Window with Ashley Hanson at Creek Creative

 In September  I took part  in my 3rd ' freedom in painting "workshop with  artist Ashley  Hanson at Creek Creative  ( previous ones were on Painting the novel  and black  and white )  this time  on the theme  of the window in painting.  Looking in, looking out,  frame within a frame :  we were asked to respond to the idea of a window, from  framing of views  to the abstraction of the painted frame

 He started out with an overview of how different artists  had tackled this theme, from Giotto to Howard Hodgkin. Of particular interest were pairings from the  Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibition ( how I wish I'd seen that ! )

 We were asked to bring drawing/photos  of our favourite  window(s)  and the view beyond as a spring board  for our paintings  and ( as in previous workshops) 2 identical canvases.  I  brought views from train windows which I'd been developing as apart of my EDAM ' Meanwhile ' project   (   not a new obsession, it dates back at least  15 years ) .  Also for inspiration I bought copies of works by Paul Feiler - I like what happens at the edges  of his paintings

 The first exercise  was to draw a fame on the canvas , make further frames within it to the same  scale/format and then to draw over  with our  chosen subject matter 

 This went though various transformations  following discussions  with Ashley to  finish ( ( for now)  at the stage below. I've learnt  now through his classes not to panic when things look awful at the end of the first day,  that things often get resolved  with last few brush strokes and  that all the mistakes add to texture and variety of marks beneath the surface.

 The second exercise was to  paint  a ' window'  offset   rather than the central position of the first. 

  I mainly worked on this on the second day, not fully resolved yet , I like the curves and the 'South Eastern  Violet'  but the views  from the window need further work ( it was was getting  very thick with paint and was still wet at the end of the day ) 

 Having brought 4 A3 canvases  with me , I decided I'd like to try the same exercises but in landscape rather then portrait orientation ( with the hindsight of knowing what we should be doing ! ) based on  a photo of the reflection inside the railway carriage . 

 This was my off-centre window,  it needed very few  gestural  marks  to give the impression I wanted

 While  the more centrally place window  with frames  required a  lot of obliteration  and changes to  recover from it's awfulness

In the  end though, this was my favourite of the  paintings produced and  it's Ian's favourite too.   The part of the journey  in 'tunnel land' is  one familiar to us both,  suddenly aware of people around  you in the reflections in the window.   

Matisse in the Studio at the RA

 Matisse 'Rocaille Chair' 1936  

Making  the most of my   day in London after 'Drawing Tuesday' in Regent's Park, I'd booked 2.45 slot for 'Matisse in the Studio' at the Royal Academy . It had parallels  with the  glorious ' Matisse, his art and Textiles' exhibition held in the  same gallery in 2005 ( more than 10 years ago, it doesn't feel like that). I've spent this morning going through the book again, when I should I have been doing something else, reminding myself of the ' Haiti's' that are a feature of this exhibition too.

 The juxtaposition  of some of his favourite objects  with the paintings and sculptures  they inspired or   featured in  was fascinating ( I covet his green glass vase)  

I bought a copy of the ' Introduction to the exhibition for Teachers and Students'  which  explored  key pieces in  depth , asking  questions  that make you think such as ' What is the difference between a mask and a portrait? Using this  as  a guide and  using   exercises  from ' Advanced Painting '  and 'Ways into Abstract Painting' gallery visits, I  took notes and made quick sketches   which have given  me  food for thought , particularly in composition and paint application ( I'm thinking of returning to oils for 'Contemporary Painting Studio' course   at City lit ). Also reminded me how much I like drawing pewter!  

Matisse 'Large Red Interior' 1948

 It was good too to  be reminded of his  paintings of interiors.  I first  visited the   Centre  Pompidou in Paris in the late 1980's  on a work trip   stopping off between Rilland and Amiens. I was blown away by the artwork  particularly  'Florentine Villas'   by Paul Klee  and 'Large Red Interior ' by Matisse and bought large posters of both.   These  posters combined with  kelims bought on trips to Turkey and  Morroco  were what made various small  rooms in shared houses and   my first purchased   flats  ' home' . In my tiny studio  flat, the Matisse print gave the illusion of additional  rooms and enlarged the space. Alas  the poster  got water damaged   when in storage between moves  but  the kelims are still in use.  

I still hate pastels

The latest session in my drawing evening classes was on drawing with soft pastels. There were a number of still lifes set up with fruit, pottery and vividly patterned fabrics - I chose the quinces set against a wild paisley African fabric ( I was SO tempted to take it home afterwards) . The inspiration was to draw in the style of Matisse ( I really enjoyed the exhibition a few years ago at the Royal Academy of Matisse and textiles (great accompanying book too)
As usual, I got a lot out of the session- quickly and directly in less than an hour ( we also spent some time on samples to see what pastels could do) , I made me realise that despite my love of patterned fabrics,, this is the first time I've observed and drawn it! Definately something to go back to. I'd brought along some good quality soft pastels I've had a long time and barely used. I don't like the mess and the fact that you have to have loads of them to get the colour you want or mix on the paper. And spraying with fixitive alters the colour and the quality of the pastels anyway! So I'm still not enamoured with pastels but I enjoyed the exercise - working so quickly and without it being 'precious' results in far more dymanic and lively work for all its imperfections and gets me wanting to keep observing and sketching. I'm starting to think about what art materials I want to take with me at Xmas to Tunisia.