Interview with Worthing Art

I was really happy to give an interview to this group of talented people. Check out their pages at worthingart.wordpress.com

Life Classes at the Heene Gallery

The life classes are going really well with great feedback, in a scenario where I have not advertised as "word of mouth" seems to be doing all the work!
Some really great pieces of work being produced across a broad range of personal styles.
The second costume life night was inspired by the folk- lore world of Arthur Rackham's illustrations of fairies.
Our wonderful model for the evening was o.k. with the bracken, ivy and vines - and with wearing the large tissue fairy wings!
The reference photos I took turned out really grainy for several reasons - mainly that I forgot to alter the low res format from a previous shoot. Still, kind of adds to the mystery.

Marcus Finch - "Alchemy? (Or Raku?)

Marcus Finch becomes an "alchemist" when he produces "raku" ceramics, creating lustrous metallic surfaces from glazes of "purest green".

Whether in 3D form or 2D, the works have loose landscape paintings showing the interaction between trees and the moon, sometimes with a recurring theme of the crow.

Below is a detail of "Chanctonbury and the Elusive Crow", which fired higher than planned but produced a greater array of colours

LIFE CLASSES IN WORTHING

Sometimes in life you get a perfect opportunity. I've been teaching life classes at Northbrook College for a few years now and love every minute of it.

Then an ex-colleague (John Stanley- Clamp) 'phones me up and offers me taking over his Tuesday night class at the "Heene Gallery".

It didn't take long to decide -- "Yes please".

SO - I've just finished my first 5 week block with a number of his previous students and contacts from my own classes. It's been going really well and the period flint and brick hall is a joy to hold classes in.

So much so, I'm already nearly at capacity for my second 5 weeks.

I decided to make each 5th week a "special" with a costume life theme. Last week we had the wonderful "Frankie" http://frankiecluney.weebly.com as our model in a fantastically authentic Toulouse Lautrec period "Burlesque" costume with stage up-lighting (See photo) Thanks Frankie for all the effort you put in to the costume, hair and make-up.

"Frankie - Burlesque"

Currently Exhibiting

Really pleased to be one of "The Invited" artists exhibiting in the current show till February in the main upstairs gallery at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery.

It's a really professional looking show with a broad range of work. Particularly notable are my friend Teresa Martin's sculptures - she's done some amazing pieces this year and continues to be an inspiration to her students.

I have a case of Raku ceramics on show and am working on some prints and mounted originals for my new browser.

Chanctonbury - Stormy Night

Turquoise Trees

Dragon's Egg

Dragons Egg

It's well worth a look - I have to get some more work together to replace the sold items - pyromania follows shortly!

Printing Fun - Drypoint

I enjoy working with texturing tools with clay and have found pleasing similarities with basic printworking. DRYPOINT  also brings back fond memories of some of my first pieces of artwork created with "British Scraperboard".
With any new genre it goes a lot easier if you know some of the "tricks of the trade".
Using water based printing ink, I had initial problems with fast drying. even with damp paper . Inking up a perspex plate was very tricky and yielded only partial results - frustrating in a group situation!

The answer was just one drop of washing up liquid in the small amount of ink used - plus a rounded nuffing pad to take off excess ink in circular motions - so as not to lift out ink from incised lines,

Damp paper dabbed off to an even finish was ideal for lifting a print. I love the individual character of these prints - with each inking up there are more possibilities.

LINO

Having been inspired by printmaking from several sources -namely Maxine Prescott, and my dear friend Jonathan Howlett (not to mention the works of John Buckland-Wright),

this is my first attempt at a linocut (modern synthetic) printed by hand with water-based inks.. I'm pleased with the result and with the experience in which I have learned how to approach the next.

The theme is my beloved Chanctonbury Ring (again).