Matisse, the Cut-Outs and sunny London Town

Friday morning and just time to plant some potatoes before we shoot up to Town to see the Matisse exhibition at Tate Modern 

Getting down to ground level and the plants that I miss on my trot up the garden path to the Shed are revealed - I had no idea that the wild strawberries had ripened . . . 

Feeling slightly pleased with myself . . . even though a touch late, but I noticed last year after our cold spell and very late start in the garden, that almost everything 'caught up' and nothing was wasted . . . so why not plant now?

I do have a control plant, this bed obviously (now) wasn't totally cleared and shows how far the potatoes would probably be if I'd planted at the recommended time.

Looking back over the millennium bridge, doesn't it look fab? and the graffitied chewing gum I saw in March is still in situ.

The anticipation grows as we approach Tate. One thing though, the queue inside for the Matisse is long, so if you don't have a membership card do book a timed ticket in advance.

The colours in the exhibition are astonishingly uplifting. 

Amphitrite 1947, is a series of small, gouache painted, sheets of paper with cut-outs layered over. Pin holes showing how each shape has been positioned and re-positioned. (Apologies for my poor photo from the book that accompanies the exhibition) 

The fact Matisse made combinations and re-combinations suggests to me an intuitive approach, coupled with a painstaking and arduous process.

But it gives rise to such a sense of vitality in his work . . . which is difficult to translate through these photos, so if you think you may be interested at all, do not miss it!

And the scale of so much is huge.

Women and Monkeys, 1952,

A particular favourite of mine, The Dragon, 1943-4, the colours sing. 

It doesn't translate into a different medium though. On the wall in the gallery it has 'life' the paper cut-outs convey a precarious, fragile existence . . . which drains away in the photograph.

The Heart, 1943, from the illustrated book, Jazz 

The Knife Thrower, 1943-4, from the illustrated book, Jazz

Christmas Eve, 1952, maquette for a stained glass window.

A visit to London is a great excuse to catch up with our youngest, so we stroll across to meet in Leicester Square. And while waiting, I take time to notice buildings I would usually just rush by in a hurry to be 'somewhere'.

Finishing off a fabulous afternoon with jasmine tea at the Cay Tre in Soho.

Watercolour at Tate Britain

If this clip of John Squire using watercolour is anything to go by, the Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain might well challenge our preconceptions of what watercolour painting is all about.

Watercolour also offers the chance to see rarely displayed works in all their glory, by artists ranging from J.M.W. Turner to Tracey Emin.

And the Tate runs guided exhibition tours on Fridays and Saturdays at 12:15, £5.00 per person, a maximum of 15 people and lasts for about an hour. Call 020 7887 8888 for information and to book a ticket.

Group visit anyone?

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/watercolour/default.shtm

False Unicorn

I've been working on ideas for a print for a portfolio exchange, organised by Guen Montgomery and Emmy Lingscheit (both studying at the University of Tennessee) titled Unicorn. 

But it feels as if I've been going around in circles and getting nowhere fast, and I'm unhappy with anything I've made so far . . . . . not a good place to be.

 Drawing and re-drawing, printing and re-printing arrrrgh . . . .

However, yesterday I popped up to the V&A to see the Birgit Skiold exhibition 

Zen and the arts of print: Birgit Skiold and Japan. 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/index.html

http://www.birgitskiold.com/

The exhibition doesn't give us a lot, but what it does show is very telling of her work, which is so beautifully pared back. She was a pioneer, both in furthering the status of printmaking as art and for the experimentalism of her work and (more importantly for me) her use of blind embossing mixed with other techniques. 

   

Over the past couple of years I've experimented more with blind embossing and de-bossing, and using it with other techniques at the same time, so it's useful to see examples where other artists have tried this too. 

And it prompted me to return to some ideas I'd started this print with.

So! back to the drawing board - or in this case the lino block.

Christchurch and Wellington

Images from the Ron Mueck exhibition at Christchurch Art Gallery, possibly the most visited show this gallery has ever hosted.

Love him or hate him? What to make of the hyper-realistic representation of humanity with his obsessive attention to detail?

I'm not sure I feel either love or hate, mind you Dead Dad still elicits feelings of poignancy. And for some unknown reason (maybe I see too much in the way of metaphor) I love, Man in a Boat.

Chris, however is Not keen. He appreciates the 'craft' inherent in the work, but the sculpture itself makes his skin creep.





















Wellington was definitely my favourite city on our travels. It's a fab place, lots of quirky stuff about the place, and so much going on.

If you're ever in NZ try and pay a visit, you'll be bound to find something you like.
























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Location:Wellington Urban Motorway,Thorndon,New Zealand

The Royal Academy and the British Museum, London

Monday and off to Town. 

I'm so glad that I made a commitment to a friend to see these exhibitions with her. I find it only too easy not to make the effort to get up to London, too much hassle with trains or parking (I know, I know!) 

First stop the Royal Academy. Since 1867 Burlington House has been the home of The Royal Academy, it's a magnificent listed building at the heart of London’s West End. And it looks impressive even on a cold, grey and wet Monday morning.

Then on to the British Museum. Both these exhibitions are worth seeing, but I especially enjoyed the Egyptian Book of the Dead - fascinating!

Ceiling rose in the entrance lobby

Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880 – 1900 at the Royal Academy.

No photography is allowed at the exhibition, this means I cannot show you much. You'll have to imagine the qualities of their work such as expressive brushwork, bold colour and decorative design or visit. For more details take a look at the website. 

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/glasgow-boys/

The British Museum and - A Journey through the afterlife. Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.


Again, photography's not allowed. Which means the images I can show you are from a couple of books I bought. 


Spells for eternity, The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, which although not the exhibition catalogue (quite expensive £45!) is informative and covers a lot of what's on show, and Food Fit For Pharaohs um mm not sure there is much reference material for this!?

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/book_of_the_dead.aspx

The Book of the Dead gave the dead person the knowledge and power to travel through the netherworld and enter the afterlife. The ritual of the Opening of the Mouth performed on the mummy of Hunefer, shown supported by the god Anubis (priest wearing a jackal mask). Hunefer's wife and daughter mourn.

The Book of the Dead made for Nesitanebisheru (who died around 930 BC) is over 37 metres long (really!) and is the longest known example. In the early 1900s it was cut into 96 separate sheets to make it easier to study, store and display. It contains a very large selection of spells, written in a precise hieratic hand and illustrated with exceptionally fine and very beautiful line drawings. 

While not the oldest of papyri on show, it has the most wonderful, deceptively simple ink line drawings. Judgement scene from the Book of the Dead of Nesitanebisheru.

Although they left no recipe books, we get an idea of what they ate from the wall paintings and offerings in their tombs. Ancient Egyptian houses were simple, so it's fair to assume their cooking facilities were also simple. 


Ice cream!!? in the days before freezers. . . . a bit of artistic licence maybe.