New works in mixed media

I have been working on some new pieces using print and paint and collage. In a way I like to work sometimes, I put the ink and paint on with no thought in mind, using brushes and rollers. Then look at the colours and forms and find the faces or figures in them.

In this series there emerged all sorts of figures, birds, strange creatures and faces. I used pencil or pen to just highlight the forms.

The brain is wired to see faces, so they often come first,  it seems almost miraculous when looking, finding other figures arising when moments before it was just a mass of colours. It is a particular way of looking, relaxed and not forced in any way, allowing the eye to travel across the page, and not all forms arise straight away.

These particular pieces have a folk tale sense to me. I will be continuing to work this way for a while.

3 Way Mirror exhibition Pie Factory Margate

Saturday 7th May was the opening of a new exhibition at The Pie Factory in Margate, called 3way Mirror. Pie factory website here.http://piefactorymargate.co.uk/exhibition/steve-lobb-exhibition-2

An exhibition of ceramics and paintings by David White, Marilyn Williams and Steve Lobb.

I loved the ceramic pieces that Marilyn had made inspired by the foreshore, using the forms of birds. I liked the subtle changes of colour from piece to piece and the characters of the bird pots. More about Marilyn's work here

David's paintings explored the natural world, with often vibrant colours, which I responded too, there was also a portrayal of  the human exploitation of this world. He was also showing ceramics, working in collaboration with musicians.

 

Steve is also concerned with the greed of human nature as well as the forms of water and water lilies, beach and forest. I liked the tranquillity and forms of the lily pad paintings.

The exhibition is on till May 18th and is well worth visiting.

Hilma af Klint at the Serpentine gallery

I was very pleased to be able to get to see the Hilma af Klint exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery.
The exhibition is on till May 15th and definitely worth seeing. Gallery website here

I am always looking for artists who have a spiritual dimension to their work, and Hilma's work is all about that.

As it says on the Serpentine Gallery website, the "Serpentine Galleries presents exhibition  of Swedish painter Hilma  af Klint  (1862–1944), who is now regarded as  a pioneer  of abstract  art. While her paintings were not  seen publicly until  1986, her  work from  the early  20th century pre-dates the  first  purely abstract  paintings by Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich.

Klint originally painted landscapes and botanical works, but left them in favour of pursuing more abstract and symbolic works based on occult and spiritual dimensions.

She was interested in the work of Rudolf Steiner and formed a group with four other women called The Five. They conducted séances and the work in this exhibition comes from a series called The Paintings for the Temple, a commission from an entity called  Amaliel.

Surprisingly I found that a lot of her paintings had thin layers of oil paint, used almost like watercolours, with sections of the canvas showing through. Though some of the paintings are not particularly bright in colour, they have a luminosity that makes them shine.

The three large paintings in the entrance to the exhibition glow with light and colour that draws you into their world.

Klint's work is definitely work to see in the flesh, there is so much that has been taken or reflects her work in graphic design over the last 40 years which can make the work seem familiar. But in terms of presence, the paintings are much more unusual and arresting.

Seashell ecology and identification, study and beach combing.

Ruth and I spent a very interesting day on a seashell ecology and identification day. It was organised by the Wildwood Trust and lead by Anne Riddell, a great knowledgeable and enthusiastic tutor.

We started off in the education centre at Wildwood where Anne talked about seashells, showed us slides and let us handle different shells.

We learnt about the development of shells from primeval times, from fossil remains to present day. How they reproduce and feed. I didn't realize how many shells were predators, attacking, killing and eating other shells.

We learnt how to identify the main groups of shells, lots of small differences.

We looked at the sort of habitats where shells live around Britain and then particularly in Thanet.

Finally we had an identification quiz. matching shells to their drawings. Which we did surprisingly well.

The real fun bit was going on to Kingsgate Bay with Anne and collecting shells from the beach.
Here Anne was a goldmine of information, telling us and other beach walkers about the shells and objects we were picking up on the beach.

It would be great to have Anne on hand for my beachcombing walks. I did though learn a lot more than I did and it will be good to use that in future.