I cannot quite believe it but this drawing ….
…. has been accepted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize! Getting into this (and also when it was the Jerwood) has been a long-held ambition of mine … I keep looking at the email to make sure I haven’t misread it or that it wasn’t meant for someone else.
The title of this post is a quote from a comment on these monoprints by an artist I admire, which I am of course rather happy about and it makes me realise how hard one has to work to make progress.
Normally I’d have had a bit of a rest today, having only been in chemo yesterday but it was the only day in July I could mange a second day at DBA Editions in Ramsgate and in August they are closed… Fiona de Bulat has been brilliant and I am really enjoying the monoprintint process so plan to do more in August in my own studio. However, I love the atmosphere at the DBA Editions studio and am looking forward to making larger pieces to take advantage of the large press.
Today 12 July was the only day this month I could get to DBA Editions in Ramsgate to do some more work on the monoprints which will be called “Helen’s Garden” as they are inspired by the garden of artist Helen Lindon. So although yesterday was chemo day and I am feeling a little tired I got quite a lot done.
Managed these 2 despite being rather sleepy and the nurses being very efficient and getting through the process rather “quickly.”
I sold 3 pieces at the Parallax art fair. May or may not do it again – organising things at a distance went reasonably well despite a hiccup over the collection of works for delivery back to Dover.
I finally managed to arrange a day to some printmaking with Fiona DeBulat at DBA Editions in Ramsgate. I’ve been wanting to push the printmaking further for a while now and felt I needed some guidance and nudging in the right direction.
I had the most fabulous day and am still feeling all fired up; for Fiona mono printing is actually one of the hardest forms of printmaking as it has so many different aspects to it: drawing, painting, understanding of colour, desire to experiment, understanding of layering and other processes such as stencilling, blocking in and above all time commitment. So it is far from being quick and easy …. something if I’m honest I thought it was ……..
I managed to pull different prints which are now in a range of states ready for me to come back to next week.
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
