in Review

I can’t believe it’s been over two weeks since I was in London. I even had to look at my diary to make sure I was counting right. I think the problem with my time perception at the moment is I had a bit of a groundhog week, in that it was almost exactly the same as the week before. Added to which, almost every day followed the same routine:

Yoga

I typically start my day with yoga. It’s sounds super healthy and together, but in reality the max I do is 15 minutes. Still, I’m always very grateful to myself when I have done it, and definitely feel better for it.

Drawing horses

I kept up my 20 minute drawing exercise this week, and continued with drawing horses. They are so much fun to draw, and though I don’t seem to have improved much, I have definitely loosened up. Also, drawing them has made me love the horses next door even more. My favourite is a Clydesdale that I call Mr Rogers, on account of him being so friendly – he came to the fence twice this week and had a wee chat with me.

Painting

Painting the Ann painting has been my main focus this week, which has been as wonderful and nerve-wracking as usual. I had another stress dream this morning that it got smudged. It was by a person that I really like, so I didn’t yell at them, but I did tell them that they’d have to leave. When I have one of these dreams, the sense of stress and blind fury I feel makes it difficult to speak, and is so intense that it generally wakes me up. The only upside to such a dream is the relief I feel when I fully come-to and realise the painting is alright.

Looking for Fonzi

Usually when I finish my morning paint I’ll go out looking for Fonzi. I’m ridiculously happy when I see him. If I don’t, I content myself with looking at the sea and saying hello to Mr Rogers.

Massaging

Sunday to Thursday, I tend have a morning massage appointment. I’ve had my homebased massage business for about 6 years now, and have a lovely assortment of regular clients. Becoming a Massage Therapist is one of the best decisions I have ever made, not only is it a great thing to do for someone else, but it is the perfect compliment to being an artist.

Painting

My afternoon paint tends to be the longest of the 3, and for some reason the most relaxed. I like to have a clear four hours to play with, which gives me both time to paint and research things that come to mind.

Looking for Fonzi

Since Spring has sprung, I am able to go looking for Fonzi after my afternoon paint as well. I saw him a few times this week, but no land-bound sighting compared to the drone footage my fella got of him yesterday. Look how handsome he is (and his friend is pretty cute too)!

Massaging

As well as a morning massage, I tend to have an early evening one too, which is handy for those clients that have to work during the day. When I first started my business, I used to advertise for clients by running adverts on Facebook (like the one below), now it ticks along nicely with returning clients and word of mouth.

A visit from my fella (if I’m lucky)

My fella wasn’t able to come out every evening this week, but it was certainly splendid when he did. As usual, we had fun catching up on each other’s newses – his was generally more exciting than mine, considering mine consisted of “I saw Fonzi and said hello to Mr Rogers”.

Painting

My evenings this week were spent painting the Ann painting. I’m so close to finishing that I am literally counting the days – I reckon 10 if I keep going at my current pace. My evening paint tends to be the shortest of the 3, though still a minimum of two hours.

Bed

I absolutely love going to bed, and am usually in a hurry to get there, which is why my evening paint session tends to be the shortest. I really like my current bed – true, it’s no dead-lady-bed, but still, its super comfortable and a pleasure to sleep in. I don’t always sleep the whole night through, but if I wake up I just read my book or research things on my phone (ahem…watch cat videos) so I never really mind. Plus, if it’s after 4am, I usually just get up and paint – the wee hours being my favourite time to do so.

So there we have it, my current routine. If Aristotle is right, I guess that means I am yoga doing, seal watching, horse drawing, massage giving, fella loving, bed indulging painter!

Home sweet home

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays, Project 2

A bird sang me awake this morning. It was a lovely song and a lovely way to wake up. It made me think of how our lives intersect with other living things. How we witness each other’s existence. Whether momentarily or for long periods of time, we become part of each other’s story. It’s like Fonzi, he might not comprehend what I am, but, nevertheless, when he bobs past my house, he often sees a strange, upright creature standing on the beach looking at him. I don’t know what he makes of me, but I do know he’s curious about me, because whenever I turn around and make my way back towards the house, he comes in for a closer look. He responds to my presence, and I most definitely respond to his. We share time and space to together. It’s a beautiful thing.

As soon as I arrived back at Anam Cara and breathed the fresh sea air, I felt immediately better. Never has it felt so good to be home from London. There’s lots I love about the city, but even all those things together pale in comparison to this sweet corner of the world.

Spring arrived in my absence, and flowers and flying things abound. My favourite are the big fat bumblebees. I found one motionless on the doorstep the other evening. Darkness was descending and the rain was on its way, so I brought it inside and gave it some sugar-water, which it happily drank. I then played it some Miles Davis, which made it spring into life and start cleaning itself. Next I played The Who, but it went careening about the place, and seemed at risk of doing itself an injury, so we went back to Miles. Sadly, after our lovely evening together, the weight of living got the better of my little buddy, and it passed away during the night.

As well as enjoying all the creatures out here, including the horses that live next-door, and a pair of dolphins that swam idly by the other day (filling my heart with joy), I have been painting. During the Easter break, my primary artistic goal is to finish the Ann painting, which means working on it 8-9 hours per day. It’s an utter pleasure, and I couldn’t be happier. I have also begun drawing for 20 minutes each morning. The aim is not to draw realistically, but to draw expressively, in the hopes I will find my own style. This week I have been drawing horses, inspired by my beautiful neighbours.

Stealing is so passé

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Painting, Research Project

There’s an adage in the art world – the gist of which is attributed to numerous people, from Picasso to T.S. Elliot – that goes:

Good artists copy, great artist steal.

We discussed this idea in our group tutorial a couple of weeks ago, and came to the consensus that such an idea is outdated. No one creates art in a vacuum, rather, we’re all influenced by what has gone before and those around us. Besides, the golden calf of originality has been knocked off it’s pedestal, in favour of connection and collaboration, so there is no need to steal. Therefore, do the decent thing and acknowledge your sources.

With this in mind, I thought I would write a post listing my favourite contemporary painters, whose work I both love and which serves as a source of inspiration. The latter is especially true in relation to the figurative paintings I am developing for my research project.

del Kathryn Barton

del’s work is glorious beyond compare. I’ve seen it in the flesh, and it doesn’t disappoint. Naturally, I love all the details, being a fiend for the iddy biddy, but it’s actually her figures I love the most. In fact, they are probably my favourite figures of any painter. Below is my favourite of del’s paintings.

Genieve Figgis

Genieve is an Irish painter who came to prominence through social media when famed artist, Richard Prince, fell for her work and ushered her into the New York art world. It’s easy to see why, her work is sumptuous, quirky and daring. I particularly love the painting below and feel happy when I see it.

Susan Rocklin

Susan and I met on a course at the Slade School of Art in London. Shortly after, she began her MA at the Royal College of Art, also in London. It has been amazing to see her work develop. I think it is utterly sublime. I love all her work, but especially the one below.

Maryclare Foá

I follow Maryclare on Instagram under one of her art names M and F Mo. I didn’t know who she was (to be honest, I thought it was a bloke), I just loved her delicious colours and expressive figures. When I was looking a bit further into her work for this post, I was delighted to discover that Maryclare is a lecturer at Central Saints Martins, and also did her MA there. I hope our paths cross one day, so I can tell her how much I love her work.

George Raftopoulos

Not wanting to leave the fellas out, I thought I would include George. Like del, he is an Australian painter. I love his work and find his figures particularly inspiring.

Well, there you have it, the contemporary painters I find inspiring. There are others of course, but I have run out of time, as I have a workshop in a few minutes (about creating an artist’s portfolio), so I better go.

Oh no, the workshop was cancelled, I guess because of the teachers strike. Never mind, I’ll go and see if that Fonzi wants to hang out instead. I’ll pick some rubbish while I’m there, as he tends not to come if I stand there looking for him.

Nope, he wasn’t there. He’s either gone fishing or is playing hard to get. Ah well, at least I was able to pick up some rubbish…including a permanent marker that still works. Thanks Manannan!

^{If you’d like to see more work by the artists above, just click on the images.}

I love a good workshop

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

One of the great things about my MFA course is the variety of workshops that are on offer. I took part in 3 this week, all of which were brilliant. The first two were textile based, and the 3rd, photography. Although my practice is primarily focused on painting, it can be helpful to branch out now and then, as it tends to be easier to loosen up and be more expressive in disciplines you are not so familiar with. The new inspiration you gain from this process can then feed back into your preferred/more practiced discipline.

The first workshop was called ‘Sustainability through textiles‘, which explored the relationship between sustainability and our art practice, specifically in relationship to our masters project. This was perfect for me, as my masters project, about water, naturally has a sustainability aspect. Through a variety of creative/making exercises, we were asked to consider our experience, values, and attitudes towards sustainability.

Below are some things I made during the workshop:

At the end of the workshop, we were asked to consider future actions we might take in our creative practice that demonstrated our values towards sustainability. I concluded that the best thing I could do is pick up the rubbish on the isolated stretch of beach in front of my house, that the sea kindly delivers every hightide. Hardly anyone walks on the beach but me, so I figure it’s my responsibility to keep it rubbish free. Sure I can still creatively express my values if I want, but to do that without picking up the rubbish shows I have no real values at all.

The second workshop was called ‘Emerging dialogues through the positioning of textile and visual arrangements‘. I’m not really sure what that means, but I had a great time. I happened to be the only person taking the workshop, so it was more informal and interactive than usual. I was able to discuss both my water and Ann projects with the tutor, and her feedback was very helpful. I also did all the exercises she’d planned for the class, all of which I found challenging, inspiring, and enjoyable.

Here is one of the things I made (the thing itself is a little naff.. but I do like the photo):

The third workshop was called ‘Finding inspiration: exploring photography through movement‘. I really loved this one. Rather than teaching photography techniques per se, it was more focused on finding ways to access your own creativity. It followed the same structure as the textile workshops, that of instruction, creating/making, and class participation. I found it genuinely inspiring, and will be able to use what I learned, not only to take more interesting photos, but also in my painting practice.

Our main task for the workshop was to take a series of photos of ourselves while moving about. My favourite is the photo below. Even though I was moving when it was taken (as evidenced by my hair falling upwards), there is also a stillness to it that I really like. I also like the one at the top of the post, though it would’ve been better without my phone in the reflection.

As enjoyable as the workshop was, the highlight of the day was going down to the sea during the break and having a surprise visit from Fonzi and his friends. It filled my heart with joy.

I got chubby again

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Holidays, Painting

For Winterval (our so named Hanukkah/Christmas/Solstice holiday mishmash) this year, I asked my fella for a 3 months subscription to Weight Watchers, which he kindly offered to extend to 6 months after witnessing (wide-eyed) my solo “box of chocolates, several magnums, entire Baileys Yule Log weekend extravaganza”.

To be honest, I don’t really mind being chubby. I spend most of my time alone in the studio, seeing no one but Fonzi and my fella (neither of whom are in a position to throw stones), and I don’t own a full-length mirror. What I do mind is not being able to do up my coat and being a sugar-fiend – of which I am of the highest order.

I am currently reading James Walvin’s excellent book “Sugar”, about the history of sugar and it’s cultural, economic, and physical impact on humanity. It’s a cracking read (or listen, if like me you’re an Audible user), and is one of a collection of books I gathered a while ago that will form the research component of a painting I’ve had milling around in the back of my mind for some time now, and for which I recently had a bit of a creative breakthrough with regards to its conceptualisation. It will be a few years before the painting is realised, but I couldn’t resist, while on holiday, exploring the subject further to see if I am on the right track (which I am pleased to say, I think I am), and to keep the milling juices flowing around the idea.

Term two starts tomorrow, so the above idea will have to mill on its own, as I have to refocus my creative energy on my research project about water. I did a few more of the green paintings during the holidays, but, I kind-a lost the thread (god knows why I started putting cats in them, let alone donkeys) and felt like abandoning the idea altogether. However, thanks to a recent meeting with a creative-strategist (aka a pub visit with my fella), I have gained clarity as to how I will proceed. Basically, instead of trying to knock-out completed paintings (a strategy that typically results in a repetitive creative loop in which the paintings tend to get worse not better), I am going to break the paintings down into their constituent parts, and work on developing those parts separately. Beginning with figuration, which will be my primary focus in term two (as well as finishing the Ann painting).

In the meantime, here are a few of the green paintings I did during the holidays.