As well as a visit to the Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, I popped in to the National Gallery to see the Degree show of newly qualified artists from Dundee, Glasgow, Aberdeen and the Highlands & Islands. I was delighted to see so much painting there. I asked if I could take photos as there was some exciting and original stuff on view. I was almost disappointed to be told, YES I could. I really dislike the fact that art galleries are these days, full of people taking ‘selfies’ in front of beautiful works of art. It seems such a crass thing to do. But, as I was told, it’s hard to prevent it. As long as such images are not exploited on facebook etc. it’s OK and in this case, I simply wanted to remember what I’d seen. So I’m compromising and here are a couple of shots of the lovely interior of the gallery.
-
-
Plus, I must mention the names of three promising painters whose work I admired….Sam Drake, Emily Stewart, Felix Carr. These in particular caught my attention but generally there was much to be admired and some extremely innovative work in every room of the extensive show.
It closes on March 15 so if anyone has got time and are in the area it’s well worth a visit.
Yesterday I flew to Edinburgh especially to visit this Exhibition. I was not disappointed. She’s long been one of my favourite artists and to see so many of her paintings plus letters, photographs and newspaper articles about her life was an added bonus. There was even a brief scratchy film of her at work and talking about her work. These all brought her to life for me but also left an overwhelming sadness at the brevity of her life and artistic career. There was no corresponding shortness or lack of achievement, however.
She tackled the two seemingly contrasting subjects of Catterline landscapes and Glasgow children in the 50’s and 60’s with equal integrity. Eardley maintained that both were the same in that, ‘Neither knew they were being painted’ .
Scale is so important and the intimate nature of many of the smaller drawings and paintings of the children seemed very appropriate in contrast with the much larger landscapes. Her use of black chalk and pastel in these small sensitive drawings seems such a good choice. Somehow it emphasises the grimeyness of the children’s living conditions in the Glasgow tenements. It became clear that these smaller works were sometimes used later to create larger oil-paintings. There are some interesting small sketches of composition ideas.
I quickly copied from some of these to better understand the compositions. of more resolved paintings made later in her studio.
On my way home I sketched people waiting in the airport. Unlike Eardley’s subjects, mine where mostly engrossed with their phones or tablets. I thought maybe I could use these for a future painting.
The second room of the exhibition was devoted to the Catterline landscapes. Although there were many small chalk, pastel, goache, ink and watercolour sketches, it was the huge restless oil-paintings which captured my attention. These were full of movement and atmosphere. I have visited Catterline and I too found it an entrancing place – partly, of course because of it’s importance to Eardley. I could almost sense her presence there by standing in the same spots where she had stood in all weathers to paint. Reading her letters about her attempts to paint the salmon nets drying on the beach, further brought the paintings to life.
It was so important to see these images first-hand as compared with illustrations in books. The energetic almost frantic application of paint plus bits of grass and sand, conjured up the scene as though you were standing on the cliff-top with her. Similarly her paintings of the fields around the cottages were alive with emotion and memory
There was a huge amount to inspire me in this exhibition. It deserves a second viewing and shall do my best to return. Joan Eardley’s reputation seems justifiably to be rising in the Art World. This was by far the most comprehensive and exciting collection of her work I’ve seen so far and would urge anyone with an interest in painting to attend.
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.
