Hi, I'm back.
Did you miss me while I was away?
Sorry for the absence, but life got in the way. I will try to keep to posting once a week now life is, relatively speaking, back to normal.
I haven't been idle on the art front, but have been experimenting and trying to find a focus.
There's a lot of fuss in the art world about consistency and having a recognisable style. This seems to mostly come from a gallery perspective, where they find it easier to sell the same thing (or at least something similar) over and over. My trouble is I get bored if I keep doing the same thing and that then shows in my work as it doesn't have the same spark, plus I then don't want to go into the studio and make art, so less gets made.
When you actually start looking at more well known artists you realise that many are the same. Tracy Emin, famed for the unmade bed, has made numerous smaller sketches, but also some fabulously detailed small bird sculptures. Grayson Perry, famed for Clare (yes Clare has become his alter-ego, but is also an artwork in her own right and excellent promotional material) is also known for his pots and other ceramics. He is less known for his tapestries. Henry Moore is known for sculptures, but also has done tapestries. Those hanging at the Henry Moore Foundation vary quite significantly from realistic to abstract. Maggi Hambling created the large shell sculpture on Aldeburgh beach, but does fantastic abstracts and portraits. These are just 4 artists that show a breadth of work rarely acknowledged.
I do have a style and certain things do keep appearing. Collage is one. I never liked collage in my early days of art. I think I had a set idea of what it was, that didn't appeal and have since found I can use it differently. Now it creeps in everywhere. I am fascinated by found objects. They don't always fit with the work, but sometimes I know that a rusty washer is just what that piece needs. I love landscapes, colours, shapes, shadows. The openness and how it makes you feel when the light shines a particular way or the cloud comes down, as it has while I write this. The things I sketch are different from the things I paint. But they do keep my eye observing. I would love, someday, to do a series on light and shadow. Whether I ever will is another matter entirely.
All this is to say, that since this strange period in our lives started, I have tried a number of things. Some have worked, some not so much. Below is a sample of those varied works. I will go through these and others in more detail over the coming weeks.
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