Friday 5 December 2014

PENNED PETALS




Apart from a few teething problems (glue not liking foam board) my exhibition doesn't look too bad.  I've had some very nice comments from kind people and I feel that at least showing my work in a public place within the community entitles me in a small way to call myself an artist.  For the time being, at least.




My next challenge is to use what I've learned while making the exhibition in the right hand cases (all those pieces made directly from life) in the development of my work as a whole.  I enjoyed using a bolder line, and also the simple collages, both of which I will try to utilise and develop in the work I create next year.  I also enjoyed using colour more, and again I want to build on this.

I still love using a dip pen and plain Indian Ink though, my biggest problem is how to do everything I want to do in the little time I have to do it all in!



On Tuesday I took a trip to London and was inspired by all the fantastic work held in the National Gallery.  I visited some old favourites.  I gazed in rapture upon Gainsborough's The Watering Place which just takes my breath away.  I want to live in that painting!  I really enjoyed sailing the icy arctic seas with Peder Balke, and being in the presence of 16th century Italians painted by Moroni (my favourite was this poignant painting of a child).  I visited the Rembrandt exhibition at the National too, but it was too busy to make any real connection with these works, incredible though they are.

Monday 1 December 2014

Penned Petals


My exhibition finally is up at Wolverhampton Central Library and it can now be found in the glass display cases at the top of the stairs on first floor.

I had a few teething problems, mainly that I had used foam board to mount the labels and photographs I am displaying.  These all went up lovely, I've attached the wall mounted ones with velcro on the back of the foam board.  But as I locked the final case I noticed the paper on which I had printed the title label of a couple of the pieces was peeling away from the mount board!

I tried a quick fix, but if this hasn't worked by Wednesday I'll re-do the labels on card and re-fix them. 

I'm dreading turning up and finding that I've created a snow globe effect with all my carefully printed labels fluttering about behind the glass like snowflakes!


I haven't taken any photographs of the exhibition yet, hopefully I'll get these done on Wednesday, but in the mean time I have published a digital catalogue of my exhibition which you can view by clicking here.


These are the plans of the 2 cases which I made throughout the time I planned my small exhibition.  I set the material out in the back garden or on the landing, marking the case with string, and then drew up this plan of left case (above) and right case (below).  As it turned out the left case worked perfectly but I had overestimated the space of the right case and had to adjust the display of the material a little.  But it all fitted into the cases in the end.


View digital catalogue of Penned Petals here.