RBSA Open All Media - Spring 2013

This drawing is more about my efforts to continue working at my art than it is any real aesthetic achievement.  G says 'keeping your eye in' and I don't really like that phrase because there's more than just an eye (or even 2) involved in creating a piece of visual art.  This one is about 30% visual, 10% ambition, 5% design and 55% will power.  (Think that adds up just) 

Today me and Mum took the train to Birmingham then the wind chased walk to the RBSA's gallery in the St Paul's area of Birmingham's jewellery quarter.  My drawing 'Blossom and Wire' is very lucky to have scrounged a place on the wall of this sunny gallery.  There is some very fine work on display at this year's Spring Open All Media.  There is much variety, from abstract painting to beautifully realised stone sculpture, there are artists books, a lovely concertina sketchbook, some beautiful textiles and textile sculpture, gorgeous painting in various media and some superbly accomplished drawings in media ranging from delicate graphite to an print from a drawing made on an ipad.  My drawing, not my best I am aware, is very lucky to share this space.

Cranberry Sauce

No words today, just progress.  And an old cranberry sauce jar full of ink and water.

Through my glasses blurrily

Progress on 3 Red Trees.  It's small enough to fit on my scanner, which is smaller than I usually work.  Partly because of this I've had problems seeing my work today.  I'm short sighted so I have to get close to my work to progress with it.  Converseley I'm mid 40's now and I have Presbyopia developing - so although I want to get close to my work I have to take my specs off to see it clearly.  Without my specs I have to virtually have my nose against the paper, which isn't the most comfortable position to be in for long.

I'm considering ways of getting round this problem.  I don't want to go varifocal (it's bad enough having one frame around the world, splitting that frame in 2 again would be just unbearable).  On a more positive day I'm sure I'll think my way through it.  Just wait for that more positive day then I suppose.

I'm enjoying listening to the Cazalets on R4.  Such a sensitively acted piece, the sort of thing radio drama does beautifully.

3 seems to be the number

On Sunday morning G kindly took a few photo's of me to put on my website. I shy away from this kind of thing generally, but I think I need something to show who I am as well as what I do, to personalise the site a bit more. Anyway, this one makes me look like a chipmunk, but the others were worse, believe me! My favourites are the ones that don't show my face, or only show part of it. They're probably the ones that I'll use.

Work in progress - 'Three Red Trees' - I want to experiment more with combining color and black lines in my drawings. This one is just small (I'm actually using an old table mat for a drawing board).

The drawing below is another 'momento mori' type drawing - blossom and rushing water, which I realise is quite Japanese - a haiku of an image. Just beginings at the moment - not sure if I'll develop either really.