Category: art

#735 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity, Travels1 Comment

Yesterday’s blog, https://theoldmortuary.design/2023/11/28/734-theoldmortuary-ponders/ , was all about an exhibition squeezed into our journey to a railway station that was absolutely the sort of thing we love to visit.

Todays blog subject is almost the complete opposite. Easy Jet decided at fairly late notice to cancel our flight home, giving us additional time in Venice until an alternative flight with a different carrier. Next door but one to our hotel there was an exhibition that would probably never be on a ‘must-visit’ list.

©Fondazione Prada

A replication of a 19th Century Venetian Portrait exhibition last curated together in 1920. Proximity to our hotel was key as we had agreed to meet some fellow abandoned travellers to share a water taxi when we discovered we were all on the same alternative flight. So we walked around Fondazione Prada the central bigger building in the picture above and visited Ca’ Pesaro the smaller white palazzo.

We could easily have filled our time in the Modern Art galleries but the deeply pigmented colours of the walls of the portrait exhibition lured us in.

Who wouldn’t be lured in?

What a revelation. The vibrant wall colours absolutely focussed the mind on the gloriousness of traditional portraiture. The anonymity, to us, of the subjects somehow made the whole exhibition easier to view. We even noticed an anomaly.

Was she lonely and just decided to sneak in the back with the joyful family?
Maybe we could have found the older man too?

Real credit to the curators for making unknown portraits interesting. Just one room differed in layout from the 1920 exhibition. Maurizio Pelegrin, an installation artist born in Venice created a space with a very different feel. Like a squirt of lemon on a rich and unctuous meal. Just perfect.

#714 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, autumn, Words1 Comment

I learned a new word yesterday.

I am shocked that I never thought to question what the counterpart to misogynist is. Both misogyny and misandry are pretty easy to spot but it never occurred to me to give the dislike of men a name. Now I am thinking myself  into a circle of over thinking.

Is it misandrist of me to think that misogyny is more commonly experienced in society.

Thankfully my second new word of the day is much easier to get my head around. 

Goodness I love biomimicry. Yesterday a friend was knitting with variegated knitting wool,which was the exact shade of fallen autumn leaves. At the time she was sitting under this piece of art.

©Yan-Feng

These were exactly the colours of the day yesterday.

Two new words in one day!

#703 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art1 Comment

People who work 24 hour shifts should not be allowed into retail spaces after the shift ends. 10 years after this shop was just a short bus ride from my place of work my art materials store still holds weird and wonderful art materials that I bought from this very specialised shop. Their website suggests they sell hard to find items.

Not hard enough to find, for my art material acquiring habit. I knew exactly how to get there. Even when running on zero energy I loved to look at and then purchase some of the amazing things they sell. A little bit of sparkle or deeply pigmented paint brings me deep joy. Some of my supplies are so special I will probably never finish them.

Money well spent I think, madly perhaps, when I wasn’t thinking straight but goodness do they give me pleasure. Sometimes I just look at them , colourful moments of potential creative pleasure.

Cornelisens Gold Gilding wax on canvas.

#680 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn archive, art, Art for sale, Serendipity1 Comment
Autumn in an Arsenic Mine

Facebook Timehop keeps coming up with old friends. Not the human sort but artwork that I have entered into exhibitions and then sold. October is traditionally the beginning of my artistic hibernation. Last exhibitions have been entered and the unsold works return to the studio. My work is not particularly gift-worthy so unlike many artists my exhibiting season does not extend towards Christmas.

I have got into the habit of having an experimental phase for a few months from November until February and then I knuckle down to create some new pieces to replace those that have sold the previous year. This year has been a little different in that some large works that had been leased/ loaned to a company that had huge white walls, were returned to me when the company moved locations. The last one of these pieces was sold last week.

Deadheading

I miss paintings when they are gone. Just as dog breeders probably miss puppies.

The one below was given a high gloss resin coating so the farewell picture also features a self portrait of the artist. (Me)

Dive

As paintings are sold and others return the studio gets a bit of a reshuffle. I’m not entirely sure how a reshuffle differs from a tidy up but this year there is a distinct difference. The tidy up meant I completely lost two monoprints that have an interested buyer. The reshuffle of this week has found those monoprints and an original watercolour which I need to make some cards.

Nearly there trees.

One more original to find. Pumpkins also needs to be turned into cards but somewhere between the tidy up and the reshuffle he has gone missing. So missing that there is not even a photograph!

In contrast to these pictures my experiments are quite different and may never see an exhibition. Yesterday I painted Storm Agnes in Tranquility Bay. A slightly strange mix of reality and imagination, but that is the point of experimentation.

Storm Agnes in Tranquility Bay.

It does me good to reconnect with sold pieces of art. I had almost decided to stop painting bigger pieces as they are so difficult to store, but seeing these has galvanised me into future action on bigger canvases. They, at least, never go missing.

#686 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity, WordsLeave a comment
Sketch for future project about cold water swimming.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Writing gives me the chance to note down inconsequential things. As an artist I can sketch inconsequential things. Sometimes something of substance comes from these two activities. As September heads to a colourful autumn I am on the last leg of being out and about as an exhibiting artist. For the first time this year I did an event called Open Studios and am currently exhibiting in a gorgeous, medieval period, house called Cotehele.

Exhibiting this year has felt significantly different to the last couple of years. Writing, or capturing this thought gives me the chance to consider this sensation. Almost certainly 2023 felt like the first truly Covid worry free year for people who organise art events and for their visitors. Everything that people love about art shows was back. Sketch books, business cards and crowds. Boozy Private Views and long delightful conversations. There is so much to learn from the company of other artists and the people who love to look at art. The current financial climate has limited the amount of sales.

But the interactions with visitors have been wonderful. I have been so lucky. I’ve unexpectedly met some old friends and work colleagues for long leisurely conversations and put faces, names and personalities to people I barely knew before this summer. Some blog readers have also appeared which has been lovely.

What do I enjoy most about writing?

The ability to reflect and cteate a world that is both real and imagined , orthodox and surreal. A safe place to ponder. A place to take stock of the snippets of life that might go unnoticed.

#673 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, SerendipityLeave a comment

Sometimes landscapes make me want  to lay down and be part of it. Mossy boulders are particularly enticing and, of course, particularly uncomfortable in reality.

Today I felt the urge to paint a fantasy glade with a mossy boulder.

It has a long way to go but I already know the painted boulder would be a comfortable place to rest and the glade is becoming more fantastical by the brushstoke.

Green is my Friday colour.

#679 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn artLeave a comment

The sun sets on 10 days of Drawn to the Valley Open Studios at Ocean Studios.

I think all the artists were wilting a bit by closing time on Sunday but there were still plenty of people wandering in, even as we packed up.

Drawn to the Valley had some great impromptu signage. Refreshingly basic and not discussed endlessly at a committee meeting.

Of course I had failed to explain to my dogs that the 8 am walk no longer needed to take us to the Royal William Yard. So this morning they set their paws once more towards the gallery. But that brought a little moment of interest. Last week this blog bought Dolphins, today a Submarine.

Something unusual before I returned home to do the last Open Studio job. Something the dogs are less keen to help me with compared to an interesting walk. The arty unpacking. Something that I know will be happening all over the Tamar Valley this morning. Goodness what a tedious job. But I must get on with it…

More sun setting on a fabulous Ten days with 12 great artists and hundreds of interested visitors. Thanks to everyone involved

# 675theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity1 Comment

What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?

©theoldmortuary

A little bit of creativity goes a long way if I can find a space for it every day . Sometimes it is nothing more than some photo manipulation. Other days a whole painting emerges. I also consider blog writing to be both creative and life enhancing. I have spent the last week in the company of 12 other artists at a group event called Open Studios. There is so much to learn from creative people.

The other interesting and fascinating aspect of a shared public space is the chosen soundtrack of the Arts space we are using. I have heard some wonderful, and previously unknown to me, artists who have already transitioned onto my home play list. All of which leads me rather ponderously to my conclusion that learning or experiencing something new every day hugely improves my quality of life.

©theoldmortuary

#670 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity2 Comments

What motivates you?

I have a butterfly mind, unusually I can easily harness my butterfly when needed but like a parachute my mind works better when it is open. My motivations are sometimes opposing to one another.

Here is my list.

1. Kindness and care to those around me.

2. Deadlines.

3. Serendipity. Nothing is more inspirational than the unexpected.

4.Procrastination. or creative preparations as I often label it.

5. Concaternation.

6. Lifelong learning from all of the above.

Today I am on the final phase of, 4- Procrastination. I have an exhibition opening tomorrow. And yet there are still 2 solid hours of Studio tidying before I can hit , 2- Deadline.

The butterfly above was, 3- Serendipity when a stencil fell on an old watercolour doodle.

The 2 hours of studio tidying could have started 3 hours ago. I could already be at Deadline, but no, Procrastination was in full active mode.

I checked in with some of those I care about.

I walked the dogs, luxuriously in the sun.

I went back to the sea for a swim.

I wrote this blog.

Every one of those things will make today more productive and motivated. And that is Concaternation at its finest.

And just like that the final tidy is complete, let the artwork commence.

#682 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, FamilyLeave a comment

I was in a slightly eccentric cafe today when this picture knocked on my memory. In the 1970’s this print hung on my parents dining room wall. It was a mass produced print. Possibly from a chain retailer like Woolworth. This would have been completely out of character, our home exuded mid century modern good taste long before it was retro-chic. I was possibly the only person who ever looked at this picture In a small family of three we all sat at the same place at the table every day. I know my dad hated it, my mum never expressed an opinion. I imagine it was a gift that had to be seen when the person who gifted it visited. I looked at this lightly wooded scene most days for ten years. Then when I left home and there were just two people left in my home my parents decided to build a new extension on the back of the house. The wall where this picture hung was fitted with shelf units and it was never seen again, until today.

Oh the difficult conversations that have been had while staring at this woodland stream. The awkward silences, the introduction of unsuitable boyfriends. The endurance of meals that did not suit my hungover, teenage self. There were celebrations and happy meals too, reunions, parties and special birthday  gatherings.

I wonder where the picture went. My heart gave a little jump when I saw it today. There is a part of me that still wonders where the stream of life is taking me and another part that would be happy to still be in the dining room just looking at this, one more time with my parents.