Archive for December, 2006
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Baring All
This week I have received many correspondences regarding celebrating the achievements of this year and looking ahead to next year. Darren Rowse at Problogger has also started a group writing project on the subject which is serendipitous. I don’t tend to celebrate achievements enough, I usually berate myself on lost opportunities and change the goalposts at random. So now I am baring all and looking at the year in review.
My career
This year has seen massive growth in my fledgling art career. I have sold 16 paintings with several going to international buyers, painted many many paintings, had two shows and participated in several exhibitions including one in New York.
While not going into the figures here, I have managed to cover my expenses (materials, shows etc) with a reasonable profit, something, I have been told, that is very rare for emerging artists.
I have met a lot of great people online and have made some fantastic connections with organizations such as Sculptr and Barebrush.
Blogging
My blog has exploded, gaining valuable readers and many fascinating comments, I haven’t been able to reply to as many as I’d like, but I am delighted with the exposure my work and writings are gaining. My writing has improved, and I am enjoying finding interesting stories to post about and reading the reactions to my works.
Since moving to wordpress I have had a phenomenal amount of visitors and far better exposure, I finally got my domain name, blogging software and a great blog that works beautifully.
My Self
I assigned this year as the one to get on with my life. I have slowly built my strength up, allowing greater endurance and less pain. I am regaining my independance and am re-discovering my self, reclaiming my body from the injury.
Mentally, it has been a tough year, but I am stronger as a result and I have finally started gaining self esteem and confidence. I feel as if I am a whole person again, Someone I haven’t seen for a long time.
Next year
I think of this year as laying the foundations for my future. It was hard, probably harder that I would have ever thought, but by doing this work I think next year is going to be amazing. It is still going to be hard, I am working in a tough industry, but I feel that I have the ability now to push on and build on what I did this year.
Tags: blog project, blogging, musing, problogger, review
Barebrush - New Nudes
With all of the drama with my Father I forgot to mention that two of my works made it into Nudes of the Month for December on Barebrush.com, including my very recent piece discovery.
I am particularly excited about January’s Juror and am putting up plenty of my works. to view them please visit Barebrush.com. the more views I get the more ranking they get for viewing by the Juror, which is so important now that so much excellent art is up there!
Tags: art world, creating art, New York, nudes
Ova- a new impasto nude
This impasto series is really taking off. Now that my lines are more confident I am starting to use the knife more like a brush to gain different effects. I am also focussing on the under-painting to create a delicious mix of colors, gradients and emotions.
Each piece in this series only has a few lines to create the entire form - in this way it is very similar to asian calligraphy where the form is represented in minimal lines to create a very clean and pure look. The key line in this piece is very long and really underpins the entire work. I will frequently re-do a line over and over again until it feels just right.
The title Ova represents a number of things, from the basic shape of the figure to the concept of new beginnings, looking into ourselves in an enclosed state and the concept that we are all “only an egg.” At least, that is what I see in it - what do you see?
Titling
I title my works with one word as I have done ever since I was young. But I am curious, do you find an one-word title to open a conversation or end it?
My theory is that it is ambiguous and lets people draw their own assumptions as to the meaning. It makes each work more personal to each viewer, I am not telling them the meaning, nor am I generating a meaning to make the piece sound important.
But am I missing a point? should I title works with a more fashionable artistic name that gives the piece some profound meaning? would that invite viewers to think on the name and the meaning I have chosen? or would it close the conversation and assign a single meaning?
Tags: Art, art world, creating art, musing
British Nudity Concealed
Striding Nude, Blue Dress, by Euan Uglow
If there is one thing the British tabloids love, it is sordid little stories of nudity and sex. The need to create a scandal is something that the journalism industry thrives on. This is probably the key reason this painting and it’s participant were carefully concealed.
While it has been known that Cherie posed for Uglow, only now, six years after the artist’s death, has it been revealed that Striding Nude, Blue Dress is Mrs Blair.
Her distinctive facial profile is clearly recognisable, but the work was never completed because she decided to cut short the sittings to visit the US.
She married Tony Blair, then a trainee barrister colleague, shortly afterwards in 1980. As the pair moved into public life, so Uglow, who exhibited the picture briefly in 1983, decided it was best kept out of view.
I was life model for Cherie artist too - Britain - Times Online:
I think many of us have been in the position where we need a few extra bucks, and several of us have probably done similar things. There is probably going to be a substantial uproar over this piece and it’s famous model but I find myself wondering if this piece and it’s artist would have been given so much attention if it wasn’t for Cherie Blair. I am sure there will be many people will say it is wrong for a multitude of reasons but I look at this painting and I find myself thinking it will all be a big deal over nothing.
Tags: art news, controversy, Nude
Grace
My latest Nude in the white impasto series. I started planning this piece months ago but it never seemed like the right time to paint it. With this technique I need to be absolutely certain of what I am doing, every line needs to be planned. in this case, the preliminary work and having every line mapped out and the colors and effects decided upon made this much easier to execute than i thought. sometimes it is worth leaving a painting to rattle about for a while to that when it is ready to come out, it comes out right. if a painting is forced out before it’s time then it can be wrong, lacking that certain something…
This is the largest painting I have completed at 46 x 36 (121.5 x 91.5). It needed to be this size to communicate the pose properly, but it was quite intimidating to start! I am happy that the flowing lines seem to come much easier. I am spending more time looking at where the line will go and then executing it with confidence and flow. Overall I am pleased with the results of this work, it seems to have more energy than the initial draft - it also looks good in any direction which is pretty neat.
Thankyou
Thankyou all so much for your support, I really appreciate all the emails and comments. I cant believe it was all a week ago, it’s been a crazy long week driving to and from hospitals, making arrangements and keeping everyone informed. No-one was sleeping very well. The good news is Dad is doing fine, he is out of the hospital and back at home. we don’t know what was wrong and he is still undergoing tests but luckily it doesn’t appear to be critical.
I haven’t had to deal with anything like this before, it was so scary. I had to be strong the whole time, to liaise with doctors and with Dad’s friends and for dad himself who was quite frightened himself. all the time I was being strong and competent but petrified on the inside.
Anyway, I am getting back into it, I needed a bit of time to recover and catch up on sleep.
