Have decided to abandon this. It was meant to be part of my final MA project but somehow didn’t fit into my Learning Agreement. Have been really struggling with writing this document but having discovered a very useful book – Doing a Successful Research Project by Martin Brett Davies, am now starting again on quite a different direction. At last, thanks to the book, am starting to understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, literary revue and a host of other art-speak terms which, sadly have to be used.
I’m sure doing an MA is good for me but there are times when I really want to give up and rest my brain. I came across this the other day and so wanted to follow the idea…..
I want to live simply. I want to sit by the window when it rains and read books I’ll never be tested on. I want to paint because I want to, not because I’ve got something to prove. I want to listen to my body, fall asleep when the moon is high and wake up slowly, with no place to rush off to. I want not to be governed by money or clocks or any of the artificial restraints that humanity imposes on itself. I just want to be, boundless and infinite.
What lovely sentiments. Oh well, back to the books.
These are two of the finished, abandoned portraits. They became too figurative and I realised I had no follow-up plan. It was a silly diversion.
Saw this at Gargosian Gallery. Terrific image in every sense. His work shocked me into realising that with all my experiments with abstract expressionistic painting I’ve lost sight of the essentials. Andrews attention to composition is extreme but just maybe that’s why some critics maintain that he only painted masterpieces. You can see the marks on the canvases where he gridded up his drawings. The paintings are brilliant. Heartening to see that he favoured acrylics over oils in many of his work too. His subject matter of Australian Outback was also very appealing to me.
After seeing this exhibition I’m returning to basics a little and thinking more about composition whilst trying to retain the intuitive way I work.
Started work on a new project. After taking rapid phone photos of my peer group I’m now making acrylic portraits trying to capture the essence of each one rather than a realistic image.
Looking at Hockney’s portraits gave me the idea. They’re quite simplistic, pared down to the recognisable essential qualities of the person. Why try to capture a photographic exact likeness when a camera can do it so much more easily. And as he says, it’s fleeting. We change minute by minute and age year by year so it’s not possible to freeze an image but you can still recognise each other because of that elusive essence of who you are. That’s the bit I’m painting I hope.
