Body of Paint - A Meeting

Opening tomorrow at Create@salford is an exhibiton of new work by the french artist Thibaut Thorez.

Thibaut has a history of working in Salford. He studied during his Masters degree and more recently took part in the three way international exchange project Terra Cruda, Terra Cotta.

The preview is Tuesday at 6pm and the exhibition is showing for two weeks.

I can't wait to see what delights there are in store. I'll report back when I've been.

http://terracrudaterracotta3.blogspot.com/p/academia-di-belle-arti-macerata.html

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New exhibition at Ebor Studios

Today Harry and I went to the preview of the new exhibition at Ebor. It's a collection of beautiful and sensitive mixed media and textile pieces by the adorable Sue Dunbar.  

The show is on until the 28th of October and is open by appointment and is well worth a visit!

Contact either the studio or me for access.... It's always lovely having visitors.

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Ebor open studios

The open studios at Ebor were a roaring success. Unfortunately I could only be there for the Sunday due to a rather inconvenient family holiday. We had over 100 visitors during the weekend, every one an old or new friend.

There was an exhibition showcasing the work of all the Ebor artists. I showed my smoke fired gingerbread men. They're made to be shown along the skirting board around the bottom of the room. There's currently about a dozen.....but 'd like to fill the whole room.

During the weekend there was also the opportunity to take place in a new project by artists Paul Haywood and Maxine Kennedy. Colouredge are researching the local landscape with the aim of designing a bespoke selection of colours and hues. This exploration will capture the daily diversity of the colour landscape and harness the rich natural and social heritage of the town. They intend to produce a colour palette and swatch that will reflect on the identity of Littleborough on the Pennine Edge.

http://www.eborstudio.co.uk/

http://www.colouredge.org/

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Open studios at Ebor

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Unit F14

Today, I have had half a day off from making my installation for the upcoming Creative Hive exhibition.

Despite the torrential rain and hailstones as big as marbles, I have been to Salford Quays to see a couple of exhibitions.

Unit F14 is a group of Salford contemporary artists exhibiting in the pop up gallery Create@Salford. The gallery is an unoccupied shop in the Lowry outlet Mall, currently being used to showcase projects connected with the University of Salford. Particularly beautiful are the resin bound works of Nadia Peters and the altered books of Kate Bufton. The pieces share a similar sensitive aesthetic that weaves a narrative throughout the show.

As I was within throwing distance of the Lowry Centre (and it would be rude not to) I nipped across the plaza to have a little look. I always think it's a bit of a hidden gem. They have some really big name exhibitions without the same level of publicity (or visitor numbers) of some other local establishments. 

I was really surprised to find out there is a Warhol exhibition showing, 'Warhol and the Diva'. A series of photos, silkscreens and videos depicting his 'divas' - Marilyn, Liza Minelli, Warhol himself in drag et al. I have to admit to being a little disappointed. The show is thin and repetitive with few points of interest. I'm also not crazy about the gallery walls covered in leopard print and painted shocking pink. I understand the curatorial strategy, I just find it a little contrived.

Rather more impressive were the photographic portraits of Nadav Kander. Now I'm not one for celebrity portraits and if I'm honest I didn't recognise more of the subjects (although I did pick out the Take That team as Mark Owen and I used to study together). Apart from the subject matter, the portraits are striking. I was particularly drawn to the honest depections in black and white of Christopher Lee and Ian McKellan.  I am less sure about the re-interpretation of Ophilia with the naked model whose name escapes me. I didn't understand the relevence of the nudity as I'm certain that Millais's Ophilia was clothed.

Overall I'd say the score was 2-1 to unit F14....

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Ebor Studios Littleborough

I'm delighted to have moved into Ebor Studios in Littleborough and I can't wait to start working alongside the fabulous talented artists who are already established there.

Check out the web site for all the details http://www.eborstudio.co.uk/ and if you're passing, please call. I love having visitors and you;d be more than welcome. 

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Terra Cruda Terra Cotta

“Terra Cruda, Terra Cotta”

The School of Art and Design at Salford University, Accademia di Bellle Arti Macerata, the University of Art and Design in Cluj Napoca and the University of Macerata Università di Lettere e Filosofia, Dipartimento di Lingue Moderne collaborate on a project entitled "Terra Cruda, Terra Cotta".

An exhibition of the students work towards a public art proposal for Salford will be shown at Create@Salford, our gallery in the Lowry outlet at Salford Quays. The exhibition will preview from 3.30 until 5.30 on Wednesday the 25th May.

Join us there if you can.

http://terracrudaterracotta3.blogspot.com/

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Plaster bricks 2009

Having a spring clean of the hard drive I came across these works I made a couple of years ago.

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Convulse byTeresa Wilson

This lovely exhibition is perfectly situated in the basement of the artist's home in Levenshume. The venue is a true reflection of the creativity shown by artists determined to expose their work in difficult times.

Teresa Wilson is a textile and installation artist exploring the territory between sculpture, poetry and theatre.

Powerful and disturbing human puppets create claustrophobic environments where private dramas take place.  Made from old rags, and recycled materials, the work refers to the past, gently suggesting stories to the viewer of uncanny happenings, memories, and past traumas.

This new work 'Convulse' retells a true story of Irish Immigration, hardship and cruelty, to coincide with Manchester Irish Festival.

The work is an installation of a family of puppets in an enclosed room. This clever curatorial strategy manipulates the veiwer beyond the voyeuristic to the level of intruder into the most intimate and private of moments, the death of a loved one.  The emmotive environment is suggestively lit to promote this atmosphere of discomfort and anxiety.

I found this new work powerful in its ability to disconcert. As always with Teresa's work, the craftsmanship and attention to detail is meticulous. She also has the enviable ability to fill in the gaps in a story that cannot be communicated by words alone. As a direct result of this show Teresa has been asked to show at the Barnaby Festival in Macclesfield in June 2011. I for one can't wait to see the next installment.

More of Teresa's work is available at her web site http://www.teresawilson.co.uk/

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(G)love

I'm in a bit of a quandry.

The lonely glove project has been running since 2008. I've collected in excess of 80 lost and lonely gloves, washed them, labelled them and kept them safe since then.

Just recently I've had a couple of people contact me and 'donate' gloves they've found. I'm now a little bit sceptical about accepting other peoples findings. Would this make the artwork less 'mine' and does it matter anyway? I never intended the work to become interactive. Part of the point of the collection for me was that it showed a very personal journey. There are gloves from all over the country, places we've visited/played/shopped/holidayed and a high concentration from where we live and particularly the journey to and from school.  

What do I do?

For the time being I'm accepting the donations and treating them with the same care I would my own findings. I'm keeping a note of the finder on the label and I'm still logging them on the Lonely Glove site  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-lonely-glove/175942519085349#!/pages/The-lonely-glove/175942519085349

Part of me wants to say 'get over yourself you pretentious arty type, let everyone join in the fun'. The other half (the pretentious arty part) doesn't want to dilute the original idea.

The collection is looking good now. It's been going on long enough to prove (to myself at least) that I'll pursue it endlessly. Maybe it's time I looked for a gallery willing to show the work? If anyone knows someone who knows someone....please, give me the nod!

It's getting towards the end of the glove collecting season, the latest one I've ever collected in the past is very early April......more to follow in the autumn. 

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More fire

Despite a minor attempt at a hangover I've had quite a productive day.

I've managed to submit a pledge to Manchester Artists' bonfire http://manchesterartistsbonfire.blogspot.com/ where each work of art will be burned on the bonfire making us reassess our attitude to what we do.

I also managed to fit in a very productive (if tragically short because of my cold ears) walk. Three Gloves....woohoo http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-lonely-glove/175942519085349

Pledge and artwork details:

In our house with a high boy:girl ratio there is a tendency towards the pyromaniacal. We even have a place in the garden for fires that’s used more often than is strictly necessary. It’s a very masculine pursuit, the male of the species having a preprogrammed, unhealthy obsession with flames. I mean, why is it the summer barbeque is the Man’s domain when they don’t even have a word in their language for toaster?

Privately I have to admit to an element of fascination myself. The way the flames eat away at all the organic elements they touch leaving little but an occasional nail and some whitish/grey ash. As an inherent tinkerer and occasional potter, I’ve had the opportunity to exploit the properties of some of these (honest Mum, there’s loads of leaves to burn) fires. The thought process being something along the lines of ‘I wonder what would happen if.......?    

My recent major project ‘all the things I watched my Mother do’ reveals an extension of some of these ideas http://www.the-hive.org.uk/hive/myhive/view_list.php?uid=38&u=mummytait&type=project

The outcome of this performance leaving a number of artworks in the smoldering ashes, one of which is currently displayed as part of The Bryans Suite exhibition inside Islington Mill, just yards from the bonfire. The similarities of the occasions have just proved too difficult to resist...so therefore:

I propose a box of unfired clay butterflies.

Make up your own phoenix analogies.................... 

 Come along to the Bonfire next Friday at this terrific venue. http://www.islingtonmill.com/

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Images from the firing

Here are some images from the kiln firing.

 For more information see my projects page http://www.the-hive.org.uk/hive/myhive/view_list.php?uid=38&u=mummytait&type=project

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The Bryans Suite exhibition

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how to drive a potters wheel

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Lonely glove update

It's very early in the season yet but I've already found three or four gloves to keep and catalogue and cherish.

I've spent a good deal of the afternoon photographing the entire collection and making a new facebook page. 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-lonely-glove/175942519085349

Please check it out and join me if you can.

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Fired Up - Gallery Oldham

This little gem of an exhibition very nearly slipped under the Mummytait radar. I only found out about it the Friday morning before we went on half term holiday on the Saturday.

Naturally I dropped everything and high-tailed it over to Oldham for (slightly more than) a couple of hours. Admittedly I did abandon the packing. It's also true that the boys ended up on holiday without a pair of trunks between them and had to wear shorts in the pool until we sourced something more appropriate.....BUT, it was worth it.

I think of myself as a sculptor rather than a potter but I have to admit to feeling a special affinity with clay. I love the way that ceramic art hovers over the line that separates high art from craft. Add a further political dimension and I had found an exhibition of multiple layers. I'm also grateful for the validation of my own practice that is always in question. 

As I immerse myself in belief systems of a more gentle, domestic nature the political dimension was secondary to other elements of the exhibition. I was more intrigued by the use of recognisable imagary that engaged the viewer whilst denying any sense of elitism.

The artists showing are Claudia Clare, Stephen Dixon, Paul Scott, Peter Lewis and Emma Summers. In the remote event of this being read by one of the others, no offence, but Stephen Dixon is always my favourite.

http://www.galleryoldham.org.uk/fired_up

Get there if you can....but do the packing first!

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Autumn colours

I've been to the hairdressers for my autumn colour. I hate hairdressers because they make you sit still for so long. But sitting still and thinking made me realise how close it is to the firing of the paper likn at the end of November. I've just updated my project about the firing if you'd like to see where I'm up to

http://www.the-hive.org.uk/hive/myhive/view_list.php?uid=38&u=mummytait&type=project

Now I'm off to the garage (where it's freezing) roll cut out a couple of hundred jigsaw shaped pieces.

P.S. I'm loving all the new work beoing posted on here...keep it coming!

Angela  

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October chaos

I'd be really grateful if someone could lend me a few hours.

Four weeks ago I started a two year PGDE that's running alongside my MA in Contemporary Fine art. It's a bit of a culture shock after being at art school for seven years. It's all very wordy and rigid with little tolerance for creativity. As an ex banker I can do paperwork........ but I don't have to like it!

Today I found out I've got my teaching placement on the Visual Art degree course at Salford. I'm delighted, partly because I was really hoping for a University placement but especially becuase I've been studying there for five years already and know most of the staff quite well.  

Wish me luck!!!

Now I've just got to blag some free parking there and find someone to pick up my boys from school on Fridays. 

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Maternal poetry

Circles of learning

All the things I watched my Mother do,

like making pastry and putting up curtains.

How I wish she'd worn more makeup.

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Advert for art school

I has long been my opinion that everyone should have to go to art school. A bit like cultural national service. 

I'll give you an example. Yesterday was assessment day. Now to most Post graduate students that's an opportunity for maximum stress levels and caffiene fueled sleepless nights. For me, it was just another day of fun.

The title of the module being assessed was presentational strategies and the basic intention was to 'expose (present) a part of your practice that usually remains unseen'. I had already handed in my presentation, a series of blog entries and projects within a creative online community (recognise it?), so I had the whole day of experiencing other people art.  

I'd been looking forward to the casting workshop. I've done a fair amount of life casting in the past. When Zach was about four I cast his whole back from his neck to his thighs. I used this mold to cast in ceramic, plaster, glass and cement, I even made a stone carving  that still lives in our garden. Todays workshop was run by Alex Molyneaux and his idea was to explore the theme of being trapped or enclosed.  He wanted to make the participants experience this sensation by casting their faces, a process that involves having the whole face (including eyes and nose) enclosed in a casting medium and breathing through a short straw.  When the time came for volunteers there was a deafening silence...can you think why? The thing is, I need to be involved in everything so I'd already said I'd do it and assumed everyone else would want a go. So that's how I (and another 'willing' volunteer) found myself lying on my back on a plastic bin bag on the cold floor of the studio with a straw in my mouth and about a dozen people watching.  The casting medium was alginate, a substance dentists use to make casts of teeth. It's a powder that mixes with water and goes off in two or three minutes into a flimsy rubbery cast. The thing about liquid alginate is that it behaves like...well a liquid. Which means it runs, and as it goes off so quickly it has to be put on rapidly.

Imagine the feeling of being enclosed in a cold liquid that engulfs your face, running into your nostrils, over your eyes and down into your ears. My heartbeat went through the roof and my body demanded breath beyond the capacity of the tiny straw. The only way to deal with the shortage of oxygen is to override your bodys natural reactions and artificially slow down your heart rate, a bit like being underwater and seeing how long you can hold your breath. Very quickly my pulse returned to normal, possibly a little lower even as I concentrated on slow shallow breaths.  My mouth was dry as I found it difficult to swallow with my nose completely covered. I was aware of the cold floor and the sounds around me. I could hear the conversations in the room and Alex as he gave instructions to his helpers. I couldn't hear my own breathing but throughout I was concious of the hiss of breath from Ben next to me as he breathed through his little straw. It's fairly unusual for Ben and I to be in the same room and neither of us talking.

After the alginate solidified, wet plaster bandage strips were applied to give the cast some rigidity. Eventually it was time to be released. I really wanted to tear the cast from my face and take big lungfulls of air. Two reasons I didn't do that. One, it would ruin the cast and two, everyone was still watching and it would be grossly uncool! 

Thankfully there is no photographic evidence of this experience. By the time I'd finished I had big globules (is this a real word?) of blue alginate in my hair (and ears) and my neck and top were covered in wet plaster.

Alex has been working on rationalising the casts he's making into a sculptural form. If you want to see the pictures they're at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/23119500@N07/

The rest of the day was just as interesting if slightly less messy (apart from the incident with the spilled tea, but at least it washed the plaster off my top!!). I made a sound art piece with a handheld fan and a couple of lilt cans; experienced an artwork that overlapped with social engagement into missing people and was lead in a meditation based on the four elements.

See what I mean about national service? My understanding of the world is richer for having these experiences. If I were in charge I'd make it compulsory.

Angela

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Wednesday = sometime last week

To tell you the truth I've spent most of the day writing one of the projects and yesterdays blog. Instead I thought I tell you about something that happened last week.....

I like to make art every day. Last friday I had no idea how to fit it in. I had one of those perpetual lists that adds two things to the bottom as you cross one off the top. I decided to document my day in terms of another list and started to diarise everything I did.

Now before you read this please remember not all days are like this. I am not trying to prove how busy I am. It was just one of those days...

12.30AM Up with Harry, he has cramp in his stomach muscles. Growing pains?

1.30 up again, seems to settle this time.

7.15 Wake. Harry seems fine, already putting on his uniform for school. Shower, dress, hair.

8.00 Breakfast

8.15 Mop kitchen floor and wipe down kitchen.

8.30 School run

8.50 Parents assembly. seven of us there this week, good turnout.

9.30 Walk Year four down to swimming at the High school and get roped in to teaching the swimming class on the last friday of term. How the bloody hell did that happen? I'm only a parent/governor.

11.00 Walk back to school and then back home via Bob the butchers.

11.40 Washer on, make and eat lunch.

11.55 Check internet shops for sales...none...quelle surprise!

12.10 Clean all hard floors and both bathrooms.

12.55 Washer out and in again. Dryer on.

1.10 Read article for University module and take notes.

1.30 Clean out rabbit hutch and arrange for someone to feed him whilst we're on camp this weekend. Water veggies in greenhouse, Empty bin in pottery and tidy up a bit.

2.00 Admin - Health insurance, scouts, Mortgage statement, emails.

3.20 School run.

3.50 Run Zach to high school for trampolining.

4.10 Cut Harrys hair.

4.30 Sewed up loose hem on Harrys school pants for band this evening.

5.00 Zach home, make tea, clean shoes (also for band), sort washing.

5.30 Sit with boy whilst they eat tea.  

6.15 Run boys to Gracie Field theatre where they're playing in Rochdale Music Festival celebration concert.

6.55 Make our tea, eat it, finish packing for cub camp in the morning (we're all going, who thinks that's a good idea?)

8.00 Back to Gracie Fields to pick up. They're mega late out so hang about talking to my ex deputy headteacher about our boys (he has grandsons).

9.00 Home, supper, bed for boys (fair amount of procrastination tonight)

10.00 Wish I hadn't given up drinking until the holidays. Watch recording of ashes to ashes.

11.00 Bed

Now, that's all very well having a list but what do I do with it? Is it an artwork in its own right?  Or is it simply research? A bit of both I guess.

More tomorrow... (did you know that three dot in a row like this is called an ellipsis? I don't quite use them in the right context, but you take my point. You never know when you might need that piece of information in a pub quiz!)

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Tuesday = like other peoples friday

Tuesday...To all you normal folk out there it's a non-day. Not the dreaded Monday, the blissful Friday or the lazy Sunday. For me it's an opportunity to step out of domesticity and into a parallel world. You see Tuesday is University day. A chance to wallow in the library, talk about art all day or, in the case of today, eat cake.

Next week I have my penultimate assessment for my two year MA in Contemporary Fine Art. In a nutshell I have to, 'expose a part of my practice that is usually hidden'. The responses to this can be as diverse as an exhibition, a workshop or a video presentation.  Now, choosing something hidden about my practice won't be difficult. I work alone in my home studio, I keep a very private journal of my thoughts about my practice and recently I have withdrawn from discussing underpinning theory and handed over much of the interpretation to the viewer.

As much of of my thinking goes on in a diary type format I have been meaning to write a blog for some time (it's about number 1064 on my list of 'keep meaning to'). So when this opportunity came up to reveal just as much as I choose, it was too good to miss. 

Over the next week I'll be blogging quite a bit. I want to show you the complex way in which my art is woven into my 'real' life. I'll also be posting projects to give a feel of how I work and maybe even where.

During the day today we've had a visit from Tim Dunbar (painter and former lecturer at MMU, look him up). He's heavily involved in the Tatton Biennial http://www.tattonparkbiennial.org/ and came to talk to us about it. It's the second event of its kind there and the theme is Framing Identity. Tim brought pictures of the works that have been installed at Tatton Park. I am particularly looking forward to seeing  Austin Holdsworths fossilisation machine. Using complex chemical reactions he intends to fossilise a pineapple over the five months of the Biennial. It immediately reminded me of Wim Delvoyes (from memory, Belgian dude who tattoes pigs??) 'Cloaca Machine' that mimicked human digestion and produced artificial faeces. The reproduction of a natural process that blurs the boundaries between art and science links these two artists, although I'm guessing they'd argue this point. All that's very exciting, but the thing I enjoyed the most about the installation of this monstrous machine was the way it was positioned on the estate in between the greenhouses where the pineapple has been grown. I like the way the machine complements the architecture whilst remaining both sculptural viable and productive. http://www.tattonparkbiennial.org/detail/3067/

As always with cheerful Tuesday I've come home to reality. I am greeted today by Mother and Father in law, youngest son having a sneaky play on the computer (cat's away and all that) and an older son who's slightly tearful because it's SATs week and he thinks he's screwed up the 'short English task'. There's also a couple of emails and a phone call requesting personalised ceramic hearts (I make them to sell, proceeds partly fund my tuition fees and materials). There's also my weekly fix of homemade bread (courtesy of MiL) which I have to taste with some real butter and marmite, just to make sure it's not poison you understand. Following all this is a frantic bathtime and bedtime, tea and............... peace.

Yesterdays episode of 24 and bed...goodnight.

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Monday = Washday

Odd socks are the bain of my life...not much of a life I hear you say, but then you're reading this!

I've done five loads of washing this morning. Three coloureds, one whites and a delicates. Only three odd socks this week, not a bad result , but none of them match any other in the basket I keep soley for this purpose.

There is something mildly satisfying yet endlessly frustrating about this particular domestic ritual. Piles of clean clothes waiting to restock dwindling supplies in the wardrobe, followed, virtually immediately by an overflowing laundry basket. My personal defence against the unfairness of this constant repetition is to create something of permanence from its endless cycle.

Clothes have become an enduring theme in my Fine Art practice. In the past I've made wax crayon boots and latex underpants, plaster gloves and ceramic vests. I use them as symbols of motherhood and my own struggle with negotiating my two roles of artist and mother (I refer you good people to my range of concrete boots). Todays artistic adventure involved soaking all the odd socks from my basket in some white earthenware slip I have been saving for such an opportunity. As far as casting mediums go, I favour ceramic for anything textile based. I adore the way the  texture of the garment is captured without any part of the original remaining. The resulting cast has a ghost-like quality, permanent yet incredibly fragile. 

I doubt very much I'll stop at a dozen or so ceramic socks. I once made four and a half thousand white paper fortune tellers. For three months my hands were numb and I wore the prints off my index fingers. This type of obsesive repetition draws on the precident of hundreds of artists. One of my particular favourites is Liza Lou and her elaborately beaded installations taking months of ritualistic sewing. 

If you'd like your odd socks imortalising in clay donations will be gratefully received.   

More soon....

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