Completion 2

Finally finished the collage portrait of Janet and 2 more small collages just for fun.



Tomorrow I'm getting the travelling sketchbook pages out and getting them done! Woop woop!

Nearly There

I've got another day's work on this and then its done. I sure hope it is accepted for the open exhibition I've done it for!

Completion

Finished one.


One more to go.

Addition

More collage and something I'm surprsed by.


And this has surprised me, as I wasn't sure if I could make collage work for portraiture.

Submission

For the first time I am producing a piece of work specifically for an open exhibition. I'm nervous, I think I'm not doing something that is any good, and I'm worried I'll not get it finished in time.

Here are some progress pics.


I'll post more as it progresses and nears completion.

Sharing space

I made an early start to the day today, in the studio by 8.30. Almost unheard of these days.

I was lucky to have visitors too, Michelle, Lea and Jamie, all of us playing with collage and creating some fabulous things with glue and tissue paper.

I came home by 6pm feeling shattered and ready to flop on the settee in front of the tv. But incredibly pleased with what I have achieved today.

One of the finished pages from the collage sketchbook.



There are more things to show, but I only took one photo today.

Surprising Day

Yesterday, despite numerous attempts at going to the studio to do some work, I didn't do anything. I was exhausted, for numerous reasons, and only felt able to go to the studio, sit in a chair and stare at a wall.

Today is Sunday, so it's life drawing. I didn't really feel like going, but I went anyway. You never know, I thought. I might get one good picture out of it.

I can't make watercolour work for me, apparently. All previous attempts have been met with clear failure, muddy puddles of browns created from all the colours of the rainbow. I just wanted to make this clear, before you look at the pictures.

After life drawing I went to the studio and finished working on 2 collages and started another 2. Then I got distracted and started to organise my collage papers! Me and my need to file things!

Wanderings

Have you ever just pressed the next blog button to see where it takes you? I did today and for some bizarre reason I've ended up on the Arsenal blog! Hmm.

I wanted to get some work done, but couldn't get focused. Maybe tomorrow.

Pretty Papers

Yet more collage, and even more papers decorated. I am going to make a start on the final piece tomorrow, I think. I have to board in front of my desk ready to encourage me to get on with it tomorrow.

I've had a good day today and I think some of the papers are suitable for gluing onto fabric ready for stitching into. Artshine sketchbooks beware! They are the next thing to be done.

The only reason I'm doing the collage now is to meet a deadline for an exhibition, opening 3rd September.

Here are some papers and collages I've have done today.

Disappointment 2

I put 3 pieces of work up for an open exhibition in Sheffield. The exhibition opened yesterday. Today I went to look at it.

I nearly cried. My work had been split up, and one of them was no where to be seen.

The exhibits were all higgledy piggledy, and only 2 of the artists had all their work together in one place. One artist has his work simply leaning up against a wall, and another has his on top of various radiators. One set of paintings has the labels masking taped to the actual pictures.

I don't expect everyone to like my work, or to want to see it, but I do expect an Arts Co-ordinator to know how to put an exhibition together so that it all hangs together well and that there is enough room for every one's work that has been accepted.

Now don't get me wrong, I know this isn't the RA Summer Exhibition. But it is an important one for artists in Sheffield, especially ones who are just starting out, dipping their toes in the exhibition waters, and are trying to build their confidence as artists. To treat their work in such a disorganised and amateurish way is abominable.

I do not think that I would be able to trust the Arts Co-ordinator at that gallery again. Not when I worked so hard to prepare my pieces for this exhibition. Not when the work was submitted well in advance of the closing date and no mention was made that only 2 of them would be displayed.

These are the works I submitted. Guess which one didn't make the cut?

Pure Pleasure

I wanted to produce a piece of work just for fun, for no other reason than enjoying the idea and the process.

To this end I have been playing with collage. Here are some of the results.

Today I Smell of Dog

Well actually every day I smell of dog, mainly because I have 2 of my own, but also because almost everyone I know has a dog, and I cannot, repeat, CANNOT, pass a dog without saying hello. Well, it would be rude!

But today has been very special, because today I got to meet Jill, who is my friend Michelle's very good, but very poorly friend. She has Jack the handsomest most beautiful - and doesn't he know it - Shiba Inu in the world, Looby Lou, a giddy girly Shiba and finally the 8 week old mini bull terrier puppy we were collecting to take to her new home in Ireland. I wish I was the one carrying her all the way there, because puppies really do cure depression!

She doesn't have a name of her own yet, so we loaned her one. And, as Michele has an adult mini bull called Willie, I thought the best name for the puppy was - sorry for being so obvious - Fannie!

Here she is. Cute or What? Oh and that's me holding the baby.

Thursday: Blocked In

I had a brilliant day yesterday. Cleaned the studio up so well it sparkles.



Today wasn't so great, starting off as it did in a middle of the night wake up. Spent a good hour and a half trying to get back to sleep. Managed it eventually, but the disturbed night and reduced hours of sleep left me feeling rough all day.

Also I had a couple of errands to run that, to be frank, I had been putting off. Trip to old house for one of them. Never good. Always scary. Forever depressing.

After that I went to the studio, but decided after about half an hour that I wasn't going to accomplish anything, just sitting there staring out of the window at the grey clouds amassing over good old Sheffield. So, I'll go home I thought.

No chance. The guys at demon events were cleaning the quad bikes and various other exciting 2, 3 and 4 wheeled off road adventurous vehicles. Then loading them into about 50 large vans and lorries ready to be transported around the country to be covered in mud again ready for next weeks cleaning. Not a problem if I'd parked on the street, but, silly me, I'd utilised my parking space in the courtyard, and I was blocked in. All day.

I had to do something. So I spent the day working on creating interesting papers to collage with. I have a lot of tissue, mulberry, banana and other interesting papers that have been bleached, and are presently on the floor of my studio covered in brusho, slat and bleach.

Here are some of the bleached papers.

Busy Doing Nothing

I feel like I've not done much today, even though I spent the entire day at the studio.

But what I have done is dyed my hair, prepped and strung 3 pictures for taking to be exhibited next week, finished putting all the stuff in my sketchbook, tidied it up and put all the additional material in a file ready to take in to college next week.

Then I finished 25 hand drawn cards and bagged them up for sale.

Tomorrow I'll be tidying the studio ready to play with collage and try something new. A whole month off from college stuff - except for the essay - and I'm going to enjoy playing.

By the way here's the cards, if you want one they are £3 each or 4 for £10, standard letter postage charges apply! Here endeth the plug!