Conversations with a Bird

I am just putting away all my works on paper from last semester at uni into my plan chest and I thought I'd show you this little series of paintings which I did a while back. (They are all acrylic on card and about 16 x 12 ins).



I originally bought the doll at a car boot sale so I could make a mould of her head which I then cast and used on the first ceramic bird doll. But then I couldn't resist painting some pictures of her (once I'd sewn her head back on!). I think she's quite old.

Cotswold Open Studios and learning to 'Trust in the Process'

Last weekend about 20 Cotswold artists, designers and makers opened their studios to allow the public to get a glimpse of their working practices and work in progress. I spent a really pleasurable afternoon exploring some of these very varied creative spaces which were set in the most glorious countyside. I don't travel through the North Cotwolds very often and, even though it really is manipulated and manicured within an inch of its life, I was reminded again how beautiful it is and how very English.

The artists I spoke to were also very generous with their time and expertise answering questions very patiently and genuinely. And their work was pretty inspiring too!

 

Since being at UWE I have started to work in quite a different way to previously. I am finding that the process of making the sculptural things gives me the time and mental space to develop ideas for works on paper.This suits my temperament much better but self confidence has always been a bit of a challenge as far as my art work is concerned. I was very encouraged by the feedback I received from my tutors at UWE (one of them, Richard Webb, took part in the Open Studios). However they ended by saying...  

    "Through drawing and making you have allowed concept to begin to emerge and become clearer -a very good example of practice as research. What is the work telling you? Where is it leading you? To  move forward you need to trust this process"

 

Obviously different artists have different ways of working but listening to the artists who took part in the Open Studios did confirm what I really already knew. It takes time and experience to fully trust that the work will lead somewhwere worthwhile. And hard work and perseverence. The more you make/draw/paint etc the more you trust your process. Confidence is a by product of putting in the hours. I know this is stating the obvious really but sometimes I get so bound up in thinking about stuff when really I just need to get on and start to actually do it!

 

The Open Studios taster exhibition at the Corinium Museum is still on.

Mini Prints and a bit more discipline (hopefully).

So...
I am the first to admit that I have not been very good at regularly updating this blog with all my 'news, views and work in progress' since I started it last year. However, it is a reqiurement of the Professional Practice module of my degree course next semester to create some sort of online presence. So, I really must get in to the habit of blogging about twice a week and be more disciplined about setting the time aside to do it. They say it takes 6 weeks for a habit to form so by September updating my blog should be second nature to me... maybe...hopefully...

Here are the two prints that I put in the Mini Print Exhibition at the Printmakers Gallery last month and I'm pleased to report that I sold a few (which is always encouraging)! They are both collagraphs, 10 x 10 cms.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                 

  

Porcelain Dolls

I've been trying to make some little porcelain dolls recently. The first two were OK  but I've had trouble with the arms breaking off subsquent dolls - they are so fragile before they are fired. The ceramics technician at UWE said it could be that I was letting the clay dry out too much before attaching the limbs. I've left the damaged dolls to be fired anyway  but I won't get them back till after the holiday now.

I started off trying to make a doll who was sewing herself up. I think her right arm really needs to be a bit higher, as if she's pulling the thread through the stitch, although I haven't actually given her a needle and thread yet.
The second doll was just an experiment really to see if I could construct her in a different position. At least I remembered to put some ears on that one.

The clothes are made of cotton stiffened with potato starch. At the moment I want them to be dolls rather than figurines although I'm not quite sure why.

                                          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

I'm hoping to put some prints in the Mini Print exhibition which the Print Co-op are holding soon.

Pop in if you can. There's bound to be a huge diversity of printmaking techniques on show.

 

Contrary Crow Doll

Remember Big Cawdelia who sits on Ragged Ronnie Rhino?
Well, a little while ago I decided to make some more crow dolls, but smaller. When I finished the first one I sat her on the windowsill while I did a little painting of her...




Acrylic on card

Then I thought she might like some company.

At first Little Cawdelia seemed to like the porcelain doll I selected, but then things took a turn for the worse....

 

 

Acrylic on card

 

 

Acrylic on card

  

 

I don't think she plays well with others...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Raven

It's been a busy couple of weeks, what with workshops at university, the print symposium, working at the clinic, and stewarding for the Impress festival.
Much of it has been enjoyable, but not much time to get on with my own artwork. I did do this very large charcoal drawing of a scene from my interpretation of a Grimms tale called The Raven, using one of my ceramic bird girls as a model.

Charcoal on paper (75x60 cms approx)

There was once upon a time a queen who had a little daughter who was still so young that she had to be carried.  One day the child was naughty, and the mother might say what she liked, but the child would not be quiet.  The queen became impatient, and as the ravens were flying about the palace, she opened the window and said, "I wish you were a raven and would fly away, and then I should have some rest".  Scarcely had she spoken the words, before the child was changed into a raven, and flew from her arms out of the window.  It flew into a dark forest, and stayed in it a long time, and the parents heard nothing of their child.

 

Then one day a man was bathing in the lake in the forest and heard the raven crying in some nearby bushes, and followed the sound, and when he came nearer, the bird said, "I am a king's daughter by birth, and am bewitched, but you can set me free".  "What am I to do, asked he......"

 

My First Attempts at Slip Casting

Soon after Christmas (when my dissertation was safely handed in) I bought a second hand plaster slip mould of a pigeon for £4. I took it in to the university ceramics technican and he gave me a crash course in slip casting (although he did wonder whether it was rather a large mould to start with considering my zero knowledge on the subject). It is quite large (that's a 12 inch ruler in the picture) and very heavy (special thanks to my sister in law, Helen, for collecting it from the seller for me) .

When my first attempt came out of the kiln OK I coloured her dove grey and gave her human eyes.

I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to try and do with the pigeon after reading lots of fairy tales for my dissertation, where humans are turned into birds.  I had attended a mould making workshop a while ago, so I set about trying to make a plaster mould of a doll's head. I cast another pigeon and cut her head off and replaced it with a cast of the doll head.

 

 

 

I was really encouraged by the results and tried it again but with a different doll head. This is the point at which my beginner's luck ran out. The second head was heavier than the first and the pigeon body started to collapse. I had to sacrifice her perch and feet so I could salvage the rest. Once she was fired I decided to make her some ceramic and wood wheels to get around on. I think I like her even more than the first one now.

 

 

This description makes it sound like it was all quite quick and simple but in fact these pieces were created over a period of several weeks. Now I just can't decide whether or not to colour these latest bird/girl hybrids or keep them white. And should I carry on and make a flock?