Courtesy of Sun Gazing on Facebook
Saturday 6 July 2013
Monday 17 January 2011
Knitting Illustrations for Rag Tag n Textile
Friday 12 November 2010
What if someone reads my blog?!
Now that I've let folk in on this blog through the Hi-Ex! Blog, someone might just come along and read this! Wonder what I've said... wonder what photos I put up... wonder what drivel there is or, worse, whining about my artist's block! Oh well...!Welcome anyone who's reading this for the first time. Do leave me a calling card (comment) so I know you've been here.
Thursday 10 June 2010
FAILED! and revelation
I have failed the 20 minute challenge! Not once have I done any of the things on the list! It just hasn't worked into my days in the past week, it would work better when I'm not busy. I only have a certain amount of energy after all.
I have designed a shadow knitting pattern (not the one in my challenge list), and taken part in a day's painting class, however, creating two paintings and two drawings. Oh and created a birthday card for a friend's birthday.
I think though that my most important task should be to get my spare room studio sorted. Then I can spend time in there and do the other things on the list.
I had a (fairly obvious, really!) revelation today. I was at an art day with a local artist and one of my "classmates" was saying how she finds painting / drawing, etc, very relaxing, it's very much time out for her and a bit like a meditation. As a born-again Christian, I'm wary of what is a Buddhist(?) practice, so looked for a Christian alternative. And I realised that I could see it as prayer. This fits very neatly for me, as my guilt about not using my talent is based on the fact that it's a God given gift. If I can use that gift as prayer, all the better!
I will mull this over (prayerfully).
I have designed a shadow knitting pattern (not the one in my challenge list), and taken part in a day's painting class, however, creating two paintings and two drawings. Oh and created a birthday card for a friend's birthday.
I think though that my most important task should be to get my spare room studio sorted. Then I can spend time in there and do the other things on the list.
I had a (fairly obvious, really!) revelation today. I was at an art day with a local artist and one of my "classmates" was saying how she finds painting / drawing, etc, very relaxing, it's very much time out for her and a bit like a meditation. As a born-again Christian, I'm wary of what is a Buddhist(?) practice, so looked for a Christian alternative. And I realised that I could see it as prayer. This fits very neatly for me, as my guilt about not using my talent is based on the fact that it's a God given gift. If I can use that gift as prayer, all the better!
I will mull this over (prayerfully).
Saturday 5 June 2010
20 minutes challenge, drawings & ruminations
This brilliant blog by Michael Nobbs has really inspired me. I have taken up the challenge to do the following:
- sorting out my spare room/studio.
- developing a knitting pattern.
- drawing.
There's tons more I need to be doing but these are all supremely important and the basics that will get me moving.
I've had a tough time of it for the past 9 months or so, with a major relapse of ME/CFS and struggling with coming to terms with that. Michael Nobbs also has ME/CFS so he is an ideal inspiration for me.
On the positive side, I've taken part in a drawing class - line and tone - and have some photos of them. Only one, in my opinion, is any good, but the others aren't bad and, besides, it was a class, with a set drawing style each week, they're not supposed to be finished/professional works of art.
Each week I found that, after about half an hour, I always felt I'd had enough and wanted to stop and go and do something else altogether. This is my artist's block at work, methinks. I didn't, of course, go off and do something else but persevered and was always glad I did. Clearly I struggle with motivation and the purpose of it all.
This is just a selection from the class, there were many more than this.
Charcoal on grey paper. I enjoyed this, having not drawn with charcoal for years. I'm amazed how illustrative it ended up, and not a little twee, methinks.
Charcoal and chalk on coloured paper.
Stick and ink on coloured paper. This was great fun to do, using simply a stick dipped in drawing ink, an attempt to loosen up my style and get away from my customary tightness. I was disappointed that I got the perspective wrong on the thighs but I still loved doing it, rubbing a stick on paper!
This is my favourite and the best of the bunch.
Surprisingly it's drawn in ballpoint pen, inspired by Henry Moore's ballpoint pen drawings of sheep.
I absolutely loved doing this, it was a real pleasure to work with this new medium (for me) - I love how it slowly builds up and just how much depth you can get from it. Now it's photographed I can see that the nose is too light/shiny, but I was very pleased with the end result. My customary tightness at its best, methinks.
Will photograph other drawings sometime soon.
- sorting out my spare room/studio.
- developing a knitting pattern.
- drawing.
There's tons more I need to be doing but these are all supremely important and the basics that will get me moving.
I've had a tough time of it for the past 9 months or so, with a major relapse of ME/CFS and struggling with coming to terms with that. Michael Nobbs also has ME/CFS so he is an ideal inspiration for me.
On the positive side, I've taken part in a drawing class - line and tone - and have some photos of them. Only one, in my opinion, is any good, but the others aren't bad and, besides, it was a class, with a set drawing style each week, they're not supposed to be finished/professional works of art.
Each week I found that, after about half an hour, I always felt I'd had enough and wanted to stop and go and do something else altogether. This is my artist's block at work, methinks. I didn't, of course, go off and do something else but persevered and was always glad I did. Clearly I struggle with motivation and the purpose of it all.
This is just a selection from the class, there were many more than this.
Charcoal on grey paper. I enjoyed this, having not drawn with charcoal for years. I'm amazed how illustrative it ended up, and not a little twee, methinks.
Charcoal and chalk on coloured paper.
Stick and ink on coloured paper. This was great fun to do, using simply a stick dipped in drawing ink, an attempt to loosen up my style and get away from my customary tightness. I was disappointed that I got the perspective wrong on the thighs but I still loved doing it, rubbing a stick on paper!
This is my favourite and the best of the bunch.Surprisingly it's drawn in ballpoint pen, inspired by Henry Moore's ballpoint pen drawings of sheep.
I absolutely loved doing this, it was a real pleasure to work with this new medium (for me) - I love how it slowly builds up and just how much depth you can get from it. Now it's photographed I can see that the nose is too light/shiny, but I was very pleased with the end result. My customary tightness at its best, methinks.
Will photograph other drawings sometime soon.
Through doing this class I realised that, in the past, when my art creativity was at its height, I saw just about everything around me as a challenge, to try and draw it, get it down on paper. With the disillusionment that art college brought about in me, I no longer felt anything was worth drawing any more, on the whole. I've wondered if I no longer saw it as a challenge - but I also think I stopped believing in my ability to capture it, at least to a high enough standard. I think I ended up feeling I just wasn't much good anymore. I was used to being the best at school (always) and now I was no longer the best...
This reminds me of learning belly dance. Thinking aloud here... It goes like this - when you first conquer some of the difficult moves, you are so carried away with the fact that you can do it, your enthusiasm is high and you think you're the bee's knees. As time goes on and you learn more and more, you realise the depths of the art of belly dance and, when you're more or less at your peak, you lose all confidence because you know (or believe) you will never be as brilliant as the best, so there's little point in carrying on. The thing is, this isn't necessarily true... in belly dance, as in all art forms, we each have our own perspective and flavour to distill and present to the world.
So let's just say that art college knocked the stuffing and confidence out of me. I had such a fantastic reaction to my drawing at the class exhibition (with the teacher wanting one of them and another "student" who's a professional artist wanting to do an exhibition with me) I was left with this thought (thinking aloud again):
- drawing is a skill that I've been blessed with, I've always known that. I've felt tremendous guilt that I'm not using that gift and have been inching very slowly, at least in my head(!), towards becoming an artist (thus this blog). I'm back on benefits again and have never been so skint in all my life, not even when I was on benefits before (I now have 2 dogs to feed and medicate!). Instead of desperately pondering how to be a great artist, I could simply use this skill as a means of earning some money. It's ideally suited to my current (very limited) lifestyle and could be a means to an end for me. I've been wondering what it is I could do to earn money while I'm so ill, and perhaps (if I can get my act together and know how to market it properly) this could be it. So, many weeks later, I'm still mulling this over. Perhaps another exhibition is the answer, certainly I seem to need something to motivate me! Thus the 20 minutes a day challenge.
This reminds me of learning belly dance. Thinking aloud here... It goes like this - when you first conquer some of the difficult moves, you are so carried away with the fact that you can do it, your enthusiasm is high and you think you're the bee's knees. As time goes on and you learn more and more, you realise the depths of the art of belly dance and, when you're more or less at your peak, you lose all confidence because you know (or believe) you will never be as brilliant as the best, so there's little point in carrying on. The thing is, this isn't necessarily true... in belly dance, as in all art forms, we each have our own perspective and flavour to distill and present to the world.
So let's just say that art college knocked the stuffing and confidence out of me. I had such a fantastic reaction to my drawing at the class exhibition (with the teacher wanting one of them and another "student" who's a professional artist wanting to do an exhibition with me) I was left with this thought (thinking aloud again):
- drawing is a skill that I've been blessed with, I've always known that. I've felt tremendous guilt that I'm not using that gift and have been inching very slowly, at least in my head(!), towards becoming an artist (thus this blog). I'm back on benefits again and have never been so skint in all my life, not even when I was on benefits before (I now have 2 dogs to feed and medicate!). Instead of desperately pondering how to be a great artist, I could simply use this skill as a means of earning some money. It's ideally suited to my current (very limited) lifestyle and could be a means to an end for me. I've been wondering what it is I could do to earn money while I'm so ill, and perhaps (if I can get my act together and know how to market it properly) this could be it. So, many weeks later, I'm still mulling this over. Perhaps another exhibition is the answer, certainly I seem to need something to motivate me! Thus the 20 minutes a day challenge.
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