Old Projects, Leading to New

I recently found some old photographs (very poor quality, technology has come a long way!), of some book projects that I completed.  Not long after I moved up to North Yorkshire, I became seriously ill and as soon as I was able to stand I participated in a brilliant course taught by Christine Shaw entitled Creative Hand Made Books, if my memory serves me correctly.

I had become very interested in artists' books while living and teaching in Basingstoke; I had designed a unit of work for the AS into A2 year students, which encompassed their contextual research, something many of them found difficult.  This scheme of work enabled the students to present their work in an artist book format of their own choice, enabling the less academic to create a more visual response to their chosen art historical area of research and the gifted ones to really excell.  It was an exciting and interesting unit to teach and the students seemed to enjoy it.

Christine Shaw's class was really exciting, using simple book binding techniques coupled with her main area of expertise, which is textiles.  A wondrous mess was made, culminating in some great books!

I gave most of these books away as gifts to family and friends.  The techniques I used varied depending on the book; some of them were blank some of them filled with little images that I hoped the person I gave the book to would find pertinent to them.  Techniques included collage, stamps, lino printing, mono printing, fabric dying, stencilling and embroidery.  All very absorbing.

I have been pondering the age old problem of how to make some money and come up with the idea of using the sitting room of our house, once the space has been completed by the builders, to create a temporary gallery over two weekends and the week in the middle.  I'll send out invites to everyone I can think of and just put up on the walls as much work as I can, with browsers of smaller pieces and some home made books. With luck I will make some sales.  I shall serve cake too, complimentary if a purchase is made, at a cost if not, hah hah!  With luck, I shall be able to pay for the new front door with the money I make, and, who knows, contribute to the rest of the fast dwindling building fund!

Once this mini pop up gallery is closed, we'll move back in, ready for Christmas.  Groan!





All of the photographs of these books are on my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/SueGoughArtist?bookmark_t=page


Examples of Christine Shaw's work can be found on the Brigantia web site:

http://www.brigantia.co.uk/member-template.php?member_id=26

All images copyright of the artist, all rights reserved

The Development Continues

After a nasty morning, I left home to spend a few hours in the studio:

To view all of the photographs I have taken of the development of these paintings, go to my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.377450365667908.82894.351715314908080&type=1#!/SueGoughArtist?bookmark_t=page

All images copyright of the artist

Irritable and Anxious

I am heartily sick of all this packing up and chaos at home, however I am trying to keep the end result in mind so that I don't unravel completely.

Should be in the studio today, but the builder may be on site and I need to discuss some things with him.  I am feeling very irritable because it is now 5 days since I was in the studio.  It is so hard to keep the thought processes going with constant interruptions, as the wonderful painter Charles Tyrell says,

"... if I'm not painting all the time I am living a lifestyle which allows me easy access back to where I was, and that's not an easy thing to do, to get back to the core of activity.  Any distraction at all - a night out or a weekend away - involves a huge loss of concentration"

Packing yet another box the other day, I found the little booklet from the Gandon Editions series about Charles, and, on re-reading it, was instantly uplifted.  He talks in his conversation with Brian Fallon about his practice, it's development and his attitude to being an artist and I felt such affinity!  This is obviously why I bought the tiny book in the first place.  I am holding it close at the moment to drink in the images and re-read the words of wisdom.

Latest Layers

Gradually building up the paintings.  Two very distinct moods.  The more contemplative, subtle one is a joy to work on.  The other, larger one, which is much more lively, expressing energy, life and growth is a real tussle.  I am relishing the scale and I suspect, after a bit more work, this painting may have to be rolled up and put aside for a while, then looked at again after a few weeks/months before I finish it.

All images copyright of the artist

A Good Day

It's been a very good day, despite a poor start with the discovery of a mouse in the house!


After a solid afternoon in the studio, I rushed home to change and we went on to Duckett and Jeffreys Gallery in Malton, for the private view of Dawn Brooks' show, "Sequence",  a series of prints that utilise drypoint etching, drawing and collagraph .  Certainly worth the rush; Dawn's work is wonderful, exploring mark making, some of them looking like script or automatic writing; Dawn dips into her subconscious when making the work.  There was a small print that utilised embossing combined with the inked etched marks that I thought was particularly sensitive. 

My favourite print is the piece that includes a grid and on talking to Dawn about it, she said it is the piece that gave her the most trouble to resolve.  I would find it interesting to visit her studio again, to watch her go through the process of making her work.  Some of the prints include carborundum too, adding to the richness of the texture. 

It is a good show, I recommend it and think all the artists in Ryedale should go and see it before it closes.



Pictures of the next stages of my current paintings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.dawnbrooks.co.uk

www.duckettandjeffreys.com

all images copyright of the artist

Painting Development (Still early stages)

Thoroughly fed up with the lack of building progression at home so I escaped to the studio today for the sake of my sanity.

Mathew Dwyer popped in to take a look and we had a chat.  I don't worry too much about people seeing my work in the early stages, before it has developed into something I am happy with, but I hoped that he realised how unfinished they were!

Some large quantities of paint will be required soon, to be thrown in as controlled a manner as I can manage!