Kurt Jackson at Messums

On the day I  went to London for the Peter Sacks exhibition, I also popped into Messum's ( where I saw the David Tress) for the current Kurt Jackson exhibition: Olive and Fig:Provence.  We had a fig tree in our previous garden  but it only ever produced a few underwhelming fruits, nothing like the luscious qualities  of these. 

 I preferred the depictions of the fruit to that of the trees themselves as they had a more abstract quality  and were so well observed. Of the  tree paintings I like the mystery of the one below ( and how he uses text to  describe what he sees and hears ) , it reminded me a bit of Samuel Palmer. 

The studies  of many figs  carried out in different media , reminded me of the '100 Mussels' exercise,  the pleasure in the combination  of observation, how to portray the subtle differences , the enjoyment of  using the paint, the repetition. 

I loved the monoprints of the fig leaves and how they'd been incorporated along with  drawings, paintings and various objects in a number of collages 

My favourite was the painting of figs and snail shells on a sheet of newspaper, the contrast between the black and white, the hard and soft surfaces. 

Emily Carr and Kurt Jackson

An adventure to South London  to see 2 exhibitions : Emily Carr at Dulwich Picture Gallery and Kurt Jackson at the Horniman Museum   with a delicious  lunch at Rocca in Dulwich Village and a short  bus ride between them.  Lots of food for the spirit and soul.

I first came across the paintings  of Emily Carr  in Vancouver Art Gallery when I  visited Vancouver for   the 16th World Orchid Conference in 1999 ( I also  went to a quilt show on the outskirts  and discovered the delights of the Maiwa Handprint Studio, buying a  couple of linen jackets I still wear ).
I was bowled over then with the  strength of feeling and engagement with  her surroundings, particularly the  greens of the forest. They have not lost their power transplanted to another continent and the layout of the exhibition and the interpretation, emphasising themes  as well as leaps in development worked very well. Having a selection of artifacts there was also intriguing. Having reread  my battered copy of ' The Forest Lover' by Susan Vreeland,  with  the basket maker Sophie playing an important role,  seeing the finely woven baskets  made of things like spruce root added another dimension.
A lot of the paintings had quotes from Emily alongside them - these were a couple of my favourites about the process of looking ( please forgive me if they're not quite correct, I always have difficulty reading my own handwriting !)

" Sketching in the big woods is wonderful. Everything is  green. Everything is waiting and still. Slowly things begin to move , to slip into their piles, groups and masses and lines tie themselves together . Colours that you had not noticed come out timidly or boldly"  

 

 

"The first thing is to seize upon the direction of your main movement, the sweep of the whole thing as a unit. One must be careful about the transition of one curve of direction with the next - keep it going, a pathway for the eye and mind to travel through and into the thoughts".

A short bus ride way to  see the paintings ( and sketchbooks) of Kurt Jackson at the Horniman Museum ( above)  an inspirational exhibition  based around the theme of rivers . I have a couple of books of his works but there's nothing to beat seeing them in the flesh , the combination  of semi-abstraction and repertoire of marks including unusual sparks of colour. Most of all a sense of place - it got me thinking  of the theme for the new Cwilt Cmyru exhibition in 2016 'Cynefin'.





There was a couple of videos (1 from  'Thames Revisited' exhibition at the Redfern Gallery) showing Kurt in action, reminding me of Katherine Holmes demonstrating techniques outside and also of my attempts on 'Painting  Promentary' in Weymouth. Lots of ideas about  how he got some of his marks: dripping ink/liquid paint onto surface and moving it around with painting knife ( with a strip of fabric at the side to wipe excess paint off , interesting in its own right!). Dipping into that paint with a pencil and then using the pencil to make marks. Using the plastic mixing palette to scrape paint. Using a square format sketchbook.   

One of the aspects  of his work that resonates with me is  that it reflects his commitment to the environment and the natural world . Also got me thinking of paths not travelled. He's the same age as me and studied  zoology at University, painting while he was there and then  becoming an artist.  At 18  I very nearly went to art college but studied  botany instead  and have made my career in that field while painting/ stitching in my spare time.    Now I  have the opportunity to thinks about  taking up art again seriously  .