Ian Mitchell's Show Goes Up and New Drawings in the Studio

Last week, after spending 2 days dismantling and packing up the Nicholson exhibition, we spent the rest of the time hanging Ian Mitchell's show, A1(M) Eastern Gateway, in which he explores the idea of bulding a motorway from Thirsk to Whitby via Rosedale viaduct.  Ian has made works on a variety of substrates, the results of which are beautiful, playing on the differences between tough durable, modern surfaces and structures and the beauty of the landscape and ancient marks found on it.   Andy Dalton was around for most of the week, this is the final show he has worked on as gallery manager;  he has now left the museum and I miss him already.  Ian's show looks brilliant and we are all excited about this new development in his work.

 A few installation shots of Ian Mitchell's show, A1 (M) Eastern Gateway, which runs at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum until 8th July.   http://easterngateway.blogspot.co.uk   and http://ianmitchellart.blogspot.co.uk

Ian is giving a talk at the gallery on June 15th, 7 - 8 pm.
www.thegalleryatryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com




I had been working on a drawing to give Andy as a gift for weeks but as usual the final touches were left to the last minute and I had to dash to finish it in my studio on the day of his leaving meal with colleagues from the museum. Andy has left to pursue his own printmaking and plans to set up a workshop in his garage.  I am looking forward to seeing some of the results.  www.andrew-dalton.com    He is a real star, so I drew him one:

Emerging Star, May 2012

I have only managed to work on a single drawing so far this week as there were a few things related to The Gallery that needed seeing to.  This drawing is on cheap cartridge paper, which has caused me much agony; the graphite sticks just don't slide over the surface in the same delicious way that they do on the Arches paper I used for some of the previous drawings.  It is also much much whiter and there is less tooth to the surface, which is not as pleasing.  So, to counteract this I have drawn the marks on the paper and with each layer, I have washed over the drawing with some matchpots of off white emulsion paint that I have kicking around the studio.  This created an interesting ghostly revealed/concealed look, which made me think of memories lost or half remembered.  I find the subtlety of the marks made by the brush with the emulsion over the graphite really pleasing and fascinating but I am wary of becoming sucked in by the beauty of the surface too much.  My dilemma now is: do I leave this drawing as it is, keeping it for reference, and make another that I will continue to work on beyond this stage, with the other, more calligraphic marks to create the obelisk/human forms?

 

Photographs of exhibition A1 (M) Eastern Gateway with permission of Ian Mitchell

All other images copyright Sue Gough

The Importance of Good Quality Photographs to Document Work

Pete and I went to The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum last weekend, to take some exhibition shots of the Nicholson show before it came down on Monday in preparation for hanging Ian Mitchell's show. They will be part of the ongoing archival record of exhibitions at The Gallery.  Professor Gordon Bell also requested a copy of them for his own records.  Pete took the photo's, I made sure the space was tidy and was on hand to approve the shots! 

We then drove to my studio, where Pete photographed my latest work so that I have some  really good quality for my archive.  These are invaluable as, should I choose to submit work for exhibitions, good photographs are essential.  I am lucky to have such a helpful husband because it would cost me a lot of money to hire a photographer to do this for me.  Pete takes several exposures of each work, (fewer for black and white as there is less adjustment required) and we then spend time with the downloaded images, selecting the best one and adjusting the colour balance until it resembles as exactly as possible, the original.  We have to have the original there with us to refer to while we go through this process, which, now that my studio is no longer at home, means a lot of lugging work backwards and forwards, but it is worth it.  For those of you reading this who are interested, the software Pete uses along with a Huey screen callibrator is Nikon's NX2 software because he has a Nikon camera, which does the same job as Photoshop.

Study, re-worked canvas

 

I visited Anthony Bentley of Ginger Hall Framing, Kirkbymoorside last week to discuss framing of some of my large drawings.  As usual, Anthony was really  helpful and interesting on the subject.  Now that the photo's are taken, I need to get them framed to protect them.  I envisage plain square frames, white or wood washed with white, with the drawings floated on a back paper or board, which will show the deckle edges of the paper off and present the drawings really well.

The Departed # 1

The Departed # 1V

I bubble wrap all my work for storage on the racks I have at home and a really helpful reference is to have a label on the outside of each package, which has an image of the work as well as the dimensions and any relevant information about it.  This makes it easier to select the correct image from a series that are all the same size without having to unwrap each one.  The good images can be viewed on screen by any interested parties, selected and found on the rack much more quickly by checking the label and may be unwrapped for closer inspection. 

 It is useful to document work as it progresses, which I do with my Lumix digital camera, many of which I put up on this blog but for the finished pieces, a good quality record is an important marketing tool.   Keeping an archive of high quality images of the work is vital, because, who knows, one day I may actually sell some and the original image will  no longer be around for me to look at.

These images are also useful when looking back at the development of the work and working process/practice, they may also provide a useful reference when developing new work.

All are images copyright of the artist

Working again at last!

The partition wall and the false walls at the back are complete, ready for me to cover in work!

Shelving and trestle table more or less in the right place, one more set of shelves to bring over.  Still got to bring my mangle and another old door that I use as a table top with trestles over from the house.

Apart from a few small gaps in the walls and around the doors to fill, the studio is finally ready and I have been able to continue my work.  I really like the space, the light will be ok during the summer months and I am going to get some more strip lights installed before the nights start to draw in again.  I have one calor gas stove in preparation for the cold months, but suspect I may need another.  The chickens are still nosy and come for a peer in if I leave the studio door open, and I never leave the boot of my car open because they seem to like hopping up inside for a root around.

Still, all in all I am happy to have the new space up and running, my working routine will soon settle down and I shall be able to concentrate properly again. 
Life does have a way of interrupting the flow though: this week I have several appointments that are going to disrupt things and next week I shall be in The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum all week taking down the Nicholson show and intalling Ian Mitchell's exciting new work.  Andy Dalton and I are really looking forward to seeing his work in the space; what we have seen so far is really good stuff.  Ian has taken the opportunity of the show to develop and push his ideas and working practice, which is what The Gallery is for.  Contemporary artists in this rural area need a space that provides them with support and encouragement to develop their ideas and take risks with new work. 
www.thegalleryatryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com

www.ianmitchellart.com


There are some potentially exciting developments for Ryedale ArtWorks in the offing, I am really looking forward to working with the team to see what we can achieve.  RAW is hoping to broaden it's horizons to provide more opportunities for exhibiting among other things, so these are exciting times and there will be lots to do.
www.ryedaleartworks.com

I have continued to experiment with the bottles with the metal tips that allow me to draw with the paint.  I have used an old canvas that was not successful for this; the paint I mixed is slightly thicker than the last lot and unfortunately it clogged.  I am not sure whether this is because I didn't mix it smoothly enough or if, because some of the paint is quite old, there may have been some skin that I caught up by mistake.  I shall have to take more care next time.  The clogging caused me to have to stop mid line, which entailed much loud swearing on my part; I just hope Sally Taylor, who is in the space above me was not in at the time!  The break in my line was frustrating, but when I looked at the work a day later, having gone over the work again to adjust the tonal value of the drawn area, it didn't actually matter.   

The tonal qualities of the drawings is an integral part of the image and meaning and contributes to the success of the work.  With the paintings this is much more difficult to achieve; I have found a way to draw with the paint that is quite successful but with paint comes a whole other set of things to consider.  Paint equals colour, which adds another dimension and distraction to expressing an idea.  Tonal qualities of paint are complicated by the colours selected, which affects the meaning/idea.  It is easy to create tonal contrast by using primaries or secondary colours, but I prefer the more sublte tertiaries.  I keep a rough record of the colours I mix in a sketch book and am constantly on the look out for interesting colour combinations when I am out and about in the landscape.  Light, especially stormy light creates a wonderfully expressive contrast of colour and tone.

I think this colour combination is a bit too obvious!

I am continuing to experiment with way to express the ideas of time passing and the human condition some of which are more successful than others.  I think the drawing with paint is a little "tight", I prefer more gestural use of paint but it has been a useful stage of the process.  I am looking forward to the continued struggle, finding a successful way to express time/seasons, loss and optimism.  One thing I do know; sometimes the simplest things are the best so I need to find ways to express things in an enigmatic way, to allude to the meaning and allow the paint to take over, to have less control.

A Useful Tool for Drawing With Paint and Moving in to the Studio

The painting, with a layer of drawn marks using the bottle system

It seems ages since I was last in London when we looked at Grayson Perry, Hockney and others.  While we were in the city I popped in to Atlantis Art Supplies and thinking of my problem of trying to produce similar marks to the ones in my drawings, but with paint, Sarah, who studied textiles at Winchester, introduced me to some little "bottles and tips".   This is actually what is on the packaging - there's no fancy name!  They are small plastic bottles that come with metal tips through which the paint, dye or ink is forced, a bit like a miniature icing nozzle (plain), with which you can draw.  And they work! 

The marks do get a little bit "blobby" occasionally, but actually no more often than my pen marks on absorbant paper (as in the Chinese notebook I have been using), and this system does allow for drawing with very fine lines with paint.  I am really surprised that it worked so well and glad that I have found a way of reproducing the marks similar to a pen that a brush simply will not.

detail

The bottles come in two small sizes and each metal nozzle has a corresponding pin to keep the hole clear and unblocked.  Each bottle also comes with a plastic cap to prevent the ink/paint from drying out.  It is recommended that the metal nozzle is removed and cleaned at the end of each session and the bottle capped until the next use.  The system is only recommended for acrylic paint, fabric paint and glues, obviously not quick setting glues. 

So far I have used it on the surface of the last painting, I kept the painting on the easel and worked with the bottle fairly upright.  I enjoyed the way the marks changed as I progressed across the different surfaces of the painting; the smoother surface of the collaged areas were just like working in a notebook, where the nozzle went across the more thinly painted areas of the canvas, it juddered a bit and I developed the technique slightly, holding it against the surface less firmly but when the nozzle "bit" into the cotton duck and wobbled, it made a much more tentative mark, which I like.  Across the thickly painted area it worked smoothly.  As I pointed out earlier, care had to be taken to avoid blobs, but even these, when they ran, created interesting marks, so I just kept going and went with it.

I am now making decisions about further layers for this painting and it will be put to one side for me to look at while I get on with finishing the studio and moving in, as well as making some more work at last.

The partition wall in the studio is now complete except for the final panel of mdf, which will have to wait as we forgot the rawl plugs yesterday and the upright at that end needs to be attached to a brick pillar.  The rest are up, fairly straight and gap free, all they need is a couple of coats of white matt emuslion.  Behind them there is a sandwich of plastic and insulation salvaged from the demolition at home.  There are a few big gaps to block somehow above the doors and at the base of the doors and then the space should be much more draught free.  I have no illusions that it will be warm, I have purchased a gas heater with the plan to buy another one if needs must during the winter.

Plastic in between the uprights, insulation and another layer of black plastic on top, should see the wall pretty draught, dirt and petrol fumes from next door free!

This work took us all day yesterday, made more awkward because the uprights were very odd distances apart, which meant that each sheet of mdf had to be cut seperately.  The back wall will be much easier because we are going to put the uprights where we want them and we'll be able to keep most of the sheets of mdf whole.  The rain didn't help; we had to keep rushing everything indoors to avoid the very heavy showers to keep the sheets from getting wet.

My trusty helper, Pete, without whose help none of this would happen!

Second layer of plastic before the boards

Completed wall, a gap to fill, (end upright not vertical!) and the final board to do when we remember rawl plugs.  Painted, it will make a brilliant working surface.

The plan is to move in this week. . . .

How Many: more thoughts on time and life

A thought occurred to me just before I fell asleep last night that I fortunately remembered this morning.  I need to keep a notebook by my bedside. 

How many breaths do we take in a lifetime?  And thus how many of anything significant to our selves/bodies constitutes a lifetime? 

graphite on cartridge paper

Repetition knits everything together . . .

graphite, compressed charcoal, acrylic paint and oil pastel

. . . just started a new drawing/painting on paper; I am really excited about this series of work, I am letting it go where it leads me at the moment, trying out several ideas and approaches.  Keep waking up with ideas to try out.  I love the ebb and flow of it, sometimes first layers need to be obliterated mostly with only traces allowed to show, and then worked on again to build up an interesting surface, keeping in mind what I want to express.

another layer of acrylic paint drawn on top of the previous one

all images copyright of the artist

Studio Refurbishments Continue

Chinese Sketchbook: drawings completed in March. . .

With Easter out of the way I am afraid I then fell into an exhausted decline for two days during which I mostly slept.  It did me good though; I now feel fine again and ready to get on with preparing the studio, I am anxious to complete this work because I really need to continue with my drawing and painting in peace.  I have made a few drawings in a Chinese sketchbook given to me by my son.

Pete and I went over to the studio last weekend and began work on the partition wall.  We managed to get most of the plastic up over the horizontal and gappy boards but had to call a halt before we finished the job because there are two holes that look like they may have been made by rodents, so they need to be boarded up.  We made a comprehensive list of  materials and tools we need for the next visit and went home.

I wish it was finished!  Pete, who helps.

 

With the building work going on at home, we are now the proud owners of an account with a local builders merchant, which means I will be able to order all the sheet boards we need for the studio and take advantage of the discount available, makes me feel very grown up!  Judging by the stress I am feeling today after having some serious discussion with consultant heating engineers, architects and workmen, I am going to need the studio in Stonegrave to escape to.

Painted Floor, and a New Painting, Plus: Dates For My Show

The space has gone from this,

... to this in just over a week, I shall soon be moving my stuff in to start work.

I am taking advantage of the fact that it is too cold to go out to the new studio space today, it is 3 degrees, there is a wind howling around the house and it has been raining hard since yesterday. I can see snow on the moors beyond the back of our house, towards Hutton le Hole.   As I write this the rain has stopped and the sun is shining weakly but I am not going out again, it is too cosy by the wood burner.

Pete had to leave for the States early on Saturday morning, and, despite being exhausted after the opening of the Nicholson show the previous night, I was up and in Jewsons before they closed, buying more PVA to seal the second wall at the new studio space.  On Sunday I spent a couple of hours painting the floor and I am pleased with the result; not only is it much lighter, the space is now cleaner and there will be  less dust flying around.  All I need to do now is get the partition wall sorted out and build the false walls in front of the masonry ones and I'll have plenty of space on which to work.  I am getting there!

Chinese newspaper, collaged onto colour washed canvas

I spent a few hours after working in the gallery this week, in my studio at home, making another painting.  These early works are using up some canvases I had kicking around the studio from another project and I am using them to explore solutions to some of the problems I have set myself with this current work; combining tally marks with references to landscape and man made marks in order to express the age old theme of the condition of humankind- how to deal with the inevitability of death, but in a positive way.

Tally marks, Chinese ink

First layer of paint, over the still wet tally marks

The painting as it is at the moment, it is not fully resolved; I may change some of the colour and drawing elements within the canvas.  For now though, I will put it to one side and make some more work until I have decided what to do.  I put the tangled, loopy drawing marks over the gestural paint rather than have it underneath as I have placed them so far in drawings and paintings.  This enabled me to draw into and with the paint with a more continuous line.

detail

detail

detail

The dates for my show next year are:  Saturday 20th April - Sunday June 2nd, 2013, 
at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton le Hole, North Yorkshire.

The Private view will be on Friday 19th April.

I am really excited by this prospect and the challenge it represents.

 

All images copyright of the artist.