Second Course Plan

On completion of Assignment 2, the course plan has inevitably changed

My revised Artist's statement outlines the changes in my thinking and in direction as a result of my contextual research and material investigations.

This inevitably impacts on my course plan.  I have many strands of thoughts and ideas that have taken me in many directions in terms of the research I have carried out.  I anticipate that the Contextual Studies part of the course will also bear fruit as I continue my investigations etc.

This next stage will allow me to synthesise this research along with the material investigations that I have made and will continue to make in this next assignment (3).

Planned Completion of Assignment Three - 15th August 2014 (10 weeks with holiday)

Planned Completion of Assignment Four - 15th December 2014 (17 weeks)

Planned Completion of Assignment Five - 16th June 2015 (26 weeks)

Test Pieces in Chronological Order - Evaluation and Review

Test Pieces for Assignment 2 in chronological order.  See individual posts for images of processess.



Medium : Thread   Support: Cartridge Paper



Comments:  Strong, fluid, spontaneous, composition strong.

Medium : Thread
Support : Cartridge Paper

Comments: unusual material and technique, composition works, too literal? 

 

 

 

Medium: Charcoal, Inktense Pencils
Support: Watercolour Paper

Comments: Strong tonal study, composition works, too graphic, still life but what is it?

 

 

 

Media: Gesso, acrylic paint
Support: Recycled Shirt material

 

Comments: Experimental, focus on material and process. 

 

 

Media: Gesso, Acrylic paint
Support: Recycled Shirt material

Comments:  Another weave of fabric, pleasant to paint on, hated the colour, meaningless? 

 

 

Media: Gesso, Acrylic Paint, Thread
Support: Canvas Board

 Comments: Interesting texture, could see this working.

 

 

 

Media: Gesso, Acrylic Paint, Thread
Support: Canvas Board

Comments: Colours irrelevant, the thread has something. 

 

 

 

 

Media: Acrylic Paint, Recycled Shirt Material
Support: Canvas Board

Comments:  The negative space becomes progressively darker, process of adding and taking away. 

 

 

 

Media: Thread, Recycled Shirt fragments
Support: Hessian

Comments: Too literal use of shirt fragments, composition wrong and hessian support overbearing.

 

 

 

 

 

Media: Hessian fragments
Support: Canvas Board

Comments:  Structurally interesting - will investigate this further.

 

 

 

Media: Shirt fragments, thread, buttons
Support: Wooden Frame

Comments:  Tried to use the buttons and buttonholes of the fronts of shirts to create a grid.  Overlaid with thread using the buttons as anchor points.  Discarded this as it didn't work technically or visually. 

 

Media: Shirt fragments, buttons, Acrylic Paint
Support: Recycled book cover

Comments:  The paint did not work with this fabric.  It became obvious that gesso primer would be needed.  Ended up looking rather muddy. 

 

 

 

 

Media: Acrylic Paint, Linen strips
Support: Canvas Board

Comments:  started making holes in the fabric.  This does not work but the hole making as an action to disrupt the weave merits further investigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Media: Acrylic Paint, Linen
Support: Hessian

 

 Comments:  making holes in the fabric again - at the time this reminded of bullet holes.

 

 

 

Media: Calico, Gesso, Acrylic Paint
Support: Canvas Board

Comments:  The two pieces above are of the same work - a before and after the paint was applied.  I have to say that the simplicity of the pre painted work was quite beautiful



 

Media: Thread, Calico, Gesso, Acrylic paint
Support: Canvas Board

 

 

Media: Thread, Calico, Gesso, Acrylic Paint
Support: Canvas Board

Comments:  Again, the 'before' was beautiful.  Gesso is perfect for merging fabric and thread to canvas/board.






 

Media: Recycled Shirt Material
Support: Wire Cooling tray

Comments:  I didn't finish this because it became laborious - the idea of wrapping the grid in fabric and thread might have some currency though. 

 

 

Media: Shirt Fragments, Acrylic Paint
Support: Stretched Canvas

 

Comments:  This was about making the weave visible - it proved that the process worked but the composition and colours didn't. 

 

Media: Cotton String, fabric, Gesso
Support: Canvas Board

Comments:  Small sample testing string and thread/stitching.    

 

 

 

Media: Cotton Scrim, Paverpol, Acrylic Paint
Support: Stretched Canvas

Comments: The Paverpol (fabric hardener) certainly worked.  The fabric was completely rigid - much more so than when using gesso.  The fabric still received paint well.





Media: Calico, Linen, Cotton, Cotton String, Acrylic Paint, Crochet
Support: Stretched Canvas

Comments:  This piece has a lot going on and is in fact a combination of experiments.  The seam down the middle of the canvas would need to have been bigger and the thread much thicker to create large stitches.  The seam is split at one point and the string bulges out.  Crochet has been added - this needed to be thought out more as its application is fairly random.

Media: As above but with Masking Fluid

 

Comments:  Above and below;  I was investigating how one might depict a lace form on canvas with out actually putting a decorative piece of lace on.  This was the masking fluid experiment - an interesting enough texture but rather flimsy and unpredictable.

 

 

 

Media: Masking Fluid, Acrylic Paint
Support: Unstretched canvas
 

Comments:  This was a process I had to try - making openings for something 'else' to be under, through or over.  The masking fluid remained rather flimsy and the acrylic paint didn't strengthen it.   

 

 

 

Media: Acrylic Paint/Inktense pencil
Support: Cartridge paper

Comments:  Synthesising form with idea.

Medium: Acrylic Paint
Support: Glass

Comments:  As I was exploring grids and lace etc, one of their characteristics is that there are openings and spaces.  I chose to use a glass support to test how these spaces would become evident.  Shadows cast by using a focused lamp were interesting.  The pattern was used to test the process and was not an end in itself.

 

Media: Raw silk, Acrylic Paint
Support : Glass

Comments:  Further use of glass support - what about actually using two pieces of glass and sandwiching work between the two?  The piece above tested silk being pulled apart, displaying the weave, acrylic paint applied and then pressed between two panes of glass.  Interesting when held up to light.

Media: Paper, Acrylic Paint
Support: Glass

 



Comments:  I was glad to be working on a form?  This was my most recent test piece and the process is detailed in the previous blog post.  I think the glass support is an interesting departure from an opaque support.  Glass may not be the most practical though so I might consider using perspex instead.  Above and below is the same piece but just viewed from the front or back.  There are tiny lace like openings that allow the light to pass through. 

Media: Paper, Acrylic Paint
Support: Glass

 

Lace, Openings and Spaces

This series of images shows the development of this experiment taking the Venus de Milo form and combining it with a lace like paper collage on a glass support.

 

Materials; Acrylic paint, paper    Support; Glass



 

 

Paper collage adhered to glass 

The paper painted with acrylic paint.



The glass support.

 Scraping back into the paint with sandpaper

 Further paint applied.

 The other side of the glass - quite interesting.

 

 

Reflections

Venus de Milo, Women and Art

I've noted that many contemporary artists reference and appropriate the work of other artists particularly classical and renaissance art.  Their recontextualisation of these appropriated images often brings a new perspective to that work.  I decided to reference the 'Venus de Milo' as a classical female form and combine with a grid form.  I'm trying to work through how a lace network of sorts would work with this.

 

 

 

Masking fluid lace again

I tried out the masking fluid again on an earlier piece I had worked on.  Although it has certain qualities, I don't think there is any durability in that it was quite delicate and tore easily.

 

 

 

 

Below - this was the first stage - after painting on the masking fluid, drying and then opening up the network of holes. 

 

 

 

Masking fluid lace

This series of images shows some experimentation with masking fluid.  I was trying to think of ways to create the look of a lace network within a painting without necessarily using actual lace.  The masking fluid was painted onto  unstretched canvas and when dry, rubbed back to create openings.  



 

 

 The image above shows paint applied over the masking fluid and below shows the marks left once the masking fluid was removed.  Not particularly lace like.

The piece above shows the masking fluid itself painted - this had a bit more promise.