On a wild windswept day I drove to Margate to see the exhibition by Rose Wylie. I had read good things about this but honestly couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. The best thing there was a lovely sensitive portrait of Wylie by Felicity Allen. Allen has been artist in residence and made lots of watercolour portraits of women artists who came and sat for her at Turner Contemporary. Inspired by this and by recent writing in my reflective journal for UCS I began an oil painting of myself aged 5 and it became a double portrait to include myself today.
I keep retiring but have just been head-hunted. So teaching again. A lovely adult class – we’re going to tackle figure drawing this week. Alongside that I’m still painting and have just completed a writing assignment for the MA. Not enough hours in the day.
Tried oils again at the weekend but nothing to show yet. But here’s my latest two acrylics. Wonderful skies at the moment which demand painting. Working mostly from memory again as part of the research. Enjoying it.
Lavender Sky and Winter Sunset over Ipswich – both quick acrylics on canvas.
Looking back at this very ancient drawing made by me aged 4, I realised that back then I did understand Conceptual Art. The drawing shows me as a small bridesmaid at my aunt’s wedding. The poor Bridegroom is nowhere to be seen but the Maid of Honour who I remember as very tall with big black hair and a deep red dress dominates. I was afraid of her and you can see me edging away from the group. My feelings of uneasiness sensing the undercurrents, as her daughter had not been chosen as a bridesmaid, are very evident to me in this drawing.
I’m going to search many other old memories and try to recapture the emotions I felt back then and to inject these into paintings. It doesn’t matter if these feelings are clear to the viewer or not as long as the viewer experiences their own reactions,of some sort,to my image.
