Still, still life drawing and beautiful stitch

 A return to the still-life this week with more focus on "dark darks" and "light lights”. Our teacher had us all drawing the composition for 5 minutes without looking, before we got into refining the drawing:

In the afternoon, off to a lovely little exhibition of stitched pieces at the Daniel Raphael Gallery in Marylebone. Beautiful work from two artists whose work I am familiar with,Maryam Ashkanian, Alison Holt and from some that I am not: Richard McVetis, Julie French, Lucie Feighan, Ulla Stina Wikander and Robert Dean ( who I cannot find a link to).

 Lucie’s website very generously shares full pictures of several of her sketchbooks, many hours to be lost looking at those.

Well worth a visit, and on until 22nd March.

How long is a generation?

I have been pondering this question for a few weeks as I see publicity for revivals of three theatrical / dance productions that I saw in 1982, 1990 and 1992 respectively. Two of these have been publicised as “ not seen on stage in the UK for a generation”.

All three of these stand out in my mind after all this time for different reasons, and it seems important to me to embrace these works again as we are in such troubled times as a species sharing this planet.

So I would encourage anyone reading this to go and see:

"Ghost Dances’ by Christopher Bruce, performed by Ballet Rambert, touring and at Sadler’s Wells, London. A first exposure for me to contemporary dance when I saw it in 1982 and a  production that has stayed with me -  for 34 years: music, movement, costumes all superb - tickets booked.

“ The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus” by Tony Harrison at the Finborough Theatre, London, on until 28th January.  This was my first exposure to performed verse in 1990 and I have never forgotten the experience. Brilliantly updated, and in this 50 seat setting, an intimate encounter with very physical theatre.

“Angels in America” by Tony Kushner at the National Theatre, London. Such a moving, but occasionally baffling, pair of plays when I saw them in 1992. They were staged in the Cottesloe, which then seated around 350 people. The new production will be in the Littleton, seating 890 people, therefore presumably all to be done on a much larger scale. It will be fascinating to see how well this play translates to 2016, particularly as it starts in April, 3 months after the start of Trump’s term of office.  The National box office have already warned that these tickets will sell out quickly.

And the drawing? Yes it continues:

Feather from the “nature table” that seemed to have been attacked by some sort of mite, leaving a big gap along the shaft. Pencil and ink pen.

Serendipitous charcoal rubbing of the back of a section of last week’s collage of vases and jugs made me rub over the whole lot. Charcoal.

Corn cob and husk, pencil and charcoal. I could not get my eye in for this at all. Too much going on , so I then focused on a tiny bit of one of the husks.

Tip of a corn cob husk. Pencil. I was very pleased when I “saw” the hole in the husk and the light falling through that in to the cast shadow.

Paint can, pencil. Two in one day as I knew it would be difficult to fit in drawing time the day after.

Waiting for a break in the rain, to run to the Finborough Theatre. The reflective tray was very difficult. Pencil.

And the sewing? There is another shirt underway - yes for my younger son, he hates boring clothes.

Perfect placket, thanks to Off the Cuff.

Cuffs with contrast inside fabric - amazing what I find in the fabric stash.

Alice, out in wonderland, Saturday 02 April

I am speaking about my quilt “ Roses are red, Alice is blue” on Saturday 02 April at Region 1’s regional day.

If you are anywhere near London SW8, from 1030h, it would be lovely to say hello.

Exhibitionist

I have a week’s leave to “ use or loose” so am combining a list of household management tasks with attendance at several exhibitions this week.  So far:

Chris Beetles Gallery, The Illustrators 2015, on until 9th January

What a treat to see so many original illustrations one place, all framed beautifully and consistently so that the eye was not distracted from the image.  There is a superb online catalogue that contains all 354 images, here, and if I had infinite funds, I would have bought Aubrey Beardsley and Quentin Blake - especially “On the Roof” featuring Mrs Armitage.

 White Cube Gallery, Mason’s Yard, “Losing the compass”, on until 9th January

Lots of textiles, but I really wasn’t sure about this one.  Some if it seemed more like “losing the plot” rather than ‘losing the compass”.  Acrylic paint on the top surface of a piece of carpet, then stuck in a frame, not for me.  Some interesting historical quilts, but displayed in a rather odd way, lying on top each other on the floor and hung from hooks on the wall such that the whole design couldn’t be seen.  I did like the embroidered maps and slogans by Alighiero e Boetti

Sims Reed Gallery, Bury Street, until 20 January.  Lovely drawings and painting by David Hockney and beautifully drawn pumpkins by Yayoi Kusama.

Joy of joys, using my Tate membership  - thank you mother in law, to see Alexander Calder  - Performing Sculpture. ( on until April 2016) I could have sat there all day, watching the shadows, and the gentle movements.  Despite the signs asking for no blowing on the sculptures, some people could not resist.  The 3D wire sculptures of heads and acrobats were a real revelation, and made me understand some of the comments from my drawing teacher about using the  weight of line to show ‘disappearing and appearing space’.

Then, thanks to a tip off from a friend who works in the art word, a visit to Omer Trioche Contemporary Art, where a small show of Calder tapestries and gouaches finishes this weekend.  It is a bit intimidating visiting these little galleries, as you have to ring the bell and request entrance but nothing ventured as they say.   Photography was allowed here.  

Vibrant reds and yellows lit up the gloomy day.  These are not tapestries in the conventional sense of weaving, but are rather braids of fibres placed on edge and then attached to a backing.  The scale is not apparent here, but this star was about a metre across the widest part.

The braided cords can be clearly seen here.

On my travels, interesting architectural details that caught my eye

Current turbine hall installation “Empty Lot” 

Cheesegrater, Walkie-Talkie, Gherkin, and Monument, just appearing in gold, now completely dwarfed by these monsters of commerce.

Worshipful companies’ signs, which due to the wonders of the internet, I can now research.  Glaziers here, Scientific Instrument Makers here and Launderers here.

British Museum of Food was new to me

and in the basement, Alcoholic Architecture, only open in the evening.

Shard partially concealed by a tree

Workers on the Millennium Bridge - love those sinuous lines - of the bridge that is, not of the workers

The old and the new - almshouses disappearing underneath recently-built towers

 

Colour and shine in a shaft of light coming through the gloom

Bollards, and what looks like a giant, upturned, steel mug supporting this building

London getting ready for Christmas, from a balcony at Tate Modern.

Home for dinner, and hopefully tomorrow, if my brain and feet hold out a trip to Goldsmith’s to see the work of Christine Risley, a contemporary and colleague of Constance Howard.

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing, embroidery , sculpture, air pollution

A strange mix of a title, but all aspects covered in one day this week.

The drawing course only has two sessions to go, and I am still finding it incredibly difficult to transfer what I see on to paper.  I do find it more straightforward to identify tone ( albeit with no subtlety) and spend time while travelling gazing at scene, objects and people identifying the main areas of contrast.  Last week’s challenge was 6 x 15 minute poses with Conte crayons.  I liked the medium, less fragile than charcoal, and a more varied line than graphite.  We had to do two portraits of our class members, who were drawing us at the same time - I found this really difficult, then 4 seated poses which I found more straightforward.

 Before the course, I went to see the embroidery of Magna Carta at the British Museum, by Cornelia Parker.  I like her work a lot, and this piece is remarkable to see, mostly due to the range of people who she persuaded to contribute to the stitching.  The vast majority of the text was stitched by prisoners from Fine Cell Work , a charity close to my heart, and there were also contributions from judges.  The panels embroidered by members of the Embroiderers’ Guild have exquisite workmanship.  Interestingly, there are mirrors set up underneath three sections of the embroidery so it is possible to see the back of the work.  As it is the back, mirrored, the text appears the correct way to the reader.  I am intrigued why this has been done, as i know stitchers often want to see the back of a stitched work, but do non-stitchers?

Outside the building, an odd sculpture / art piece with surprising juxtapositions - one to practise the drawing with?

I had been at a meeting in the Wellcome Trust in the morning, for the national launch of an air pollution monitoring project, so got an opportunity to marvel at the installation by the  Heatherwick Studio in the Gibbs building.  I would love to see this in different light, as it must change all the time.

Startling air pollution figures at the launch of the project and an announcement of a third runway at Heathrow in the same week.   Where are we going in our impact on this planet and on ourselves?

Click… in two senses of the word

An art day today.  First a visit to the Jerwood Space to see the work of  two new artists, in Jerwood Encounters.  Interesting pieces of work, but I'm not sure that they really said much to my psyche.  Then to Tate Modern for a quick art-based shop, and a great photo of the now filled-in crack, by Doris Salcedo.  I can't believe that it is 8 years ago that my lads had such a great time interacting with this piece.

Next to Bankside Gallery to drool over the prints on display, particularly those of Norman Ackroyd, Meg Dutton, John Duffin, John Bryce and Jeremy Blighton.  Close by, the sun had come out, I think that is the window cleaners at the top right.

After all that stimulation, we then studied tonal drawing at Mary Ward, and I really think something finally clicked about assessing tone, resulting in this, of which I am very proud.  Pencil on a graphite powder ground, about A2 size.

Still has many wonky bits ( and I doubt whether that table would stand up on is own) but real progress.  Thank you Sophie.

PRISM textiles and Geffrye Museum

A visit today to the annual PRISM textiles exhibition, where the theme was "Lines of Communication".  A new venue, at Hoxton Arches, was much more straightforward to get to than I had anticipated, to Clapham Junction, and then overground to Hoxton.  A very good facet of this new venue is that the exhibition is on for two weeks, until 31st May.  The standard of work on display is as always superb, and in some cases very moving.  It seemed very monotone this year, with bright colours in evidence in only a few pieces, but particularly in those of Gina Ferrari, who has been inspired by the graffiti in the garden of the venue and in the work of  Ruth Issett, whose overlaid and stitched organzas are marvellous.

Many familiar names this year.  It was wonderful to see the devoré pieces by Peta Jacobs whose work I had admired at the Cloth and Memory 2 exhibition at Saltaire.  A very moving piece of 64 hand knitted lace gloves in memory of visits to the artist's mother who was suffering from dementia, apologies, I did not get the name here.  Intriguing stitching on ventilator mesh from Niki chandler, giving excellent shadows which were integral to the work.  Crunchy, vibrant map of a river by Amanda Bloom.  Fabulous work as ever from Bea Sewell with stitched memorabilia in a series of boxes.  Fantastic to have Amanda Hislop's  sketchbook available to view alongside the finished piece of work, so much inspiration and understanding of her artistic process from viewing the two together.

Photography is allowed at the exhibition this year, but images are for personal use only, so not shown here.  It is a bold move of the PRISM group to move from the Mall Galleries and I'm not sure it has been completely successful.  The gallery was very well lit and laid out, but it was very cold due to the unseasonal weather ( and there was no obvious source of heating anyway).  There are minimal toilet facilities and no cafe - although there are many good eating places in less than 1 minute's walk.  The exhibition was not busy on a Bank Holiday Monday, which was not a great sign.  Something for the organisers to think about I fear.

I had not realised how close the Geffrye Museum was to the venue, so I managed to ft in a visit to a place hat has been on my list for several years.  Not enough  time to see everything, but enough to get a flavour  and persuade me to visit again soon.  The flowers in the garden were spectacular as another bonus.  Good cafe as well.

Hoping for light at the end of the tunnel tomorrow morning

or maybe just a lifebuoy

Intriguing, eclectic, bonkers and free

Although 2 Temple Place is only open to the public intermittently, it is worth making a special trip when it is.  I've blogged before about my first visit and that sense of wonder is still there from the moment of seeing the little cherubs with telephones. at the front door.  The current exhibition, " Cotton to Gold" focusses on collections gathered by industrialists who were prominent when the British cotton trade was at its peak.  As ever, the curators mush have had a lot of discussion about what to bring to London to showcase these collections.  The selection on display has put the Haworth Museum on my list of places to visit.  If you like Tiffany glass, beautiful beetles, stuffed birds, illuminated books, Japanese prints visit before 19th April.

Tonal London and the dementia darnings

At the painting class today, we were going to be looking at the tonal still-lives of the Italian painter Morandi.   Before that I went to City Hall to see the Dementia Darnings by Jenni Dutton.  A grey day ,and the walk there, gave the opportunity for some tonal studies of my own concerning light and shape.

The Dementia Darnings are remarkable pieces of work and really  convey the fading of a life, not into obscurity, but into a different place.  There is a tremendous sense of pathos and surprisingly, calm, in the later pieces.  The exhibition is small, and on until 27th March, but so worth a visit.

An added bonus was a little display in the lower ground floor of City Hall, called "Second Skin" highlighting the work of four Irish textile designers.  I absolutely loved the work of Jennifer Rothwell, whose recent collection was inspired by stained glass.  The colours on the silk were a vibrant contrast to the rest of the sombre colour scheme of the day.

I wasn't so convinced by the wearability of the wooden shoulder pads by Lennon Courtney, but they were beautifully made.

 

 

 

Landscape, light, paint, roofs, journal, London

Today started with the Landscape Photographer of the Year exhibition at Waterloo Station, extended until 28th February.  One of the advantages to the non-shoping fraternity of the addition of the Waterloo balcony are the occasions when it becomes a temporary exhibition space.  These photographs are fantastic,and many of them are taken with relatively straightforward cameras, without photo editing but with a lot of preparation, observation of the light and huge amounts of patience.   The winners are here and I could not choose a favourite.

Inspired by all of that, and waiting on the steps of the National Gallery, I attempted some  silhouettes of Nelson's column.  All photos are from my phone as I forgot my camera, hence the elongated format.

and an opportunity to photograph the first of this year's journal quilts "en plein air".

 En route to the fantastic, huge paintings of "Walls of Water" by Maggi Hambling.  On until 15 February, only one room of  paintings but completely free and well worth a trip.

These paintings have ben subject to a scathing review, but I loved seeing the way the paint was handled, and three of the painting in particular made me feel as if I was in front of a giant wall of water.  Down in the espresso bar, my friend and I also liked ( after a very good courgette and pumpkin seed muffin - better than it sounds) the selection of  monotypes, also on the theme of water, printed with Frank Connelly of Morley College, with whom my friend is currently studying.

Then off to Bloomsbury, stopping by St George's Church, designed by Hawksmoor and recently restored, to marvel at the acoustics and the intricate reflections on the brass chandelier.

A quick lunch on the deserted and unexpected roof garden of the Mary Ward Centre

with some shapes worthy of drawing practise sharply outlined in the sunshine.

 

Then down to the class to work on using tones on a coloured ground.  Couldn't get that foreshortened top of the triangular object at all.

Finishing off with a meeting of the quilt group to see the Contemporary Quilt Group Suitcase challenge on the theme of " All in a Day's Work" .  As ever, these 43 little quilts were enormously imaginative, although the number that featured lists in some form or another was a bit worrisome.  

There was also the return of the finished blocks for the round robin challenge.  I am very pleased with how every interpreted my challenge, and amazed at the amount of work that went into the blocks.  Everyone kindly wrote about their inspiration in the notebook that I sent round with the quit, so I now need to think how best to incorporate those comments so they don't get separated from the previous work.  No photograph yet, as I need good light to show the detail on those blocks.

And eventually to bed, head buzzing.