Blog

Expressive Watercolours workshop

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of running an Expressive Watercolours workshop for Birmingham Carers in partnership with Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. 

A lovely group of ladies (it turned out, although that's not a requirement!) enjoyed sometime playing with watercolour, salt, wax and gum resists.

I always love working with people and seeing the breath and individuality of the art each person has in them.

This group was a particular privilege to be with because of the respite it offered them from the caring work they do.

BMAG offer not only monthly session but tea and cake too - if you're a carer living in Birmingham and want to access the service then I think here is a good starting point : forwardcarers.org.uk

Website polish

Did you notice I'd spruced up the website? New, fresh work samples in the portfolios, updated text and more representational photos of me...i.e. older looking!

As any sole trader will tell you, there's a gazzillion things one could do with every hour of working time and for me the thing that slips is the website maintenance. But it's been worth all the slog as I think it looks great and just like any good clear up (once it's done) its been cathartic and satisfying.

Hope you enjoy it too.

Tablecloth

I have a ta-dah for you today - a tablecloth I hand-printed recently.

One reason I like to keep blogging is to record such things - when I looked back to see when I started my Fish project, I was surprised to see the date on the upload was May 2017. It takes a long time for some ideas to percolate and evolve and then actually get made.

You can find the beginning of my Fish sketchbook workings here and here although the actual inspiration came back in Summer 2016 whilst on holiday in France when I saw a lovely tablecloth in Fragonard.

I'm very lucky to have the best p/t job freelancing at MAC Birmingham the most brilliant arts center.

And sometimes I can use the space which I needed to for this big print job.

As you can see, the following day I wasn't so fortunate and was squeezed onto the floor of my studio at home!

It took about 20 hours to print using around 10 colours so I won't be going into production anytime soon but it's important to art-play as it releases surprising creative avenues.

And it did - 6 fishy themed surface pattern designs got designed last week to go to market. Now wo'betide anyone who spills red wine on it!

       

Protea

[caption id="attachment_11174" align="aligncenter" width="490"]  Protea_© Claire_Leggett[/caption]

A little painting inspired by the beautiful South African Protea via my local Marks and Spencers!

Women’s work – South African Contemporary art

I wanted to share a little of this awesome exhibition we saw at the South African National Gallery.

It successfully aimed to raise questions about what is 'fine art' and what is 'craft' and is there a difference and also what roles gender play in how we think about these.

[caption id="attachment_11162" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Quebeka Fine Art Bead Studio[/caption]

The C18th brought about the prestige surrounding the Fine Arts by the creation of Academies for study and these typically excluded women.

[caption id="attachment_11163" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Quebeka Fine Art Bead Studio[/caption]

Craft practices continued to be connected to everyday living due to their necessity but with no status or artistic value attached to them.

[caption id="attachment_11161" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Usha Seejarim Sequence City[/caption] [caption id="attachment_11160" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Usha Seejarim Sequence City[/caption]

Over time both art movements and the feminist movement questioned fine arts usefulness and the position of craft as a woman's practice and so craft and fine art began its journey of meeting in the middle.

[caption id="attachment_11166" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Hendrik Stroebel[/caption] [caption id="attachment_11165" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Hendrik Stroebel[/caption] [caption id="attachment_11164" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Hendrik Stroebel[/caption] The artists in this exhibition continue that journey of thought by showing their typically perceived 'fine art' thinking as social commentators but through the mediums of crafts which we usually write off as 'domestic'. [caption id="attachment_11159" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Tamlin Blake Taking Time[/caption]

Tamlin Blake's work is a great example of this: she dyes old newspapers and then weaves them into tapestry's which she says are the oldest form of storytelling, to get us thinking about the stories we read and their impact on us.

[caption id="attachment_11158" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Tamlin Blake Taking Time[/caption]

Pierre Fouche has drawn on the traditional crafts of  sailors knots, macrame and lace making to create this art piece.

[caption id="attachment_11157" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Pierre Fouche[/caption]

All in all it was a visual feast, and both inspiring and thought-provoking. Hope you enjoyed a little peak too.

Lionel Davis

When we stayed in Cape Town, South Africa we visited the The South African National Gallery where we discovered the exciting work of Lionel Davis.

Lionel is a self-taught artist having discovered his artistic creativity at the age of 41 through contact with a local community arts programme.

I think this exhibition was a retrospective of his life and work thus far.

It's his experimentation with all kinds of media and the joy of his discoveries and makes his work appealing to me.

I don't know about you but I often get stuck in my own groove of using certain techniques and mediums but it is refreshing to see a portfolio of work that plays with different approaches and methods.

It reminds me to keep trying new things.

But his work is not just attractive to the eye,  it plays a real part in channelling and expressing his social activism, his cultural views and in depicting life as he sees it in South Africa.