steppenwolf

Some continuations. Some sketches. Some new stuff.

Some neat things are occurring but i don't think i'll put them to print just yet, in case they go awry.
One thing I will say is that I have been requested to submit some photographs of the work within my sketchbooks to a book in progress on the use of sketchbooks as thinking tools for artists, writers, scientists, musicians etc. Pretty cool really. I'm not sure if it's a book that you'll see in Borders but possibly one to be shown throughout schools and such, I forgot what i was told. Attention span was dwindling. But hey, i'll be in a book! So, i thought i'd post a couple of pages i did yesterday and today to give a hint to what i do. My sketchbooks tend to jump around:

Oh, and i realise i wrote diptych wrong. Had one of those moments where some words seem alien!

watching: btvs

bodyboydbodyboyd

'Cath Kidston Washed Messenger Boat Bag
- Heavy cotton messenger bag by Cath Kidston
- All-over boat print design and front pocket pouch
- Adjustable across-boyd strap with stripe'

This made me a little bit happy

the man and the boy

My nightly reading for the past few days. Haunting, loving, fearful and corrupt. It's up there with my very favourites. Itching to see the film now. Viggo Mortensen is the perfect casting. Itching!

"He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."

wild things

I feel like i've got a coat hanger in my mouth.
I dare you not to love this.

easy blues

Another silverpoint i've been working on. I enjoy this process more than any other right now and it's especially good when listening to John Martyn.

john martyn - small hours

ineffably

Silverpoint. Hoping to incorporate these kind of drawings into more detailed works of abstract shapes and architecture.

watching: btvs

latest obsessions

Jasper John's, 'Skin...' seriesKäthe KollwitzA surprisingly ethereal photo taken by Brad Pitt of Angelina Jolie descending their stairs.

bon iver - woods

the happiness factory

My love for The Happiness Factory has now reached ridiculous levels.
And yes, i will download the single =]

darkness visible

I have been reminded by Vija Celmins to get back to the subtler side of things.
Yesterday, during my great library scavange, I found a book whilst looking for one that was completely useless to me. Happy accidents eh? It was called 'Eclipse' by Annushka Shani and it's basically an accompaniment to the exhibition it's named after. It helped bring a lot of things to light - no pun intended- about the importance of not just focusing on the focal piece of your work, the context in which it is placed is just as vital and can in some ways be embedded with subtler messages than the image that is knowingly produced to grip you by the shoulders and not let go.

'They make works that cross borders into different realms, opening up the in-between spaces where shadows fall between visible and invisible, the image and its undoing, the mark and its erasure, the action and its trace.'

'Together the artists in Eclipse make works that allow us to linger in the enabling gaps, pauses and silences between things. They inhabit unclear shadow lands where things are veiled and fall out of view.'

Combine this with the aforementioned Vija Celmins inspired subtlety, I think i'll be getting back to what i really love and having the support of artists such as these to do so.
The book was ended with this very apt quote:

'Every something is an echo of nothing.'

- John Cage

richard dworsky - a morning with the roses

odessa

The duration of this weekend was spent creating my own little printmaking workshop. Monoprints being so easy to create, i didn't need that much and it was pretty neat spending more time on the prints even if they did print pretty shoddily. We are in the midst of creating a makeshift press! For i don't have a grand to spend on the professional presses. Anyhow, this was where i worked and underneath are the prints. I may die from White Spirit inhalation:

watching: my so-called life

tiny voices

For myself.

fujiya and miyagi - ankle injuries

Regeneration

I like these two.
I am however questioning my subject and it's relevance to the surrounding world. Yes, the destination of any child is important and especially in the context of Catholicism but really? There's a world of things going on just now and i'm not saying anything about them. I've managed to isolate my work into a realm of the unknown, the unanswerable and i'm not sure if that will ever make my work valuable in its meaning.
I dunno, this has all been sparked by a girl i watch on DA, who seems bright, talented and interesting. Three things i feel i don't live up to. Blah, why must i panic about massive questions before giving presentations!

I decided last year that i wanted my work to be a certain way, to have a certain aesthetic and meaning. I believe i live up to that decision, to a certain degree but i want it to be more. I want it to be 'Starless and Bible Black'.
I can but hope.

I'm going to mezzotint this Summer. Yay, for burnishing!

my cat snoring - the clock ticking

arms against atrophy

Lately i've been working with acetates of my drawings to create a literal layering effect. It was a suggestion from my tutor to do so as i have so many different drawings of children that have to in some way tie in together. As my project has taken a turn from the moment of fluctuation, life and death, here but not here and so on, to the concept of Limbo and that in Catholicism, unbaptised children are essentially damned to an existence of 'joyful ignorance'. Neither sinful or sinless, they merely exist with no outlet for their emotions and are deprived of the knowledge of God.
The damned are punished, the blessed are rewarded, the unbaptised are abandoned.
But they do not suffer because of it.
For a more detailed reading i would suggest Giorgio Agamben's 'The Coming Community: Limbo'
Thus, the layering comes from the fact that when i read and think about Limbo, thousands upon thousands of unfortunate souls appear in my head. They aren't singular as i have previously imagined. The acetates provide a quick way of fusing the images together and retaining my drawings. I'm very adamant that i don't lose my skill.
I think i will be drawing back into these, for a different blend of materials as i do tend to get stuck in the classical methods.
Another thought would be to project these onto young women or even the sea - more likely my pond!, in relation to the poem by Seamus Heaney, 'Limbo' which is also heavily influencing my work.
I've got lots of ideas in relation to this stuff, it's just a case of seeing if it's possible and getting it done for the assessment!

Also! I've reinstated myself in the printmaking department - so if you're ever looking for me, you'll find me in the back, resembling a chimney sweep =]
I'll be trying to do some etching in the next couple of weeks but at the moment i'm involved in monoprinting which is taking me away from my painstakingly, annoyingly detailed drawings to something more painterly. Odd for me. I'm hoping to produce enough of these to cover walls and create a suffocating experience of being closed in by the unfortunate:

Excuse the rambling, i needed to figure out what to say in my critique on Thursday =]

susanna and the magical orchestra - believer

love is enormous

The progression of things.

grouper - heavy water/i'd rather be sleeping

three things

watching: supernatural