Do I need to have an actual project ?
The most enlightening thing to come out of my 3 year Degree course is…..
CONTEXT. I don’t think I really understood this term before or even during the Degree, but now I think I do. Born with a natural ability to make Observational Drawing, I spent the last 3 years trying to unlearn this ability – to draw & paint Conceptually; to become an Abstract artist.
Suddenly I realise there is no need to do this. Eureka moment.
Drawing on the beach at Dunwich, recently, I knew that although my work was about the reality which I could see, at the back of my mind I could also see – de Stael,Hockney, Monet, Bueys, Gormley, Picasso, Auerbach, Doig and so many others.
I have started to draw in CONTEXT and that makes a huge difference.
I do Not have a Project. The subject matter will take care of itself.
It is enough to draw, to paint to respond in an intuitive way; to search for meaning.
I will not find it.
There is no meaning except to exist, to live life to the best of your ability. In my case that means I am driven to draw & paint.
TUTORS
PS to Graduation Day. It was unexpectedly lovely to chat with our ex-tutors almost on new level footing ! Really miss their daily input and comments. Thanks so much to you all.
POST-GRADUATION
Lovely to see my former fellow-students on 24th Oct. The ceremony went so quickly and was just a little emotional. The simple act of walking across the stage wearing all that stuff somehow made it real for the first time. I’m a BA Hons !!!
Today I looked back over some of my sketchbooks and notes and am trying to work out what to do next. I’ve had several false starts already due to my ever-present feelings of urgency. There is almost a fear of not having enough time left to do all the things I plan to do. But today I’m beginning to slow down and to reflect. I think I rushed from one idea to the next during my 3 years at uni and can now see that there are quite a few drawings, ideas I could explore in greater depth. There was so much more to explore. Pressures of meeting deadlines, although good in that it forced you to think quickly, conspired to make you miss out on subtle elements of an image or idea sometimes
So I’m kind of back-tracking slowly and letting rather than trying to paint emotions, impressions of my thoughts.
Have joined Cuckoo Farm Print Workshop. I need to talk to other artists to bounce ideas around and just to get into the zone.
Where are the rest of the class of 2013 UCS ?? Would be nice to get a conversation going or some feedback. How are the rest of you doing in this post-uni world ??
Doig is GOD
Flew to Edinburgh to see the Doig exhibition. Absolutely awe-inspiring. He manages to combine elements of abstract,figurative,impressionistic,sublime and even conceptual art in each of the enormous canvases on display. Also the backup work of drawings,etchings, & photographs simply add to the story and to my admiration of his work.
It’s given me so much to think about in regard to my own practice. Not to mention the delicious visit to Jamie’s Italien of course !!! Decided I love Edinburgh. An added bonus was to be there during The Fringe too.
Val Jones BA Hons Way to go??
After the Degree Show I expected to suffer a feeling of anticlimax so to avert this I planned a trip to Catterline to see where Joan Eardley lived and painted. It successfully kick-started my post-uni work with a plein-air painting of Bamburgh Castle, sketches of people on a beach in Sunderland and a vivid green painting of the Catterline cliffs with Eardleys hunckered-down cottages on a sunlit,misty skyline. a magical visit !
But – the anticlimax was simply delayed and now I feel very alone with no fellow-students to share a coffee and a chat about the work. The dreaded ‘net-working’ and search for an outlet, a residency; a project has to begin. Where to start???
