The Bauhaus: The Face of the 20th Century

History of Art Video Presentation

The Bauhaus was founded in Germany in the early 20th Century. During the 1920s it became the first model for modern art schools with curriculum combining theory with practical workshops drawing inspiration from the ideals of revolutionary art movements.

Artists and craftspeople were integrated to bridge the gap between art and industry. Recent technology was also incorporated rather than relying on more established modes of creating not only paintings but also sculpture,  interior and building design and branching into theatre and music.

Walter Gropius was the initial mind behind the Bauhaus which was not only the name of the movement but the school and building/s which he established. It was his plan to bring out of his experiences of the horror of war a better and more positive use of the “machine” for the betterment of humanity rather than it’s destruction. He used his utopian aspirations to build the art school and write his manifesto in 1919.

Apprentices as they were now called, would learn about their tools as well as the theory of art. Not merely copying from masters of the past, they were encouraged to be more creative in their thinking and didn’t have the limitations of any expectations of society binding their designs or materials. Colour theory, learning about form, shapes and texture were a basis of learning as well as using found materials where ever they could find them (as there was not a lot available at the time for artists to use). Because of this a different kind of student was attracted to the Bauhaus, many found it confronting as it was so different to the social norm of the time.

Artists we now know the names of, such as Klee and Kandinsky taught at the school. Johannes Itten who also taught there and was instrumental in creating the “preliminary course’ where his method of teaching was different from what had gone before in that he used various methods to get his students to relax and didn’t correct his students in a manner that might crush their creativity. He rather brought out common mistakes and corrected the class as a whole. He developed his version of the colour wheel and taught basic shapes to build up images and covered the basics of material characteristics, composition and colour.

In 1920 Oskar Schlemmer was invited to Weimar and the Bauhaus to run the mural-painting and sculpture departments at the School before he headed up the theater workshop in 1923. Oskar had a background in sculpture but was also an accomplished painter and was a very influential teacher at the school. He was interested in the figure and spacial relationships as shown in his work “Egocentric Space Lines’ and this theme was reflected in most of his works from paintings to theatre designs.

Josef Albers was the first graduate to teach at the school. He worked with glass and also designed furniture. He was teaching at the school along with artists such as Kandinsky and Klee, giving the preliminary course in 1923 and in 1925 promoted to professor. He had a keen interest in the use of colour, photography, worked with glass and even objects he found in the local dump. He also designed a typeface as well as furniture and household objects. In 1933 after the Nazi closure of the Bauhaus, he moved to the United States where he went on to train Robert Ruaschenberg of whom we have discussed recently.

A purpose built building was designed for the Bauhaus in Dessau where architecture became a major subject. All the fittings and furnishings were designed and made by the students and the building is still in existence today. Many other buildings were designed by Bauhaus craftspeople and artists during this period and the basis of the designs was spaces which were kind to the environment, could be quickly and easily built and were ergonomic and pleasant for people to live in. Even with the general acceptance in Dessau because of practices of  mass production and use of technology, the political problems of the time overtook the school.

Many of the teachers and students moved away from Germany to England the United States as the Nazi party took over Germany. The products they produced were still selling to a certain degree, but the views and lifestyles of many were not accepted and were becoming dangerous to express. The final home of the Bauhaus in Berlin ended up being nothing like the original and politics of the day twisted it from the idealist manifesto of it’s originator. It was here that the Bauhaus was again closed. By 1933 the Nazis were in control of the country and the 14 year life of the school was over.

The ideals and ideas of the Bauhaus however have never disappeared. As the teachers and students moved around the world and taught others, we can see new ideas about design, colour, architecture, theatre, music and even film. Chicago, which had suffered major damage due to fire has many classic examples of the influence of the Bauhaus movement. We see it in modern buildings and even in every day graphic design for posters and advertising. The chair you are sitting in may owe it’s design to the Bauhaus craftspeople.

The Bauhaus building is not in use as intended any more and the people have scattered, but all over the world we continue to be influenced by this important movement of the 20th Century.

Question: What do you consider are the significant legacies of the Bauhaus?

1. Minimalism: form follows function

2. Design and functionality

3. Incorporation of technology

4. Blending of discipline (EG: architecture with art)

5. Lack of restriction on artists by societies’ conventions

6. Artists now also trained as craftspeople

7. Introduction of glass and steel

8. As a foundation of technical education as we know it today

9. Architectural legacies in such cities as Chicago

10. Mass production was incorporated into design planning

11. The rise of the arts in the USA (new movements, styles and freedoms plus patronage)

Beyond the Self: Contemporary Portraiture in Asia

Nusra Latif Quereshi
at The McClelland Galleries 

Nusra was born in Lahore, Pakistan and holds a BFA, National College of Arts, Lahore, an MFA, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne and Lives and works in Melbourne. She has exhibited widely and has some impressive awards to her name. I knew nothing about her artworks before her presentation at McClelland but was invited as a new volunteer to start experiencing the various services that the gallery has for the public.

The demonstration and talk were based on a video slide presentation of Nusra’s work going back over several years. She has developed a distinct style of blending traditional art styles from her homeland with western art and modern digital techniques. Her talk backed up to the exhibition at the Melbourne Library for Chisholm of ornate hand made books from Persia and nearby countries which is covered in another blog in this site.

For one thing Nusra explained how Wasli paper was created. This material was in many of the books and artworks I saw in Melbourne and I had been wondering what it was and how it was made. Wasli is a traditional surface and has been in use for many hundreds of years, it consists of three to five layers of any type of paper which can take water that have been glued together and then burnished with anything shiny such as agate or glass to allow it to take on a shiny surface. The result is a very robust thicker paper that allows for very ornate work. The burnishing makes sure that there is no chance of bleed from any line work drawn or painted on it.

Nusra trained in the methods of creating this paper and has used it for very detailed work in gauche and ink. She likes to blend her training in traditional Eastern art with that of Western art for her own interpretations of historic and current events and her view on the world. She borrows from existing themes to put her own slant on them and her experience as an immigrant from Pakistan is an important part of her art.

Nusra also uses Illustration Board for many of her works as the creations of Wasli is very time consuming and she has other life commitments and needs to balance them with her career as an artist (as many of us do). She has also incorporated watercolours into her art and the use of cameras, scanners and computers with particular use of Photoshop for image manipulation.

The slide show consisted mostly of her blend of traditional and modern artworks on illustration board and Wasli. They had line works and blocks of solid colour, with various images overlaid, some using text in the style from her homeland to create a theme. Some were triptychs others diptychs or single artworks. She likes the use of “found images” that she can manipulate to create something new and often uses several of these to create one image.

Nusra produced prints of herself as a base with text over the top incorporating flowers and vivd colours working on a theme of women’s place in society and expectations of women today. What women should and should not be doing as far as society is concerned. Her artwork called the “Invisible Gun” had overlays of outlines of groups representing the four major religions in Pakistan flanked by simplified images of the implements used to hold up large rifles over a hundred years ago. These were all simplified to line and colour blocks. Vivid colours and fine outlines with planned design created a story with no violence or harsh images even though it told the story of division and bigotry.

Nusra has also photographed female relatives and used them with traditional portraits overlaid and merged digitally to create a long piece produced on clear acetate. The focus on the faces was to bring out the difference in time, society and culture. The female relatives often cover much of themselves to fit with cultural confines, but she noticed that they compensate by adding more and more to their makeup and in particular to their eyes to make them stand out. So she was pointing out that no matter how you make some women cover up they will still find a way to nearly yell out “look at me!” So she asked us the question, why bother, really!

Nusra’s latest work uses outlines of male figures with red blocked in hands overlaid. The theme is religions of the world and their impact on our lives. She has used found images and deconstructed them and applied her own creativity to give now meaning. At tis point she emphasised the naming of your artworks. It is of great importance that you think about how you name a piece, she said. When the artist is away from their work and it is left for others to look at it and start to give it meaning, the name you have will give them guidance on what your motivation was.

Nusra is still happiest when using traditional methods to create her artworks because of the wonderful effects and the ability to get such fine detail and quality finish. She also mentioned that these traditional methods were very environmentally friendly as they did not rely on any harsh chemicals. She followed with the fact that this was not always possible and having other methods such as the computer and software had given her new avenues to explore with her art.

I very much enjoyed Nusra’s presentation and it dovetailed with the exhibitions from the day before and answered several questions I had about the production of the books and artworks I had seen. She was a very knowledgable and personable artist, articulate and entertaining as well. It was a well spent hour at the gallery for any artist, art student or anyone interested in looking at and learning about well produced art.

If you are interested in looking at Nusra’s artworks they are on her website at: http://www.nusriqureshi.com

Ian Potter Gallery

University of Melbourne
Three Floors of Art for All

I have named this blog as I have because there was such a wide range of styles in this gallery. The ground floor had portraits done in a variety of styles by artists such as Sydney Nolan, Albert tucker and others. Most were of a modern style and some quite confronting.

Joy Hester’s faces reminded me of what my therapist asked me to do to help me get in touch with my unresolved stress and anxiety issues. Not really a happy place for me to return to. Other works by Judy Cassab were really lovely to look at. The eyes in particular were so full of character that I felt I had an insight into the personality of the sitter. Her use of colour was also very attractive for me. There were little highlighted object such as a ring or light on the cheeks that drew my attention.

On the first floor I was in my element with my “find of the day” a Frederick McCubbin painting “A Frosty Morning“. Colour all over the place and no detail anywhere. A landscape with colour showing through colour, paint on paint with such texture and big bold brush strokes added to subtle dashes, subtle light and shadow. I sat in the middle of the room and was pulled into this painting and felt calm, at peace and relaxed just looking at it. I kept saying “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful”.

I also found a lovely little water colour by William Turner, another of my very favourite painters. It looked like one of his sketches from his books. Soft, subtle, no real detail, and quick lines to depict any objects. I like Turner because I have learned from him that light is beautiful, colour can give emotion to a work and that you only need to put in just enough detail, not everything to make a painting.

There was also a wonderful Streeton painting of The Domes of St Marks which when you looked at it closely revealed that there was not a lot of detail either. There was implied detail, and such great use of light and shadow. Many parts were very simple lines. The very blue sky with the light building and shadows in the foreground gave this work so much depth I felt like you could nearly walk into it. There was still heaps of visible brushstrokes in the painting and it never looked like a photograph or an attempt to look like one.

I also enjoyed the Rupert Bunney painting, George Bell’s painting “The Visit” and the Yarra River painting by Buvelot. There was also a little painting by William Strutt called “Race For Life Black Thursday 1863”. It was a small oblong painting of a bushfire at night, and someone on horseback fleeing from it. It had simple colours – being a night scene, but there was so much movement and texture in the fire especially that I found I really liked it.

The third floor had very modern sculptures and I had a walk around but they held little interest for me, so I went back to look at the McCubbin some more. I would have liked to go into the pottery room but it wasn’t open yet.

Overall though, I liked this gallery, they also have an amazing leadlight window in the atrium going up through three floors with the staircase going up near it. It is the first thing you see as you walk in and it is both beautiful and striking. I commented to the attendant that the architect did a great job designing the building to house the window as he did, I loved it.

Only from the Heart Can You Touch the Sky

RMIT Gallery

The title of this exhibition is from quotes by Jalal-Uddin Rumi perhaps the most widely known Muslim poet in the world dating back almost one thousand years.

As you enter the gallery there is a copy of one of his poems which I have been given permission to reproduce here.
My thanks to RMIT Gallery (Credits: Hafez Shirazi, Ghazal 80. Translation by Shahriar Shahriari 1999)

Let not the pious judge the meek;
Each for his own deeds will speak.
Whether I’m good or bad, you judge yourself;
You reap what you sow, find what you seek.
Everyone is seeking love, sober or drunk;
Everywhere a house of love, yet so unique.
I submit my head on the tavern’s bricks,
If you don’t understand, just take a peek.
Let me keep my hope of eternal grace,
Behind the veil, who is good, who the freak?
Not only I fell out of virtuous path,
My father too, treaded that path oblique.
Hafiz, on your deathbed, bring the cup to your cheek.
You go from the tavern straight to heaven’s peak.

This exhibition included water colours including text, with washes and embossing to create an image or tell a story. There was a collage with silver on brown ink, non realist or figurative, but very striking as it drew my attention from across the room.

Another room contained photographs of people including children, in their homes and villages. They showed the ravages of wars and conflicts, and a lot of the sadness showed in the faces. The photos of the area where large statues of Buddah had been destroyed I found every upsetting both from a cultural and artistic point of view. I was upset when it first happened and it still upsets me to see the destruction today.

Amongst the sadness in the photos was the beauty of the craftsmanship in other areas in the form of paintings and objects. I watched one of the videos in the exhibition and although the meaning was a little obscure, it was beautifully filmed and I stayed to watch it to the end as I found it gave me new insight into another culture that I didn’t understand very well from a woman’s perspective.

Love and Devotion

Persia and Beyond
at The State Library

This exhibition was of beautiful hand created books from as long ago near 1100 AD. As many of the books were created many years before the printing press, they show masterful use of calligraphy and creation of hand made papers, inks, embossing, gilding, leather covers and binding.

Rather than having text and accompanying diagrams or pictures, everything is part of the whole for these books. The beautiful writing is as important and as much of a part of the artwork as the decorations and illustrations.

As I moved around the glass cases I noticed etchings in books done by tourists, from possibly the “Grand Tour” as it was called by those from Europe and England. There were also original books by Sådi (The Rose Garden) which contained hand painted images all around the pages with animals, trees, flowers and landscapes mixed together to create ornate patterns and incorporated the text.

Every part of each book was important, the bind of the covers, the inside covers, the edges of the pages – everything looked planned and an important part of a “whole” thing of beauty.

I noted that the illustration style did not use perspective or many other styles of western art. I saw similarities to Chinese and Japanese traditional art, where space, proportion and other techniques are not important. There was attention to detail but not as western culture would see it, but it was still very beautiful.

I have a friend who teaches calligraphy and enjoys creating artworks using it. As I walked around looking at each book, I could see that anyone interest in this art form would love these books and find much inspiration in them. As a visual artist with an interest in ancient history and books I enjoyed this exhibit for a few reasons. One was the rich colours, craftsmanship and attention to detail. Others were the quality of the workmanship in the binding, embossing and gilding on many books. The etchings in books created later were as fresh as many done done recently. The books were simply a feast for the eyes. Totally beautiful and I admire the training, the effort and thoughtfulness that must have gone into their creation.

I found this exhibition very uplifting after having just left the Five Themes venue and a talk by an Australian Artist which I attended the following day at McClellend Galleries dovetailed with it very nicely. The blog about that event will be in this site as well. The presenter was Nusra Latif Quereshi, who presented and spoke about her recent works.

William Kentridge Exhibition at ACMI

Five Themes

William Kentridge, born 1955, hails from South Africa and many of his works are based on the theme of Apartheid in his country and the failure of proper reconciliation after it was abolished.  This exhibition explores five primary themes in Kentridge’s art from the 1980s to the present.

William used stop motion video of his charcoal and pastel drawings to create stories in “motion”. He also used etchings and built sculptures using old books as bases of his 3 dimensional work. Later in his career he added theatrical presentations and stage building.

Some other works used mixed media, creating collages. He also erased areas of works to create his video creations, it was easy to see “ghosts” of the previous lines etc on the altered drawings.

My verbal notes cover his ability to render tone and light, and his ability to use perspective. I liked his tonal drawing skill and understanding of the human form and vivid expressions in his faces. Drawings are displayed along the walls to introduce the viewer to the video created from them, which was playing in a small darkened room nearby. Each video was accompanied by sound effects and music for further dramatisation but no dialogue.

The whole exhibitions was in darkened walkways and rooms with spotlights showing up the still works.

I took particular notice of one work which was quite large, called Captive of the City, a loosely drawn work with not a lot of detail which made me stop and ask what the story was behind the work, why is the man on the balcony, what is he looking at?

Another was a male figure holding up a large platform, the figure had form and tone and the weight on the man’s shoulders could nearly be felt. I liked the lighting and the depth in it.

Even though some of the notes next to the works were for children, I found myself reading them to promote myself to ask more of each work.

William Kentridge uses very little colour, there are only little splashes or lines of colour to seemingly accent something or as little highlights in drawings, the rest is all black or grey in mostly charcoal and pastel. His horse sculptures are not realist but seem to capture the spirit of the horse and still have movement and with bits “missing” I could still fit in the gaps.

Personal Thoughts

For me five themes were about two to three themes too many. There were so many drawings to look at as well as sculptures and videos that I could not allow time to look at everything for too long given the time we had on the day.

I also found that amount of darkness a bit overwhelming. After a while I felt I had to leave. I needed to get out into the light and the colour.

I looked at the security people working there and wondered how they stood being in there all day as it would send me nuts. An undertone of the negativity of human nature and lack of light and colour was too much for me to handle for too long. Even as I listen to myself trying to pull out understanding of each work and appreciation for the technical ability behind them, the sound effects in the background are making me want to turn it off.

In my verbal notes I made reference to Pink Floyd’s video “The Wall” just as I found it all too much and began to leave.

I made final effort to describe the image used in the advertising for the exhibition. I liked parts of this image showing the landscape in which the subject is set, which as I commented at the time, only confirms my love of landscape.

My final thoughts were of “so much black”, “so much darkness”, this is not a happy place and I am looking forward to leaving. Even though I admire the drawing skills of this artist, I could not sit and just look at his work for a long time like I could many other artists. I can not make any emotional connection to this exhibition at all.

Rosalie Gascoigne

Link

An Australian Artist Ahead of Her Time

Rosalie was born in New Zealand in 1917 but spent the majority of her life in Australia. She came from a family that had been well off but had fallen on hard times. Her parents separated when she was still quite young and even though her father returned to the family during her teens, her mother who was a teacher, it seems was the big influence in her early life, making sure that she and her sister got a university education. At this time it was unusual for girls to be highly educated so even though it was not the course of Rosalie’s choice, it was an advantage that many other girls at this point in Australia’s history did not have.

Rosalie’s mother had high standards even without the high income and that was reflected in what she expected of her daughters. This was however still within the social confines of the times, where young women were expected to marry, have children, run the home and a career as an artist was not considered seriously by many, but rather looked at as a “nice hobby”.

Rosalie talked about how she very much wanted to be liked but wasn’t the typical housewife. Her home near the observatory and near Canberra were not pristine, she didn’t really fit in with her husband’s associates and their spouses. She took on dry flower arranging, created and managed a big garden and took long walks to forage for bits and pieces to create unique pieces which were sometimes displayed in her home and which were often not understood by visitors. She also did the only formal training she ever had, which was with the Sogetsu School of Ikebana where such things as form, and  shape were introduced. She said she was often lonely and felt she was not an artist until she was over fifty years of age and had received some confirmation of her skills. Finally she was introduced to Phillip Mollison and later to Michael Taylor and after her works had been seen and appreciated, things got underway.

In Australia, in contrast to New Zealand, Rosalie at least felt a little less confined by the expectations of society than she would have had in her homeland of New Zealand. In Canberra Michael Taylor  helped introduce her to people who would get her art career seriously underway. She was asked later in life if success had ruined her, she replied that she didn’t think so, she knew that there is always someone or something better out there, so that feeling of being at your peak was not a consideration. She always had another hill to climb and she could always keep improving.

In her art Rosalie found a sense of control that she may not have had during a lot of her life, she matured into an artist who worried only about whether she was happy with her work and the opinions of others didn’t matter. Out of the randomness of nature she was able to create a new vision of the Australian landscape, totally unique to herself and not controlled or contrived by any body else.

Assessment Task:

1. Life Cycle of Artists:
   1.1 Consider what each stage contributes to our artistic output
   When we are younger we have the energy to put into anything we do
   We have to consider the pulls of peer pressure and the influence of family over younger people who may not have control over their time or life choices yet
   Family and work pressures can interfere or worse, stop a creative career especially once married with commitments, so it is not uncommon for some artists to start or restart a career later in life
   With maturity can come more patience, an ability to take the time to analyse better and not care about what others may think
   1.2 Appropriate activities for artists at different stages of their career/life
   A lot of younger artists are drawn in by social issues and want to say something about what they think is important
   Research and learning I think should be done in all stages of a career
   Establishing a style or method that you are known for can be done at any stage
   Networking with other artists and outlets for your art can be done at any stage in your life if you have the desire
2. Identify the different stages of Rosalie’s life/career
   Rosalie was first a daughter, a student then a wife and mother. I think she always had the artist within her, it was just not given the room to blossom. It is to her credit that she took any opportunity to do what she could to keep that skill and talent alive until later in life when she was able to begin doing more about it.
   In her mid life and later life after spending the time to look, learn (even if it was by herself) and experiment and then network she was given the opening to take her art to the next level and exhibit to become better known.
3. Identify differences between Rosalie’s use of found materials and that of Rauschenberg
   I think that Rosalie brings out more of the uniqueness of the Australian landscape. Her found objects seem to be less random and fit into her more structured designs
   Both did not have formal training but I think that Rosalie’s experiments and small amount of  training with the Sogetsu School of Ikebana and her experiments with dried floral arranging gave her a grounding for her work that makes it more appealing.
   Rosalie looked for content that would help her bring out the beauty of the Australian landscape and it’s openness. She talks about “emotion reflected in tranquillity” which I did not see in Robert Rauschenberg’s work.
   Robert Rauschenberg looked to be a more commercially oriented artist in contrast to Rosalie’s personal journey and pleasure from her work.
4. How did Rosalie’s work reflect national/regional identity?
   Rosalie was interested in reflecting the openness of her adopted country.
   Rosalie used very typically Australian colours that we expect to see in the countryside or bushland. She also used very iconic Australian materials such as corrugated iron and even old road signs.
5. How did Rosalie’s work reflect gender issues?
   Rosalie’s art gave her the freedom she didn’t have in much of her day to day life. She grew up in a time when the expectations of women in society were nothing like today. Options were limited. She was ahead of her time in wanting to have her own career in art and not be just “the wife” of someone.
   Rosalie started out working on a kitchen table and dining room table which may not have been acceptable for a male artist.
   Rosalie squeezed in her planning and productivity amongst the duties of wife and mother and seems to have had to compromise a lot.
   Rosalie didn’t have the support from her husband until late in her career so she would have been very lonely and feeling isolated not only physically/geographically but also mentally and emotionally I think that came out in her designs.
6. How did Rosalie’s work inform your own artistic practice? IE: How did you respond to it?
   I admire this women very much. She is from the same generation as my mother who I thought was brave to tell me to do whatever I wanted with my life and that I didn’t have to be a wife and mother to be successful but I could do whatever I wanted (this was during the early 1970s). She has confirmed in me the determination to follow through with my plans and dreams. She went back to her first love of art a little younger than me but I have the advantage of a totally supportive husband helping my training and business plans.
   Rosalie showed that there is an abundance of art around us if we open our eyes to look. We can take a walk and find inspiration anywhere. She also proved that it just takes one good connection or start on a “network” to get your art seen and some hard work and help can get you to the top if you have it in you to try.
   I also liked that she finally felt that other people’s opinions of her didn’t count. It was how she felt about her work and herself that mattered. I have discovered that more in the last few years after joining art guilds and starting my own networks and friendships with fellow artists and finally going back to training. I’m not weird, not an outsider – I was just in the wrong groups and taking notice of all the wrong people. It’s amazing how your life becomes clearer when you know you are doing exactly the right thing at the right time and you on the right path for you.

For more information about Rosalie go to the following link where another interview she gave has been transcribed. There is a lot more information about her life in this and readers may find it of interest. 

http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/gascoigne/interview1.html

Robert Rauschenberg

Video of an American based Artist

Robert started his life in a totally different direction, but around the year 1948 made a life change and began his serious study of art.

Growing up in a small industrial town was not condusive to the career of a fine artist but it was to have an influence on his art in later years. During the 1940s there was explosion of galleries and support for the arts in Europe and the USA as well as the growth of abstract expressionism. With all this going on around him, Robert developed his own individual methods and style.

Robert was not afraid to collaborate with other artists and work to inspire each other in producing work. He cultivated ideas with other artists and his range of materials soon became quite diverse. He began to combine paintings with found times using discarded “rubbish” off the street creating a meld of 2D and 3D – sculpture and painting. He combined dance, music and drama into his work and also did some interesting castings in glass of everyday items.

Robert also tried out screen printing showing events and social issues of the day. His thinking was more towards that of a citizen of the world rather than of just one country, a concern for all humanity not just one part of it.

A quote from him states: “I don’t think of myself as making art. I do what I do because I want to, because painting is the best way I’ve found to get along with myself.”

Another states: “The artist’s joy is to be a witness to her (or her) time in history.”

PERSONAL COMMENT

I can’t see long term value in found objects as they are likely to deteriorate quickly so can not connect with Robert’s style or methods especially with his use of bits and pieces off the street. We are told that if we are creating art that is “gallery quality” we must select the highest quality materials so that they will be able to last the test of long term display. It is also a type of artwork that I am not particularly interested in apart from having an ocassional experimental “play” with to “loosen up my mind and let out some creativity.”

I do like Robert’s creativity and willingness to follow his own path. I made a few notes about his philosophy in art and his own style:

He had a basic dislike for rules
He had early dyslexia and didn’t fit in at school
He held that being an artist was not a conscious decision
His art was a reflection of what was going on around him
He had a deep desire to escape the confines of his small industrial town upbringing
He needed to leave behind his strict home life
He wanted his art to go in totally new directions
He constantly questioned the nature of art. IE: what am I creating? Is art fleeting like life?

My final question: Can the exposure to all facets of art make me a better or more developed artist and person?

Digital Art

David Hockney Collages

I know we haven’t been calling them collages, but David does on his web site and I keep forgetting the other name! So here are my two attempts for Semester 1, 2012!

Number 1 is a walk through the campus to the courtyard outside C Block.

Number 2 is my husband watching the DVD of Transformers. He is usually so animated during movies I wanted to capture it!

Method

Both these documents were built using similar techniques.

1. Photographs were taken over a time period from ten minutes to one and a half hours.

2. Photographs were loaded on to the computer in iPhoto and sorted

3. Photographs were then saved into a folder in my training directory on my Mac for Digital Art Classes

4. Photographs were opened in Photoshop and a new document was saved to the size and dpi requirements for printing

5. Photographs were copied into layers and spread through the documents in a timeline fashion.

6.Various photos were treated with filters such as: Deep Etch, Art filters – Pastel Effects, Poster Edges, Watercolour. Layers were given transparency and drop shadows, a text layer was created. Some features were cut from pics and filters applied, and they were spread down the page to help with the “flow” from top to bottom.

7. Colour correction and lightening was applied to some layers

8. The file was exported as a PDF for inclusion into the blog.

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Drawing Classes Year 1, 2012

I have gone through my drawings from both drawing classes for the year to date and chosen some of my favourites to show.

The boots are from the Friday that our tutor was sick and we chose the subject from what we saw already done by the other class. The little dog is the pet of our life drawing teacher!

I have Photoshopped the pics but mostly only to crop them, the few exceptions have had background noise removed but have not altered the original drawing.

I hope you enjoy them.

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