Sunday
The Private View, Maidstone Contemporary Art, Craft and Design Exhibition
After taking a day off work to retrieve a print from my show at the Lime Tree restaurant I was able to deliver all six of my pieces (three paintings and three prints) to the Graham Clarke Gallery, part of the Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone. These now form part of the Maidstone Contemporary Art, Craft and Design Exhibition curated by Vronni Ward, the Marketing and Consultation Manager at the council. The private view was on Friday night and was fabulous. I'm glad to say that these artworks looked very much at home in their first gallery exhibition, as did everyone's. I'm not too concerned about selling at this stage, it's just great to be part of a group of like-minded individuals celebrating an event that showcases our work.
Saturday
Submissions for Local Exhibition Accepted!
A nice piece of news this week saw 6 of my artworks which I submitted to the Maidstone Contemporary Art, Craft and Design Exhibition be accepted. This is a great opportunity to chat with local artists and curators which I don't ordinarily get time to do due to work commitments. What will come out of it? Well, all works are for sale but it's just the chance to mingle and network that's more important to me at the moment and another entry on my artist CV.
Submitted Works:
3B - Silk Screen Print
Cornfields on Broad Street B - Acrylic on Canvas
Detling 12am - Acrylic on Canvas
Home - Lithograph
Pilgrims Way 02 - Acrylic on Canvas
Thurnham Gale - Silk Screen Print
Artist Statement - Revised Version!
I've been concerned ever since I wrote my original statement that it simply doesn't convey well enough the motivation behind what I do. Being honest with yourself is important as it promotes emotional and intellectual evolution that will serve to support your art. In addition to which your audience will figure dishonesty and lack of focus pretty soon which is just a poor exercise in self marketing.
I stumbled upon this post from Molly Gordon where she guides the artist through honest and authoritative writing using an incredibly simple yet illuminating vehicle. Studying this gave me a clearer understanding of my intent and consequently I feel that I've produced a statement that sums up my own direction and motivation more succinctly:
Artist Statement
Any single colour will have its own character which can foster a unique relationship with others. When I work with colour, I consider how each hue relates to an underlying or adjacent mark. Relationships can vary where two colours have the ability to integrate or repel one another. My aim is to offer combinations that create harmony, beauty and energy and to avoid coarseness.
I begin a piece without preconception or consideration to what the finished work may be. The physical landscape of theNorth Downs surrounding my studio is the only vehicle I use to influence these abstract pieces. The canvas will evolve as I layer colour on each other and manipulate the transparency. Eventually a direction will establish involving colours, viscosity and flow of brush marks which I pursue until the point at which can best be described as the canvas sings to me. The result, after what is often a labour intensive process can look and feel as spontaneous as a chemical reaction.
The momentum that a successful canvas produces gives me a sense of excitement derived from the creation of an affinity between colour, viscosity, transparency and mark-making. My real satisfaction however, comes from my audience identifying this alliance within the whole or any part of the painting.
Acrylics are a superb medium for attaining these goals in my work. They are malleable, mix well and relatively quick drying depending on the thickness I choose to lay down. A final coat of gloss enhances the feeling of energy and character that would ordinarily be unobtainable.
These new explorations in colour challenge an inherent resistance I had to using colours unhindered. It has been a liberating performance and experience for me and I view these new paintings as each having a life and character of their own.
I stumbled upon this post from Molly Gordon where she guides the artist through honest and authoritative writing using an incredibly simple yet illuminating vehicle. Studying this gave me a clearer understanding of my intent and consequently I feel that I've produced a statement that sums up my own direction and motivation more succinctly:
Artist Statement
Any single colour will have its own character which can foster a unique relationship with others. When I work with colour, I consider how each hue relates to an underlying or adjacent mark. Relationships can vary where two colours have the ability to integrate or repel one another. My aim is to offer combinations that create harmony, beauty and energy and to avoid coarseness.
I begin a piece without preconception or consideration to what the finished work may be. The physical landscape of the
The momentum that a successful canvas produces gives me a sense of excitement derived from the creation of an affinity between colour, viscosity, transparency and mark-making. My real satisfaction however, comes from my audience identifying this alliance within the whole or any part of the painting.
Acrylics are a superb medium for attaining these goals in my work. They are malleable, mix well and relatively quick drying depending on the thickness I choose to lay down. A final coat of gloss enhances the feeling of energy and character that would ordinarily be unobtainable.
These new explorations in colour challenge an inherent resistance I had to using colours unhindered. It has been a liberating performance and experience for me and I view these new paintings as each having a life and character of their own.
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