Subjects

Ucheldre Centre Printmaking Workshop

abstract-linocut

I took part in a two day printmaking workshop ten days ago. It was held in the Ucheldre Centre in Holyhead and was run by Veronica Calarco, a native Australian printmaker currently based in Wales; and Eirian Llwyd, one of the co-founders of The Original Print Place / Y Lle Print Gwreiddiol.

As a novice, I must admit I found the process harder than anticipated as it was quite difficult to make controlled/precise marks. It also appears that inking the plates and setting and operating the press are technical skills that must be learned over time, but it was all tremendous fun and Veronica and Eirian gave us all a thorough introduction to the relief printing process, including how to make simple images at home without a press using polystyrene takeaway trays and a wooden spoon. Definitely worth experimenting with!

The gallery of images above contains a bit of mixed bag but, hopefully, it’s possible to catch a glimpse of the potential for creating striking imagery which printmaking offers to anyone willing to spend a bit of time learning and practising the techniques.

If you want to see how printmaking is really done, then there’s still time to catch the Printmakers in Wales exhibition which has been drawn together by The Original Print Place. It’is being held in the Ucheldre Centre and runs until 6th October 2013.

For information, we were also informed that a new Bangor Print Studio is being launched by the TOGYG group of artists. It’s situated in The Old Goodsyard, Treborth, Bangor and, I believe, is intended to operate as an drop in centre for registered users. They will also be running workshops so it’d be well worth checking them out. They also have a facebook page.

Ucheldre Centre Printmaking Workshop Read More »

New Painting: Counting the Steps (South Stack Lighthouse)

counting-the-steps-south-stack-lighthouse
Counting the steps at South Stack Lighthouse
Counting the steps at South Stack Lighthouse (Acrylic on canvas 100cm x 80cm)

This was painted as a submission to the Ucheldre Centre‘s Art for All competition 2013. The colours are intentionally brighter and the rather idealised/dreamlike composition (which is actually a ‘collage’ of the key elements experienced when walking up and down the steps), hopefully gives more of a sense of the vertigo-inducing view. Also submitted were A Bigger Station and South Stack Lighthouse.

New Painting: Counting the Steps (South Stack Lighthouse) Read More »

New Painting: A Bigger Station (Holyhead)

a-bigger-station

A Bigger Station (Acrylic on canvas 100cm x 80cm)
A Bigger Station (Acrylic on canvas 100cm x 80cm)

This painting of Holyhead Station was completed in response to further reading of David Hockney’s various musings, specifically in Hockney on Art: Conversations with Paul Joyce, and A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney by Martin Gayford, on the need to resist the ‘tyranny of the lens’ in painting. Shamefully, I missed Hockney’s 2012 exhibition at the Royal Academy, entitled A Bigger Picture (despite being in London at the time to view Lucien Freud’s Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery), as the queues were phenomenal!

The painting attempts to apply what I understand of Hockney’s views on the need to incorporate changing viewpoints in order to suggest the passage of time and movement (as per his quoted examples of Diego Rivera’s murals and Chinese scroll paintings), and thereby strive to break the ‘stranglehold’ of the monocular rules of perspective.

I had in mind the following two works of art:

  • Van Gogh’s painting Trees in the Garden in Front of the Entrance to Saint-Paul Hospital, in which the trees truly appear to soar overhead; so much so, that it’s almost possible to see, hear and feel the breeze blowing through the upper branches when looking at it;
  • Hockney’s photographic ‘joiner‘, Pearblossom Highway, in which one gets such a strong sense of looking in different directions, especially of looking ‘down’ on the flattened cans on the side of the road. (Also see interesting video here.)

It was painted with short, loose, brushstrokes in an effort to replicate Van Gogh’s style, which always remind me of iron filings in a magnetic field and always seem to suggest movement and vibration, the intention being that the brushwork reflected the passage of many thousands of feet over the platform surface, as well as the movement of light and air rebounding off the glistening surface of the roof canopy. In the end, the only static objects in the painting are the people; even the gentleman walking towards the exit seems transfixed.

It was painted from sketches carried out on site as well as with a rudimentary first attempt at making a ‘joiner’. The objects at the bottom of the picture are my feet, which I’d originally thought of including in reference to the tin cans in Pearblossom Highway…

A Bigger Station Joiner (photographs on coloured paper 100cm x 70cm)
A Bigger Station Joiner (photographs on coloured paper 100cm x 70cm)

New Painting: A Bigger Station (Holyhead) Read More »

New Paintings: Southstack Landscapes

south-stack-lighthouse

The following two paintings were completed in fairly quick succession, again in a grisaille style. The first was painted from a very loose sketch carried out in a very fine drizzle, which soaked my sketchbook and obscured my view. The ‘fingers’ of rock reminded me of a giant’s hand as he was attempting to claw his way onto dry land and made me think back to tales of Irish giants read about as a child.

South Stack
South Stack (Acrylic on Canvas 60cm x 60cm)

New Paintings: Southstack Landscapes Read More »

New Painting: Still Life – The Death of Painting

still-life-the-death-of-painting-i

Still Life - The Death of Painting I

This early attempt at a coloured oil painting was inspired by a documentary on Russian art by Andrew Graham-Dixon, in which he discussed Constructivism and made reference to Alexandr Rodchenko’s declaration regarding the ‘death of painting’. The title is intended to be ironic in suggesting that there is ‘still life’ in painting, whereas it is the chemical photography which motivated Rodchenko’s sweeping statement that is in its death throes. I think the motif has merit but I just got a bit carried away with the burnt umber. One to revisit.

New Painting: Still Life – The Death of Painting Read More »

New Paintings: Self-Portraits

self-portrait-

I’ve painted a few self-portraits over the past couple of years, despite the fact that my family always mock me for portraying myself with a double-chin. I think the most commonly used phrase is ‘Dad, you look like a frog…’ but to my way of thinking, I’m just trying to earn myself the right to ‘paint what I see’.

This first picture won second prize in the Holyhead ‘Art for All’ exhibition held at the Ucheldre Centre in 2009(?)

Self-Portrait (Oil on Canvas 50cm x 60cm)
Self-Portrait (Oil on Canvas 50cm x 60cm)

This second drawing hasn’t photographed well, due to being behind glass, so it appears overexposed.

Distance
Distance (Charcoal on Paper 41cm x 30cm)

This third sketch was accepted into the Kyffin Williams Drawing competition exhibition held in Oriel Ynys Môn in Llangefni. It was drawn with a mirror propped on my lap so as to produce a slightly disorientating view and was done in a mad rush on the last day that they were accepting entries, due to the fact that I got the dates mixed up!

Self-portrait 3 (Pencil on coloured paper 59cm x 42cm)

New Paintings: Self-Portraits Read More »

Picking Up Brushes Again

portrait-of-dad

Portrait of Dad
Dad (Oil on canvas 50cm x 40cm)

I painted this for my Dad’s 70th birthday, having been inspired to pick up my paintbrushes again by David Hockney’s absolutely fascinating book, Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the lost techniques of the Old Masters, in which he posits that there is clear evidence in the work of the Old Masters that they made great use of optics to support and enhance their artistry.

This book appears to have caused a lot of controversy amongst the artistic community at the time, but it certainly encouraged me to look afresh at some wonderful paintings and still left me with a sense of awe about the skills involved in creating them.

Having painted my Dad’s portrait, I followed in quick succession with portraits of my mate, Rob, and my wife, Netty, using the same grisaille style.

Portrait of Rob
Portrait of Rob (Oil on canvas 50cm x 40cm)

Portrait of Netty
Portrait of Netty (Oil on canvas 50cm x 40cm)

Picking Up Brushes Again Read More »