Happy Christmas!

Having completed Taylor Swift for TIME, I returned to finishing off a Madonna and Child for this year’s Christmas card. This work was started back in the Spring and abandoned as I wasn’t sure if I liked it. For a long time, I’d been wanting to make something more quirky. I’m aware there’s a risk of offending some people but this was never my intention.

Inspiration came from the pink lid of a wooden toy teapot which reminded me of a breast.

I searched the internet for Nativity images of Mary with a bare breast and found these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The image above right is a late 19th century oil painting (artist unknown) in the style of the Dalmation school of 16th century Venice. I wanted to combine this with a Picasso-esque black outline, as in his portrait of Marie- Therese Walter (below).

Like many medieval Nativities, this is not a pretty rendition of the Madonna and Child. Often, Mary looks very sad and the baby Jesus like a little old man. I think mine is more like a baby alien. Happy Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond Exciting!

The TIME article is out online and will be out in magazine form on December 11th.        Here is the link:

https://time.com/6342985/taylor-swift-easter-eggs-artist-portrait/

‘Easter eggs’ refers to the clues that Swifties look for in TS’s social media posts,                (and to the ‘meaningful things’ in this portrait,) like searching for eggs in an Easter egg hunt.

Before I knew anything about PotY, TIME asked if they could also buy the original work for an event on December 12th. (Initially they had just asked for the image.) It turns out this event is actually to celebrate TIME Person of the Year. Will Taylor be there in person? I’ve been told “there’s a good chance…” All Beyond Exciting!!

The work is currently in New York awaiting customs clearance. I just hope it makes it in time!

TIME Commission Revealed

I am now allowed to reveal that the portrait I was creating for TIME magazine was of Taylor Swift, announced earlier this week as their Person of the Year 2023.      

I was told that they were writing an article about TS’s fan base, the “Swifties”. I had no idea that     the article was to be linked with her being named Person of the Year.      

Below is the Artist Statement I sent to TIME:

It was a lovely surprise to be contacted by TIME   to work on this commission!

I am a ‘re-maker’, taking inspiration from found objects and working them into something new.       I work with materials that have a history, often things that have reached ‘the end of the line’ which even charity shops (thrift stores) cannot sell – broken or unfashionable jewellery and items unsold for a long time. Friends and neighbours collect for me, and I have received packages from Canada, Portugal, Australia and New Zealand as well as from charity shops here in the UK.

Of course I’d heard of Taylor Swift and knew some of her music. However, to make this commission I needed a crash course in the Taylor Swift Universe from TIME magazine: Swifties, friendship bracelets and ‘meaningful things’ from song lyrics were all new to me. 75 emails were exchanged before I was ready to begin.

TIME gave me a list of specific meaningful items to include in the work. In my collected materials I have an abundance of hearts, stars, dice, beads, buttons, scrabble letters, butterflies and plastic animals. However, I knew I’d be waiting forever to find a TS cardigan so I bought a ceramic one (a tree decoration) from a craftsperson in the UK.     The miniature newspapers, champagne bottle and glasses are new doll’s house accessories.

Most of the materials used in this work are ‘pre-loved’.  The lipstick and heart sunglasses are from a children’s puzzle. The teeth are cut from a plastic plant-pot marker and the glitterball is an old Christmas tree decoration from my childhood which I brought down from the attic. The leather stars are from a charity shop in Australia.

I was told that TS loves all things sparkly. The jewels on TS’s necklace came from a charity shop in the north of England, having previously been used on a crown in the shop window display to mark the coronation of King Charles III earlier this year.

I spent three weeks researching and sourcing materials, followed by creating the piece over a period of four weeks. Once the image of TS was agreed with TIME, I was able to start. Working on a firm inverted box frame, I use a combination of paper collage and paint beneath the items so that there is colour in the ‘gaps’.  I work intuitively, building up a composition that feels pleasing. Items get moved around many times before I am happy with the result. I loved making this piece!

 

 

 

Secret Commission Finished!

I’ve finished the commisssion for TIME magazine. Phew! It has gone to be photographed here in the UK and the image needs to be with TIME by December 1st for publication mid-December. All will be revealed as soon as it’s out!

As you my Blog readers will know, I prefer making ad hoc works rather than commissions. The piece for TIME was very prescriptive, though it was actually great fun to make.      Today, I read an interesting piece about Van Gogh in Will Gompertz’s book: Think Like an Artist. Vincent went into partnership with his brother Theo, an art dealer and ‘the money man’, forming what Gompertz describes as Vincent Van Gogh Inc., ‘a joint investment in a commercial enterprise’. Vincent wrote to his brother ‘In no case shall I refuse a serious commission, whatever is asked for, to my liking or not, I’ll try to do as required…’

As Gompertz says, their partnership was not an immediate commericial success, but had they not both died in their mid thirties before Vincent Van Gogh Inc. had really got going, they might have seen success as ‘what is now one of the world’s most famous and desirable fine art brands.’ I’d like to think so, but Van Gogh’s style was so way ahead of his time – I’m not so sure.

Now the pressure is off and I can return to finishing off four (FOUR!) works-in-progress. I’ve returned to a ‘Madonna and Child’ image that I started earlier this year, There were so many things I wasn’t happy about so today I’ve been making radical changes. I’m giving it another chance – maybe it’ll turn out OK in the end. Fingers crossed!

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse!

I know I said ‘no more commissions at the moment’, but then I got offered something I couldn’t refuse! At the start of October, I was asked to make a work for a full-page image in TIME magazine. So exciting!

I’ve signed a confidentiality agreement so can’t give any further information until after publication. The image is needed for December 1st and I need to finish it by mid-November to allow time for the capture (photography).

After some initial feelings of panic, I feel it’s now on track. More news anon…

Devon Open Studios – it’s that time again!

Roll up, roll up! DOS 2023 – September 9 – 24. I’d almost forgotten the joy of meeting other artists and hearing their stories. Despite the disappointing brochure this year  (which just doesn’t do the artists justice), the experience of visiting studios, artists’ homes or pop-up exhibition spaces remains just as exciting!

In Ide, I had a lovely conversation with Deborah Irvin (painting, EX14) which uplifted me for the rest of the day. Deborah started out as a fabric designer and her current abstract seascapes remind me of Cornwall’s David Mankin whose work I love. It’s wonderfully stimulating to hear an artist’s back story and find out what inspires their work – what makes one run with an idea that is so insistent in the mind until it is actually created.

Other interesting conversations have happened in Liverton (T26) with Zoe Singleton (stone carver) and Noah Michael Taylor (quirky furniture and metal sculptures from found objects – just my sort of thing!) And if you want something completely different, I really recommend visiting Janec van Veen and his Mum, Sarah at their joint exhibition in Teignmouth (T2). It’s an experience!

In Janec’s own words:

In the series ‘Unnatural Selections’ I have been creating taxidermy hybrids, seamlessly blending different animals into surreal chimera. Unusual juxtapositions – herbivore and carnivore, mammal and bird, amphibian and insect – give rise to creatures both playful and horrific, wondrous and terrifying.

Moon Spirit, 2022 from the Light Bearer series

 

Cat, 2023, mask from beetle wings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Van Veen’s house is close to the seafront in Teignmouth so you can pop along to Teign Bean for great coffee and some sea-gazing while you contemplate which piece to purchase!

Thelma Hulbert Open – Now On

A wonderful celebration of Art in the biennial Open Exhibition at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, now until October 28th. The selection of 87 works in diverse media makes this show more exciting than previously, (at least in my opinion!)

 Shrine to St. Roch is displayed in the downstairs window

St Roch is the Patron Saint of dogs. During the 14th century, he allegedly survived the plague, having been healed by a dog who licked a wound on his thigh.

My shrine is inspired by the roadside shrines of Southern Europe, resembling dog kennels in shape. It fuses Gothic and Baroque elements into an ornate exuberant whole.

 

 

Playing Chess with Yourself!

I have put the Swans to one side for the moment – I need more bright white materials for the feathers of the body and wings, to contast with the mother Swan’s creamy neck.     There are sooo many shades of white!

I’ve decided I need to complete the birds before filling in the (easier) green background. Once all the green is on, the work will be too heavy to keep moving from flat to vertical, which is what I do to view the work from a distance.

So I’ve started work on two new pieces for the Blue exhibition next year. Both are interpretations of paintings by Van Gogh – my favourite! His brush strokes and thick paint lend themselves so well to being recreated in found materials. And I just love his use of colour! As usual, I’ve been placing the initial materials in a kind of frenzy – I get so excited to lay down the first things which I’ve set aside in advance. Once I’ve done that, I calm down – which is where I am now.

Many of the same shades are present in all three pieces I’m working on so I’m having to choose which materials to use for each – I like to share out the more unusual/quirky stuff. This feels a bit like playing both hands of a game of chess or drafts where you try not to favour one side over the other – but it’s impossible to do so without bias!

Swans: New Work in Progress

I’ve started work on a commission for a new-build hospital (paediatric unit) in the USA. The theme for all art on the unit is mother and baby animals – I’ve chosen to work from this lovely image of a Swan and her Cygnet:

It’s very hard to make out exactly how the feathers lie and in which direction to place the materials. There will be many alterations to come!

Here’s a small section of work in progress:

 

The Touchstones of St Joseph’s College

The commission for the college in Australia has finally arrived in Geelong so I can reveal it at last!

This work is unlike any piece I’ve made previously and was challenging.
Usually, I use found materials to create one distinct image, such as the face of an animal. The materials do not represent themselves. However, this work is different – more representational – with things such as the fish representing what they actually are.

 

 

Using the brief I was given, the following elements were incorporated:

A portrait of the school’s founder, Edmund Rice (wearing school uniform)
A Wedge-tailed Eagle (Bunjil) in the sky above
Corio Bay to the right with the You Yangs (hills) in the background
Chapel buildings at Mt Sion, Ireland, where Edmund Rice came from
Part of the Barwon River
A colourful background

The red, orange and yellow rings represent the college ‘touchstones’ and have lettering around them. (The small orange circle in the centre is just to balance the design.)    

The first year tutor on my degree course used to say ‘start with what you know’. For me, this was excellent advice – I start with the focal point (here, Edmund Rice) and work out the rest as I go along.      

The following images show how the design/work progressed. It is always a process of trial and error. Things get added, removed, and occasionally re-applied:

  

Originally, I had planned a border of stars and buttons sent by the college. However, once
the main image was in place this idea didn’t work as the stars detracted from and overwhelmed the main image. Instead, I used leather braids in the school colours to form a border and bring the whole composition together.