Liverpool - Oct. '13

On October 21st this year my Foundation Diploma group at college took a day trip to the historic Liverpool docklands and Crosby beach - primarily to visit the Tate modern and Anthony Gormley statues, respectively.
Obviously I had meant to do a blog post regarding this for some time but have simply not got around to it; I have also recently become aware that a vital aspect of our course grade is based upon written documentation of all activities art related - both personal and academic, so from now on I will try much harder to keep some semblance of a diary whether it be on this blog on in a physical format.

Anyway, back to the Mersey-side of things! The day itself began with early coach departure from Telford at around 8:15 - arriving in Liverpool around 9:45. While I could go through the day chronologically, it would be easier to simply state the obvious and maybe add a few personal observations thrown in.
Liverpool is big, it's diverse and on this occasion it was wet, but hardly out of keeping for mid October. In hindsight the Architecture of the Tate museum complex - the majority of which had been converted from 19th Century factory buildings, was just as, if not more aesthetically pleasing than the majority it's content. A large number of conceptual and minimalist installations were dotted around the 3 stories of white walled gallery; besides a abstract still life by Picasso, I wasn't too compelled by much of it, yet it turned out that out of our peer group I was perhaps the most open minded - I tended to spend more time defending the artwork than critiquing it.
My standard line of reasoning was that while my classmates were feeling boredom and derision towards the artwork, that reaction was possibly the artists intention... 'Possibly'.

2nd we split off and for mostly for novelty headed towards the Beatles/Elvis museum - the latter of whom I can't exactly place in relation to Liverpool but whatever. Artistically the whole place was garish but I guess if you like the Beatles or Elvis or you just want a great frontal view of the Liver building either way you're set.
The creatively named 'Liverpool museum' that resembles that shape of a huge metal ship was perhaps my favourite of the galleries, with a vast insight into the cities history and the best view of the river Mersey.

One of the trips goals was to gather inspiration for our animation and I can honestly say that I did once we had left for Crosby beach, a few miles to the east of Liverpool; though the weather was grey and windy the landscape on the beach was stunning and in start contrast the industrial plants alongside the coast, in was the combination of the two that inspired the development of my animation set design. Specifically we were there to observe the Anthony Gormley statues that made up part of his large scale art piece 'another place', that was erected in 2004.
The statues themselves(100 in total) had over time been very weathered by the tide and bracing wind conditions however they still kept a human likeness that compelled us all to decorate and accessorise them; though simple in concept, Gormley's work Is free, interactive and now a local icon, exactly the impact the artist would've wanted.

'A sparse forest' (2nd/3rd Cyprus landscapes)

Completed Venice pastel work.

'Cyprus landscape'

In September of last year my parents were in Cyprus in a business capacity and spoke to a couple who seemed infatuated by a semi-impressionist landscape oil painting that they had seen on display in their hotel; the painting in question was depicting Cyprus's iconic rolling hills and Pencil pine trees in a recognisably Mediterranean style. Due to time constraints the couple were unable to organise a purchase of the painting before they were scheduled to depart; sportingly my mum took a photo of the painting and informed the couple that I was an artist and would be able to reproduce a version of the painting for them for a reasonable commission.
That's the version of events I was told anyway, and so I eagerly began work on the piece at the beginning of August, however being a relative novice at oils I decided to instead use coloured pastels - which were in fact very effective during the shading stages.
In my previous artworks I had been hesitant in using excessive colour however on this occasion I was really pleased with the end result of using a greater colour palette and found the contrast of light and dark in the piece quite striking.

The finished work, at a rough size of 40x35cm(I neglected to measure it) was not too imposing in scale but noticeable from a distance, while up close the piece held a distinct physicality as the use of pastels gave it a sense of being multi-textured, seemingly smooth in some areas while corse in others for example.

At the point when my parents handed over this 'Cyprus landscape' a 2nd couple also became interested and commissioned a pare of works in the same exact style for their house that was being modelled or something(again I'm very sketchy on the details as I wasn't present at said event) either way I was happy to get continued interest and since I felt I was so successful in my first instalment of the pastel landscape I showed no hesitance in tackling these two additional ones. There were however some features of these two pieces that I hadn't needed to take into account while producing the first one; namely, while the pair of landscapes would be separate and of slightly differing content, they had been planned to be placed side by side in close proximity on the same wall. In other words the two rectangular pictures(of identical size and frame) would be placed vertically next to each other in order to make up a single square image, the picture on the left showing the left side of a landscape and the one on the right obviously showing the corresponding right side of the landscape.
Unfortunately I forgot to photograph these two pictures before they were sold, but they were of matching style to the first 'Cyprus landscape' however with dimensions of around 2x1 measures in scale.

As of this post the same couple have got in touch again and have requested a larger commission of similar style but instead depicting a literal architectural scene - the location chosen is the Grand Canal in Venice; work on this piece is currently ongoing but it should be finished by the end of August this year and you can be sure this is the first place I'll be putting it on display.
-Wish me luck!

Florence: A personal pilgrimage of graffiti. (2)

Florence: A personal pilgrimage of graffiti.

Florence Art & Photography trip - March 2013.

In late March of this year the Art department at my sixth form took a 6 day trip to Firenze(Florence), Italy where we were for the most part going to tour the iconic Roman architecture and Renaissance art in what was arguably the cultural epicentre of the "Rebirth" movement during the 14th to 17th centuries.
This was for myself a thrilling prospect as I would be able to view first hand the works of artists such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci while also residing in what many would claim to be the most beautiful city in Europe.

- Ponte vecchio, market bridge.


However this was all for the tourists, Florence in fact isn't just an artisan time-capsule nor a still painting but rather a modern social hub, with a thriving business sector, grid-locked traffic and street crime. In the past I've spent far too many foreign trips as a tourist and so on this occasion I was determined to see Florence at its most raw, which may occasionally involve stepping off our classes set itinerary for the week.

- view of Florence from atop the hill at the Piazzale Michelangelo.

Because i'd spent the majority of my artistic study for this academic year focusing on 'Graffiti' or 'street-art' I was already well aware of its prominence in cities across the world as well as some this movements infamous artists - 'Bansky' perhaps being the most prolific; However when arriving in Florence I immediately pondered the words of French street-artist 'JR' whom after completing a series of large photographic murals in Paris, recalls in an interview "the city was my canvas." I must say that when passing the huge white marble statues outside the Palazzo Vecchio or walking within the grey-walled and modestly furnished interior of the Museo Accademica, it's not difficult to understand why Artists such as JR would want to add a little colour.

- 'David' bronze replica statue in the Pizzale Michelangelo square near the top of the Monte Alle Croci.