Drawing Tuesday - National Gallery

The National Gallery has a permanent(?) display, downstairs in the Espresso Bar, of Frank Auerbach's drawings of some of the gallery's paintings - this Rembrandt portrait, for instance -

Tempted by the prospect of (mal)lingering over a cup of coffee, I looked hard at Auerbach's drawings, even tried to trace his marks in my mind - and didn't get a lot out of the exercise. I'm still at the stage of art-ignorance that finds them gloomy, ugly, and chaotic. But I do appreciate the kind of looking he was doing.

Without that coffee, and feeling rather gloomy, I went upstairs to look for something cheerful. And what is more cheering than a little dog? Rooms 38 and 33 provided quite a few, some of them so small that I had to use the camera to see them clearly -

The tale is in the tail
(Canaletto, Eton College, 1754)

This one is wearing red ribbons!

...not something you notice at a distance
(Guiseppe Zais, Landscape with a Group of Figures,1770-80)

"The Sporting Contest" is happening on the boats, and the dogs
seem to be having sport of their own. In the painting (1750),
the artist (Vernet) and is wife are escorted by the man in the blue coat

Blackwing pencil (2B?)

Lumograph HB

Elsewhere in the gallery ...

One of Janet B's views of doors and windows
("people kept getting in the way, just standing there")

Carol found a new approach

A Group of Poor Clares, fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, by Janet K

 In Trafalgar Square ...

Joyce was people-watching

Judith captured the entire scene

Sue chose architecture - the bricks of St Martins crypt

Extracurricular activity...

Jo's remembered view of London from a bus in Hainault
(felt pen over candle wax)

Janet K's embroidered magpies - the source is a leather panel
from the walls of a historic house

Judith's fuchsia, knit in wire

Janet B's panel for Nadjlaa's peace quilt, inspired by Iraqi embroidery

Joyce's panel - the olive branch, embroidered in variegated threads

Drawing Room summer school - day 1

First, getting a cup of coffee. Then Amalia Pica, who devised the workshop, introduced her work and we introduced ourselves.

Each had brought an object significant to us that "also speaks to a wider topic/subject that interests you" - to be used to draw from and to develop a personal working theme for the week.

I brought an old Falk map (Cologne, dating to about 1978) - the special folding system make it very user-friendly and easier to handle than conventional maps.

 First few drawings, up on the wall before lunch -

 A hive of activity after lunch -

 ... for example, rubbing back the graphite ...

 A chance to draw our object in the context of the others -

 More drawings on the wall ...

 After the tea break, a chance to develop the theme/subject. I fluffed about with tracing and collage and took a big breath and tried to emulate the folding system, albeit with smaller pieces of paper ...

 ... but got nowhere. (Sometimes confusion is ok, yes?)

Home, and a walk up the hill and "around the block" -

Then careful measurement and simple arithmetic, and now the folding system is under control -

Plus I've had some further thoughts about how eventually to develop this - surely a sign of progress!

Did I mention the lovely library at the Drawing Room?

During the lunch break, this book leapt into my hand -

 from which, this drawing is from 1961 -

Natural mark-making

Walking in the park, I picked up some pine needles - long ones and short ones - and a couple of partly degraded pinecones for good measure. 

Tied up, mostly with masking tape (hmm, how long will that last?) they have been added to my collection of natural drawing materials ... with the hazel charcoal (repaired with masking tape where part broke off) in the mix, for good measure.

 Some mark-making ensued...

 And I found a pebble at the bottom of the bag when I unpacked the shopping, so tried it for mark-making on some cardboard that coincidentally was heading for the recycling ...

With the ink (and a "regular" paintbrush) to hand, it became this -

 which led to more mark-making on other bits of brown paper ...

Quick and dirty fun. Not worth keeping, but instructive in their simplicity.

Studio Saturday

Part of my ceramics studio, or rather my ceramics practice, is the textile part, carried out in the comfort of home, usually accompanied by podcasts or radio -

 I decided to clear off the table, which took moments (and three baskets to receive the "bits" -

Of course within a day the pots and threads had started creeping back. But it's so much more pleasant with less clutter - so much easier to follow one set of ... hmm, shall we call them tubes at this stage ... through to the end, to a point of "enough of this for now". The realisation that doing more of the same isn't necessary, or even satisfying.

Having a clear table is also good for thinking about what you really want to do next, or need to do.

In the actual studio, Jackie decided to make a little video of Kate, Lindy and me talking about what we're doing -

 I'm explaining how the textile tubes become porcelain pots -

This set is organza with different types of stitching to identify them. Each pot will get a different treatment (notes are kept) and I'll know whether to continue with this sort of making and/or what to do to improve it technically -

The white threads top and bottom help the pot keep its shape

Six "tubes" got dipped in thick slip that had approximately 1/6th the volume of water added - it looked very thin, but we'll see how that performs. I'm trying to be a bit scientific about the consistency of the slip - a standard weight for a certain volume?? - this will require some experimentation, hence the need for a small kiln so that firings can be more frequent.

before

after dipping

 The pots in the boxes under the plastic have been there for so long that I forget what they might be - the others are at various stages of preparation -

 Drying slowly -

 This lot needs sorting -

 Finishing touches for these -

Waiting for further experimentation -

 Waiting, waiting, waiting -

There will be a firing next week and hopefully the results will help me figure out what to do next. It's fun to "be creative" when it comes to stitching etc, but I need more experience of what to expect from the clay and the kiln.

All in good time.

Friday late

It took me all morning to get out the door - I started a little sewing project that will be revealed in due course (it's a present and has a long way to travel) - but on the way to the studio, via a slightly different route, this had me stumped:

The aim with "tree pits" is usually to plant nice things around the tree ... but as it's a dead tree, perhaps an upsurge of weeds is totally appropriate. As for the floral crown, it's probably getting lots of organic impetus from the rotting wood?

After not-long-enough at the studio it was off to the V&A for the Friday Late.

I was after "the buzz" rather than any specific activities - meeting a friend, seeing lots of late-museum-goers in all their fashion-able variety, getting ears blasted by music in several places,

Cool music in the courtyard

"This Hair of Mine" - a nuanced portrait of African
women through the connecting thread of hair, in "the
room that is all cupboards" (rm 110)

We did spend time in the Jameel Prize gallery, and the shop, but mostly it was a chance to drink and chat in an "interesting" place. Hurrah for museums that provide this sort of evening - it's part of the whole new image. (Fewer items on display, often - but more going on.)

Walking home from the tube I came upon lots of blue lights, big trucks, and bystanders -

 ... and hoses in the street, and eating and drinking carrying on as usual, just a Friday night in the 'hood -