Thursday 25 April 2013

end of days

Had a really nasty fluey cold which left me fed up and wondering just why am i bothering. 
Not sure I know the answer, but the sun has come out and my lady tutor noticed I was depressed and gave me a big hug.  Unlike my 2 male tutors who strode over my dead body without breaking stride.  Artists are rarely team players, lady tutor whispered in my ear.
Partly it is because the end of semester is nigh. 
Since I am Part Time/half price I am not featuring in the final assessment exhibition, thus feel left out!  Also male tutor instructs us to clear all our work/rubbish from the building after the exhibition, thus I am forced to accept that my blood letting and head banging to produce "work" will only result in full recycling bins.
Have one more male tutor day, and two more with trainee lady tutor, whom I have learnt to appreciate, even tho she pronounces everyone's work as "awesome" rather than - where's the bin..........she is doing her training year, so produces lesson plans and individual tuition. 
She'll grow out of that in time.  We are doing portraits with her, so this is my first attempt at my mother, whom i persuaded to sit for us.  Ma quite enjoyed meeting new people - finding them quite agreeable was a pleasant surprise to her. Dunno what she expected, more of Me maybe.
Will start a new painting of her tomorrow, this one will perhaps get re-painted - or binned......or both
We have a Summer Project to tide us over, plus a Textile Art exhibition or 2 coming up. Daughter and grandson are due next month.
A person jumped off the bridge last week, he missed the river and hit the road,  I plan a painting of the two decaying bouquets placed at the foot of the bridge stretching it's grey cement to the blue sky.  That'll cheer me up.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

more work needed

Back to Art Skool on Monday, with a cold generously donated by Him Indoors. I look somewhat like the lady painted below, but she is just a random pic off the web which I experimented with, in my first go at Oils!  I bought some Oil Bars, very much fun, like big soft crayons but are oil paint and wax, which, it is claimed dry faster.  Watched a UTube video to learn process, as obviously it is below tutors to  indulge in such practises as tutoring.
She looked haunted in the pic as you can see?,  I painted her thinking of a concentration guard standing trial...........looks more like a waitress who has dropped the cakes.

 Callie kept me company.
 I have been thinking of the Ice Age Art exhibition at the BM, so tried to have a go at a rock carving thing by making a plaster mould from clay in a box.  Tutor helped me make the box, being as I am a poor woman with no skill with nails [well that's about true really] but of course he had his pride and made it so meticulously, with so many nails and glue I could hardly break her out.
 She looks a bit jolly, so i added blood....lots of significance and gravitas, but not sure it quietens her down any.
 Big Nuddey went down well with tutor, but still work to do, surprisingly enough.  Also managed to fit plaster man into car and got him to sculpture room , only breaking one arm on the way.  Boo.  Tutor told me ...more work is needed, so had about him with saw and scraper thing [plaster man, not tutor] and bandaged his arm with mud rock.
While we were working some students came down from RSA to crit some of the 3rd years work.
A man sized banana received some very weird esoteric suggestions, mostly referencing penises, maker opined it was just a banana, which received silent applause from moi.
Daisy thought it was all rubbish and concentrated on telling the birds outside what for.  They ignored her as she doesn't go outside.  Some females have mouths bigger than their aspirations.
Thatcher's funeral is on gog at the mo, see above.

Saturday 6 April 2013

don't stare at the sun

Being a self starter in any area is exhausting at times.  The voice in your head doesn't help, asking, on a loop of derision, why are you even bothering. 
Having paid stupid university fees and joined a group moving erratically forward [sometimes in the same direction], and above all being required to prioritise the enterprise above straightening the curtains does help, I find.
However I get more work done in the holidays, without those pesky tutors and their power point presentations.
Goodness knows if I can get CW into the car [named after my slim son]   I like the Richard Hawley song so i thought I would make something from it...................

 Thinking of ambiguous titles will hopefully add some subtlety to my work!!
 Have been adding a slight tinge of pink to Big Nuddey [example of my subtlety] as if she is just alive, not dead yet, like so many of us, .......needs more sun perhaps?  However today the whining had to stop as the temp. went into double figures, 10 and the sun was warm.  We walked by the river in a daze.