Picture portrait

This kid was too cute to do justice to in paint. In the studio, overwhelming orange from a large painting next to this piece seeped in and resulted in quite intense skin tones. I do want the children's paintings to be vibrant to reflect youth, and this is nicely balanced with blues here. If anything, his eyes could be bluer as well. It's always easier to be objective once it's been a while.. and your client already has the painting.

Castle Commission

This is a commission of my boss' wife (no pressure, right?!).  Working from an average sized/small photograph when trying to resemble an individual's face, having never met the subject or knowing their personality, proved challenging. The colours might look a little washed out on your screen, but all in all the painting was well received. 

Shoreditch!

My new favourite place, as far as an afternoon wandering around can tell.

Since we last talked, I have been selling a few portraits (oil on canvas), soon to be posted, and working on a large painting for my uncle, also soon to be posted. BIG NEWS-->

This Wednesday I am up and moving from the southern sticks into the big city, the capital herself. A few days ago curiosity culminated into a little exploration of the East side, where I went to hunt out galleries and artists and generally people who might wish to befriend me. Shoreditch sounds like the place I would least want to visit in most of the world, but, ignoring the name and going on other superficial things, like what people look like and what type of over-priced creative outlets there are, how many tacky shoes you can buy, how many galleries are around and the fact that a couple stores cater for artists, I'd say it's the first place in London that I'd wish to be.. based on one visit.. based on being an outsider who knows nothing.  Based on the fact that I'm not actually going to be there. I felt very comfortable walking around and making conversation. People seemed nice and not like they were out to attack me with guns and knives. I like this.

I checked out White Cube, a gallery in Hoxton Square (ok, so not Shoreditch), and had the pleasure of seeing the first exhibition in the UK by Mark Bradford, an artist from LA. I was struck by the construction of the large artworks, though I left wanting some bigger movement across the canvas (boards) to be felt (in a compositional sense). A piece that drew me in consisted of 44 blocks organised in a grid, each one plastered with built up layers of newspaper sheets and graphite ink, then sanded back to expose monochromatic tones and physical depth. Though the materials are reused and man made, the overall effect for me eluded to something organic, like the layers of bark on a tree. I sincerely enjoyed the experience of looking and trying to figure out what this work was saying, if anything, and if looking was just enough.

To top it all off, I happened to find Bar Kick, recommended to me by a friend, for any football table/fooseball enthusiast who considers it illegal to spin the handles when playing a serious game of football (that is, every game).

ps) If you look up any Mark Bradford work online, like a Rothko, it's better seen close up. Maybe make the rest up in your head..

Don't quit your day job

Hi everyone- sorry it's been a while! Lots of things have been going on, including me quitting my day job in order to hold my breath before moving to South London. Don't get me wrong, this is exciting, but a few important questions may remain unanswered until I get there.. like where do I make some money? If anyone has artist friends in need of assistance, do forward my name to them! I have other talents too.. like folding my tongue in half without the use of any hands. But in the meantime, I have been painting everyday. After finishing a portrait for my ex-boss (that's not why I "quit") I am working on another small portrait commission (with a few others pending) and am trying desperately to finish a 4.5' x 6' canvas of the Last Supper. I feel as if I may have bitten off more than I can chew.. but photo uploads will proceed once this thing is viewable by the public. Watch out, Da Vinci! Unlike his version, mine certainly isn't going to take three years.. and it might show. Let's talk again soon

Today's portrait hand-over

This is a portrait which has been in my studio for a while. I will keep the name anonymous. Today it made it into the hands of a new owner; a proud parent.

Success!

The Gallery opening last night was great. High five to those who managed to make it,
I feel the love. The evening landed me with a portrait commission, and concluded in a private showing for some friends. All in all.. success!

..unlike my photo uploads, which are having technical difficulties. I will yell and resolve the issue using violence if necessary; so come back soon!

Gallery Opening at the Sea

Hello darlings!

Tonight is the opening at Shoreham Gallery, located on the high street of Shoreham-By-Sea, which is- actually by the sea. So I have two new paintings ready to be revealed to the world. Or all the people who turn up because there is free wine. I am looking forward to the responses, because the work is among the most garish and contemporary in the gallery, just because that is how they came out. The subject of youth and tiny little people in a huge, jungle-like world allows me to paint in vibrant colours because it reflects the nuances of said characters.

That's all I shall say for now.

If you are in the Shoreham-By-Sea area, come around for some FREE jazzy live music, WINE and food, and wine. All FREE. 7-11pm. I shall be baking up some goodies to bring along.. so here's a free tip- stay away from the cupcakes.

Banksy in Sussex

Woah! This is too big not to blog about. According to Creative Choices:

Notoriously secretive graffiti artist Banksy may have sprayed his latest work in the Sussex town of St Leonards.

Sunseekers in the area spotted a spraypainting of a child building sandcastles with advertising for Tesco drawn over them.

Banksy was thought to have been in the area for the birthday of fellow artist Ben Eine. (You're right, I have no clue where that is. And I live in Sussex.)

Humm.. Here's a link to Ben Eine. He sprays canvases of Care Bears. I'll let you decide..

And here's a link to an article about one of Banksy's most striking moves. Worth looking at. There are lots of pictures, like I promised.

Ireland

Today a stranger restored my faith in old ladies. She was just the type of woman I wanted to take home and adopt as my grandma; with a warm Irish accent and a kind heart. Who wouldn't want this lady to be their nanna? We talked a little about how she had loved living in South London before her lonesome move to the country, and I tried to stand on a long piece of plastic that had latched onto her tights, trailing behind her as she shuffled along. At the risk of the whole operation going wrong and ripping a giant ladder in some sweet old lady's tights, I decided to just tell her and we laughed loudly after her slow assessment of the plastic tag-on.

Today in this stranger's home country (far from our laughter and in harsh contrast), a boy found a home-made bomb on the edge of his school playground and carried it to his teacher without losing his hands, legs or face. Because a few people want a war.

It makes me think of Donald Miller and what he writes about another well-known attack on innocence:

" I remember feeling hopeless at the death of truth and seeing truth as this whispering weakling in the corner, a wallflower, having no say in the global conversation, having no guts to step forth and negotiate peace. I got sick of the emotionalism, the feelings that replaced the thoughts... we were living on sentimental cliches. Our country had become a team and we were wrapped up in whether or not we were going to win the game against them. It was like the World Cup, except with guns..." (Miller, p 77, Searching for God Knows What)

Miller talks about how war is complicated and ugly, about our need for compassion. In a book written around A.D 60 it says: I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true,

noble,

reputable,

authentic,

compelling,

gracious - the best, not the worst;

the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together for good, will work you into his most excellent harmonies...

I don't mean to be heavy, it's just been on my mind. Thanks for reading. I promise next time there will be more pictures ;)

Some snaps from the studio this week.

Erik Otto and the love of found throwables.

One of my favourite creatives is artist Erik Otto, who spends his time making things out on the West Coast, California. I was fortunate enough to see some of his work first-hand in New York last year, when me and my travelling accomplice made our way to 191 W. 4th Street, to hunt out Charming Wall. Charming Wall is a gallery which hosts imaginative, illustrative work by a host of creatives. Many of them are self taught, which in this case, works out to be rather pleasant. They have an equally charming website, which is worth looking at even if you can't stand art or artists and have no idea why you are still reading this blog. Go ahead and enjoy yourself.

It was in this little gallery that I stood so close to Erik's creations, I wanted the wall to swallow me up so I could somehow enter his world of floating houses and rain clouds. I probably wouldn't stay there for long, but still, there's something about finding things and re-creating them to have a new purpose that is irresistible.

Some of these thoughts perpetuated my mind during the third year of my degree. I began to think about the passing nature of everything we can see and touch and claim to have ownership over, that passes through our hands as our bodies eventually pass through this world. Everything we see is transient. Which means that this place does not exist just for me, and "reduce, re-use, re-cycle" is annoying because it's inconvenient and no one likes being told what to do. However, this air of consciousness, the desire to make something bigger than me, plus my student status, resulted in the making of Le Rubbish out of cardboard, newspaper, bubble wrap, crockery, paper bags, milk bottles and, of course, paint. etc. Here are some images of said collage in the Sofa Gallery at IU, 2008.

The beginning of Le Rubbish in the studio.

Sofa Gallery BFA Painting exhibition 2008.

A close up of Glenn's pretty face.

I forgot to mention that oil paint is carcinogenic. And after painting in a closed space for a little while today, I actually thought a lady in my yard had a badger head instead of her own. For a brief second. Let's move on...

This winter, me and dad fixed up a space in the barn to make it into more of a "studio". Here is the first painting to come from the barn: Papillio in Flight, 4x4 ft, oil on board. And here's a little close-up.

The sight and smell of paint is enough to excite any artist. Fresh, gooey, untamed, uncontaminated, voluptuous, unspoilt. The thought might even kick the salivary ducts into action and induce a little dribble. We all agree, paint is a wonderful thing. (And if you're like me, you might also have a soft spot for stationary). The trouble is, what to do with it once it's been birthed from the tube from wence it came, and there's no going back..

So here are some of my stories and images (for the picture-book "readers" among us) about my relatively new, but notable, involvement with paint. And paper. And plasticine.

*PLUG* For a little nibble at previous creations, check Paint and Paper at www.annaleamay.co.uk *END PLUG*

Thanks.. stay tuned