My Work For The Addams Family Brief. I Did Some Character Designs, A Pencil Portrait Of The Whole Family

My painting for the current project ‘Then and Now’. Oil on canvas (85cm x 140cm)

I have been exploring Slovak folklore and folk art and the political topic of Brexit which is a very current affair. Throughout the project I have been merging these two different ideas together as I am aim to tell the ‘folk story’ of how Brexit touches people’s lives in different ways. The girl (Britain) is wearing a blouse with an eastern European embroidery design to convey the message of, diversity, tolerance and multiculturalism, all apparent in one country, but she is brushing the EU stars out of her hair reflecting, the weakening of some of these important principles.

My technique was inspired by Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro and a painting by the Slovakian artist Julius Bukovinsky.

The last 2 days of the textiles work shop. We printed with real plants using disperse dyes to achieve more delicate and fine prints. I printed these on cotton and on polyester, which brought the colours out more. The last day of the workshop was experimenting with screen printing, using plant shapes that I had used for the previous two workshops. I experimented with different colours  and layered my prints to create interesting patterns. This was a great experience!

Some close ups from my end of year show. Suspended heart, lino prints and embroidery

Van Gough and the quality of paint

Van Gough ‘Olive Trees’ -  Oil on canvas, 1889,  51 x 65.2 cm

Van Gogh, born in 1853 in the Netherlands, despite only selling one painting in his lifetime, he is one of the most well-known post-impressionist artists in the entire world today. His particular painting style and unique use of paint have made his work instantly recognisable. His early works, like ‘The Potato Eaters’ are dark and sombre and reflect the paintings of Dutch masters. However, his style began to evolve after he purchased Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, which were delicate and full of colour and extremely popular with impressionists at the time. He also went to Paris in 1886 to join his brother and there met the great impressionist artists, Monet and Gaugin. After this he gradually developed his bold style.

The work of Van Gogh is intense in colour and his strong brush-strokes give his work an emotional quality. The technique that he used for most of his paintings, and which he became well known for, was Impasto, which is the thick application of paint onto a canvas so that the brush and palette knife strokes can be visible. This not only gives the painting a rich texture but also gives the illusion that the paint is coming out of the canvas.

‘Olive Trees’, 1889, by Van Gogh is a painting of huge significance in Van Gogh’s life. Gaugin visited Van Gogh in 1888, they argued and disagreed during this visit. The tensions between them caused Van Gogh to cut off his own ear. He was taken to an asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence, and despite the fact his mental health was deteriorating, he produced a range of diverse and stylistic paintings that depicted the hospital and the grounds around it. One of these paintings is ‘Olive Trees’ which is exhibited at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. This painting is oil on canvas and uses the impasto method heavily. The brush strokes are extremely distinct and the trees are twisted and contorted perhaps reflecting Van Gogh’s own state of mind at the time. Furthermore, he was fully aware of the connection of olive trees to the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus prayed before his betrayal and ultimately his crucifixion. It is likely that this painting represents Van Gogh giving up his suffering to God amongst the olive trees as Jesus Christ, making the ancient trees a symbol of surrender and repentance. Van Gogh was religious and even had the position as a missionary in Belgium earlier in his life. He believed that we encounter God in nature, which inspired his En Plein Air paintings.

‘Olive Trees’ is just one of the many examples of how Van Gogh connected religion with nature in his own style. His use of the Impasto method gives his work a particular sensitivity and striking quality which, without a doubt, influenced the art of the twentieth century and his legacy will surely live on.

Sources 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8IinPk5PqI

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/4971/olive-trees

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Olive_Trees_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

https://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/biography.html

How have contemporary values and media impacted upon the 16th century genre of Still Life?

Still life has changed dramatically throughout the ages but it is still popular today even if we might not realise it. Ranking the lowest in importance in the hierarchy of genres, established by the French Royal Academy, the still life was seen to require less skill than portrait paintings and historical paintings. However despite the perception that still life paintings were easier to paint, they explored dark and morbid themes usually to convey the message ‘memento mori’, ‘remember you will die’ and ‘vanitas’ ,originating from the word ‘vanity’, which would remind the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldly pleasures . This was done by using skulls in compositions and candles that had just been blown out with the last wisp of smoke visible, symbolising death blatantly. On the other hand, some messages were more hidden in the paintings. Many pieces reflected death and  human nature in a very subtle way. This can be seen in Jan Davidsz. de Heem: Still-Life with Lobster and Nautilus Cup. The tipping cup could show the fragility and instability of humanity. The lobster is seen at the bottom of the composition and was regarded as something exquisite and expensive, only intended as banquet food. The lobster is inedible and ugly when alive and in the ocean but when dead, it possesses its delicious and beautiful qualities and is seen as something expensive and intended for the upper-classes. Maybe Jan Davidsz intended this to also reflect humanity and death.

The golden age of still life painting took place in the 17th century but throughout the 18th century and 19th century it became slightly less popular. In the Victorian era, still life compositions included every-day house-hold objects. However flower paintings gained a lot of popularity in the 1800’s, painters like Manet, in his painting ‘Bouquet of flowers’ (1882) and Van Gough in his ‘Still Life with Irises’ (1890) made their canvases bloom with their lively and vibrant colours with the intentions to make the paintings aesthetic and pleasant to the eye with harmonious colours. In the 19th century, the still life was adopted by Pablo Picasso and painted in his cubist style which was full of colour in contrast with the very first still life paintings which were full of shadows and chiaroscuro.

Nowadays, still lifes are created in a much different way influenced by new media. Instead of using the traditional oil paint and canvas, photography is used to capture aesthetic and ornamental scenes. These photographs are usually shared on social media instead of being sold or exhibited in a gallery. The purpose is solely to look pleasing to the eye or are created to show the life of the photographer of the arrangement. They often exhibit lavish food and drink that looks impressive or books and items related to the photographer. The still lifes are carefully arranged to look as perfect and possible. Although these photos with a pleasant colour palette do not have hidden messages of death and mortality, they reflect society and its quest for perfection in the modern age where you are what you post.

References :

https://www.britannica.com/art/still-life-painting#:~:text=The%20painting%20generally%20considered%20to,Lowlands%20during%20the%2017th%20century.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/british-watercolours-still-life-flower-painting/

https://www.romepix.com/blog/the-dutch-golden-age-in-art-pieter-claesz

https://fashionhedge.com/2017/06/19/net-bag-trend/

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/v/vanitas

Printmaking workshop,

We printed with oil based inks after sticking the design onto some board, by using the printing press. I photocopied my favourite coloured print and reversed its colours on the photocopier, I love the colours that came out, pinks, purples and yellows. I also really enjoyed creating the black print and printing it out onto coloured paper which I think looks really effective. Overall, it was interesting to try out these new processes.

ETCHING :) . Trying out etching was great and I learnt a lot. It was a long process and I think that the prints could have perhaps turned out better, I was happy with some but I think that the acid ate into some of them a bit too much. However, overall it was a great experience and really enriching to learn about a new process!

Sculpture and patination, Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois , ‘J'y suis, J'y reste’ (Here I stand, Here I stay) - Sculpture, 1990

Louise Bourgeois is known for her surrealist and abstract sculptures. Her assemblage piece ‘Here I stand, Here I stay’ (J'y suis, J'y reste) is of a pair of feet resting on a roughly cut block of marble with a glass house placed on top. In 1967–68 Bourgeois travelled to Pietrasanta in Italy, which is where she discovered the same marble quarries from which Michelangelo sourced his material. 

Bourgeoise’s work often explores the themes of feminism, family relationships and the unconscious. Born in 1911, she grew-up in Paris where her family owned a tapestry gallery and tapestry restoration business. When Louise Bourgeois Mother became ill with Spanish flu, the family hired a British au pair to teach Louise and her brother English. However the au pair soon became their Father’s mistress. This caused him to neglect Louise and her brother which was especially hard for Louise as she had to also care for her sick Mother often. Those childhood feelings of abandonment would become prevalent themes and ideas in the future artwork of Bourgeois. She married an American art historian and lived in America for the rest of her life, leaving her childhood in Paris behind.

The patination of the pink marble is irregular and coarse which makes it seem worn and ancient and this juxtaposes with the smooth texture of the feet which are also sculpted from the very same marble. The glass house which sits on top of the feet gives a certain fragility to the assemblage. The heavy marble again contrasts with the delicate house construction. It seems almost too fragile to be a safe shelter. This could possibly reflect Bourgeoise's own childhood which left her feeling exposed and alone in her family home. The fact that there's only one pair of feet could be referencing the abandonment she felt as a child and could reflect the unstable and lonely atmosphere. The house may also represent Bourgeoise's life as an artist. It gives a home to the bare feet which stand on a rugged piece of marble. This suggests that her art had given her a new way to express herself and fathom those feelings that she experienced as a child.

Sources:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/656887http://hdamarly.over-blog.com/2015/06/louise-bourgeois-enfance-et-creation.htmlhttp://www.theeastonfoundation.org/biography

Putting up exhibition space :)

Finished heart embroidery for my animation. A heart surrounded by embroidery folk patterns from around the world