The joy of collaborating
I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few months of working towards our group presentations on the Saltmarsh project. I personally have been visiting and watching the saltmarshes throughout the seasons for a good number of years.
(This image was drawn with found site specific materials supplemented with pencil, charcoal and soft pastel. The image here shows how the printing source and image quality can change remarkably, see blog post https://www.ivangrieve.com/blogs/news/my-colour-and-your-colour-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder )
Captivated by something perhaps magical, ethereal or spiritual that lies buried somewhere within these saltmarshes. The bond that is made by the experience of a real sense of place is in the beating heart of my work. To understand that other people working on this very same project seem to have the same values and express their joy and knowledge in their own ways is so uplifting. Each of the individuals and the organisations or collectives with whom they work, bring so much energy and information, knowledge and expertise. Harmoniously brought together as a collaboration with the over arching aim of nurturing our saltmarshes has been a wonderful thing to be a part of. For my part in the evening of presentations, I opted for a “show and tell” approach as my short presentation was immediately before the intermission. I brought along a few pieces to demonstrate my working practice and the direction of travel on the Saltmarsh project.
I work throughout the year in the landscape whatever the weather. I enjoy working with found site specific pigments and materials. Bringing back to the studio “the tools of my trade”, little parcels of joy to relish and study.
(Image of materials and the salt marsh sketch emerging)
I have created a visual documentation of many elements of the river Dart, focusing frequently on the Saltmarshes. The saltmarshes form a visually stimulating and dynamic vessel, a repository for ever changing and adapting forms of life. The view across the reed-beds at Sharpham, the changing light and the sounds of wildlife the reeds and tides ebbing and flowing.
(This view over the reed beds I have drawn many times now and below are the eight Lino blocks.)
The pace of the project and the deadline crept up on me rather, however I did manage to complete all that I set out to achieve, eight different linocuts printed on to Awagami Japanese paper using water based Schmincke inks. The sounds and textures of working with the blocks the inks and rollers and then the fine papers, are like the layers of the marshes in some way. Like the saltmarshes the process and materials are resilient yes, but also fragile and dynamic, rewarding and giving too.
(Image of lots of colours in inks and rollers)
With each of the elements of the project from my particular perspective there was always something to explore and experiment with.
The earth print (1) and detritus at the reed beds, (2)the reeds, (3)the Napoleonic wall that had “contained” the river at the hole in the wall, the fabulous (4) drone footage made during the surveying of the marshes for the Dartmouth Harbour master, was by Jack Handley. (Below are some screen grabs the drone footage which have been digitally manipulated).
The detritus and mud gave way to Agar plate or Petri dish micro organism style images that seemed to my eye to mimic the elements in the drone footage. To some extent the reflection of substance of the saltmarsh from below to above seemed very fitting. I shall develop this direction some more, it seems to have wonderful cyclical appeal.
(Petri images and drone and drawings)
The reeds gave me some really useful gel prints and I had plenty of fun making my own geli plate for printing with some gelatine and glycerin in a baking tray. The prints provided the outlines for the Lino prints which were more easily inked up with the roller than some of the other linos largely as a result of the simple design.
(Geli mat and reeds prints and lino of reeds being inked)
The Napoleonic wall was inspired by a wonderful boat trip to see the Saltmarshes provided by the Dartmouth Harbour Master. I drew from some photos I took from the boat and abstracted the natural and made rhythms into some designs for the Lino blocks.
The images made from the drone footage were also great for colour inspiration. I loved the natural patterns that the elements, the wind, the water, erosion and time have made. i wanted to convey this in the Lino prints and played with changing the cutting direction on the Lino with some very sharp tools.
(Drone image making and prints)
The whole process of learning as I go along creating has been supplemented with learning more digitally too and there does seem to be so many avenues to explore. I had some great fun making vides and shorts on YouTube using an app called Cap Cut that my daughter has been teaching me how to use. I guess this more of a domestic collaboration?
https://www.youtube.com/@ivangrieve
Having now met with more of the collaborative team, there are now even more wonderful and interesting directions to take, more discussions to have and so much more to learn. I recommend that any artist reading this seeks out some collaborative ideas to work on, share ideas, nurture each other and give to a wider audience.
So on that note, do as ever, sign up on the news letter and/ or contact me with any thoughts or question. The year ahead is looking really exciting with more features shows and work than I could have imagined.
Thank you for reading.
]]>The month of March has started with being quite a busy time for me, both in and out of the studio.
The magazine interview on maintaining creativity in the magazine Bold Journey went live and that was an interesting experience. I do find that having to write about oneself and ones artistic practice is very useful, in that allows time for some introspection. My late mother used say to me “Ivan, don’t dwell on you navel” if I was being too introspective as a child and in fact later in life too!
…copy and paste this link to have a look. https://boldjourney.com/news/meet-ivan-grieve/.
( the image on the left is a procreate image I made the one on the right is a screen grab from the Emilio Mula interview).
Next up was the filmed interview for the Saltmarsh project. Some of you must know, I am working as a collaborative artist with the Bioregional learning centre. (Previous blog Unwrapping the New Year mentions the Saltmarsh project.) The very talented Emilio Mula a friend, and fellow collaborator, filmed me out by the Saltmarshes giving my take on the project. The project has really given me a great deal to think about, learn from and observe… including the upcoming deadline of the 25th March.
https://bioregion.org.uk/project/thesaltmarshproject/
Two submissions have gone in this month one for the massive and impossibly challenging Jackson’s Art Prize…here is screen grab you may well recognise some of the esteemed panel of judges.
Well I have it said before, it is good to have a go, it forces me to rewrite all the necessary C.V’s Bio, and Artistic practice descriptions. The second submission was really putting forward my work on the saltmarsh project to a curator who had put an open call on the Curatorspace platform. The show is not until the very end of the year but it is nice to have some possibilities in the pipeline line. I will post about it if I get anywhere with it.
I use several platforms to spread the word on my work. It does absorb so much time though and time as we all know is a commodity in short supply . I am working with the charity Outside In as an ambassador and have a gallery presence on their website. I use Artrepreneur, an American website that has not really produced much in the way of work and sales. However like Saatchi’s ,I felt I should try and have some American/ global exposure, they all take time to maintain though. Saatchi do not charge a monthly fee like Artrepreneur but they do take a hefty wedge of sales as a commission.
(Top is the Saatchi site and below Artrepreneur )
Loading images,writing copy and calculating shipping prices etc does take away from the creativity and personally I find that hurts inside me. The writing about work is fine and enjoyable and images and posting on social media is also ok.
I have really enjoyed learning more about various apps for artwork, for example like ArtStage or Procreate. My ever helpful and talented 9 year old is always willing to point me in the right direction. ArtStage is fun to show or visualise a work on, to give the idea of scanned and printed much larger, for that wow factor. Procreate has been good for all sorts of things, like profile images and testing colours for the Lino print planning.
(The one of me on the left I have used procreate over a layer of the work on the right. The image on the right is using the ArtStage app and is of my print made enormous).
The best part of the month so far has most certainly been getting to grips with printing in the studio. That said, this was delayed by a couple of days as a sharp blade that I used to cut paper for printing slipped a bit. This meant a colourful trip to the local hospital. Once cleaned up and patched up I am pleased to say that I am on the mend.
The Saltmarsh project has really been divided by me, into the elements earth and mud of the saltmarsh with it natural detritus, the river bank (water) with the Napoleonic wall, the reeds that reach up the sky (air) and the drone footage of the river Dart marsh survey. I took each as a starting point and made some sketches and drawings to develop some images for linocut prints.(please see previous blog.)
Having produced 8 images which I transferred on to linocut blocks and selected the colours from the images in the drone footage. I then make one colour up and use the press with Fabriano paper to start with, when the block is taking the ink well I select some Japanese papers. I bought several sample packs of Awagami papers to try out.
The water based inks are a pleasure to work with and are a good quality ink from Schmincke. I tend to print one new block with a new colour and then use up any remaining ink on blocks that I have already worked with.
I shall cut into some of the blocks a little more but at this stage I am not keen to print images with more than one colour. I feel the works on these beautiful papers will be a distracted from if there are multiple colours. I also will be looking at producing much larger images through high quality scans.
So thank you very much for reading this and do please feel free to contact me to ask any questions about my work or the processes involved.
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The weeks are flying past this year and we are still in February!…Working as a collaborative artist on the Saltmarsh project with the Bioregional learning centre is something I am very much enjoying. I am working from some drone footage that was made as part of the survey of the Saltmarshes. The Ariel views and colours are truly inspiring and will certainly add material for some prints that I shall be making in the studio as Lino cuts.
I will be using my small table top press and be exploring some new papers too. I have a sample pack of Awagami papers as I feel that will really contribute an extra level to the finished work.
I shall be showing some of my works from the emerging body of work about the Saltmarshes in March this year. I shall be adding a few words at the event that is being staged, hopefully there will be some good images to share. The other artists from different disciplines will also showcase their work too so it will a great evening event.
My certificate arrived detailing my successful completion of a ten week Creative Workshop Leadership course. It was a fascinating course run the by the charity for which I volunteer as an Ambassador, Outside In.
(Above are some portraits of Tess Radcliffe made during the course)
I learnt so much from the wonderful course leader Tess Radcliffe and also from the amazing ten or so other artists who attended the course with me. I have not ironed out exactly what format or workshop ideas are going to be offered by me yet. I shall certainly share these with you once I have refined my intial ideas.
So as well as the above what else has been happening? I was interviewed by an American on line magazine and will be sharing this interview and some links to it on social media and in a blog once it has been published. I have managed to get another submission to an exciting open call off to be looked at and considered by the curators of a show at the end of this year.
The winter has been fairly cold in the studio and so this year I am going to be revamping the studio which will mean a lot of upheaval but the time has come. I plan to add a good pitched roof and do some insulating too. Once the dates for the work are in the diary I shall have to do a bit of a studio clearance so it might be worth while dropping me a line via the website if you have your eye on something in particular at a special price.
On cold days I sometimes warm up in the kitchen with a good book and do some research. I picked up this lovely book on Leon Kossoff’s retrospective at the Tate in London in 1996. the book was in the window of the local second hand community bookshop just around the corner from my home. Castle books is a really gem to have so close, but it does offer far too much temptation sometimes! I was after a book with some work by Kathe Kollowitz as I want to look more closely at her prints and mark making in relation to my own practice. It seems to me so important to look at the work of other artists, ideally at exhibitions and shows, though books are good too. I see there is a wonderful exhibition on at the Courtauld, Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads running now until the end of May.
So I might see if a trip to London can be arranged as there are always some great shows on, it amazes me how much one can learn by really using a couple of days of culture in the city.
So thank you for reading and do stay in touch, sign up for the newsletter and information from the revamped studio.
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Well the New Year rushed in with passion and energy as well as some room for real sensitivity and reflection.
I mentioned at the end of last year that there would be some exciting news to follow….well let me enlarge on that.
As some of you may know from my social media feeds and previous blogs I had the opportunity to make some unique landscape commissions for a couple of very dear friends. This was a follow on from putting myself into my own landscape drawings.
I received a landscape image from each of them and a photo showing them as they would like to be in that landscape.
The next step was to draw the landscape and to let my friends “enter” that drawing.
Above are some examples from which you will get an understanding of the process and work involved. Should this be something that you would like me to do for you do please get in touch, I can explain the pricing and work involved and what you will then receive. Simply use the contact form on the website and I shall come back to you.
I am involved with the Saltmarsh project which is one aspect of the works of the Bioregional centre. My role as a collaborative artist in this really exciting and important project is rather nicely put in the interview that Kate Rudd and Jane Brady put together and is featured on the website blog “What’s Art got to do with it?” It is wonderful to be working alongside a group of such experienced and diverse people, each with specific and interdigitating skills. For example the film and video maker Emilio Mula is working very hard on the project. This weekend I shall be visiting the Saltmarshes with some other guests on board the Harbourmasters vessel, getting close up but without causing damage to these vital resources.
https://www.dartharbour.org/the-dart-estuary/dart-estuary-natural-beauty-for-all/saltmarshes-tidal-reedbeds/
https://bioregion.org.uk/whats-art-got-to-do-with-it/
I will keep the blog updated with this project, for example here is a date to look forward to…..for the “unwrapping” .Many of the people who are working on this project, will share their experiences as part of an evening event at Totnes Cinema on 25th March 2024'
I really would encourage readers to have look at the website as these climate issues are of a real global concern.
In respect of this project I submitted three works to the open call https://www.artfromheart.co.uk/post/open-call-exhibition-natura set up by the wonderful and award winning Art from Heart.
Have a look at the website by using the link provided. I decided to submit three drawings that conveyed my concern for the environment, which if selected would be shown at Dāku Coffee & Gallery, High Street Kensington, London, so keep your fingers crossed please! I gather that the results will be out in the latter part of February this year.
(Below)Late Autumn at Sharpham Marsh.2022 Mixed media on paper using site specific materials and pigments 23cm x 15cm Framed and glazed. It is so nice to start making a ground of the surface for a work with what Mother Nature has give us, this process is illustrated here.
(Below) Autumn over the Saltmarsh. 2022 Mixed media on paper using site specific materials and pigments.
23cm x 15cm Framed and glazed.
(Below) Totnes Downhill. 2023..Mixed media on paper using site specific materials and pigments.
23cm x 15cm Framed and glazed.
But the great thing I have found is to keep making and most of all practice, practice and practice.
From the first week of January I worked on a special gift for someone, studying a changing face over the years from photographs and clippings from the 1950s to the present day. The project started out with the knowledge of my subject and 9 images to work from.
I begun working on fairly small scale, using a postcard format of about A5 on Fabriano paper. I was working fairly fast on these, making more 80 or 90 sketches in the end.Making gestural marks through the use of the initial pencil sketches. Moving on to ink and wash and finally charcoal in various grades with a putty rubber. I like to use different sizes of willow charcoal as each brings with it a different but somehow primeval quality. Large chunky sticks at first, which when snapped give a variety of edges to the stick, increasing the marks and tones. The very fine willow sticks are wonderful for softer longer lines to twisting and letting the tip snap and “explode” on the paper surface. A degree of luck and happen stance, freedom and being lost in the work…a joy.
The results are sensitive and emotional and will serve as wonderful dedication to man in his 96th year! How I see it is an expression of a real perception and a chance to communicate.
Well it has been a pleasure and please get in touch if I can help in any visual projects to advise and collaborate to discuss visually or just to listen. thank you..
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Over the years the subjects for my work have twisted, turned and evolved. From wanting to solve a visual challenge in which I looked at Moorish architecture to following the seasons along the river, with all her calmness then charging, beelines and convulsions.
I love the view from the carriage drive on the Sharpham estate, looking down the river Dart toward Dartmouth. The shapes and shadows, the changing seasons are so well epitomised along the river Dart. The sounds, smells and sightings of plants and wildlife are such an uplifting experience to carry home to the studio.
The Moroccan arches grew to become an exercise that allowed me thinking time and space to seek a solution and an order within my own mind. I referred to the Moorish arches in a previous blog and on Linkedin. The river has taken me along a fresh pathway, with new opportunities and exciting possibilities, with involvement environmental projects. It is from bing open to invitations to collaborate that more ideas have been developed ( https://bioregion.org.uk/project/thesaltmarshproject/) and new with materials to explore.
Details from “Syrinx” a charcoal drawing of the Saltmarshes on the river Dart.
This personal journey has had many ups and downs. There has been some joy, along with a fair share of disappointment too. But I have no doubt that creative expression has been at the very heart of finding a positive outlook on life.
(Left; mixed media self portrait and right portrait collage in violin sheet music.) The pastel work on the left, is gestural and emotional. Letting out deep inner feelings on paper, regardless of what the overall image would look like is an important dialogue for the artist to have sometimes. At the end of making this pastel drawing there was a great sense of relief. I felt I had unburdened my inner feelings to someone who had taken time to listen. The work on the right, is a study of a face well known to me. I explored my feelings whilst staring at every detail of the face looking back at me, a face that I believed I should know so well for some reason.
At times the desire to express emotions may be the primary reason to choose a specific range of materials. The gestural marks of the “action painters” with their great splatters and drips of paint, are free expressions. Here we might think of Jackson Pollock, even Twombly, Gorky, Kline, or de Kooning perhaps? Other times the mark making maybe subconscious in a different way. This subconscious making, leans in form, toward Tachisme, or even to works such as those of Feliks Topolski. In Topolski’s there are marks and gestures which it are almost akin to wild and magnified handwriting. I do relish the chance to explore with different methods and materials to allow the feeling and emotion of what I NEED to express to find a conduit.
(Images from “Now you see it, Now you don’t”, thick drips of Japanese ink on heavy paper made into small “tiles” of ink blots. The “Touch Self Portraits” are exploring the surface of my face and mapping it out on a piece of paper beside me. I draw these without looking at my reflection in a mirror, allowing the exploration of my features as my fingers perceive them, in a new way for me).
(Rembrandt detail from self portrait at Kenwood House, London, holding a brush, alongside the full portrait, both from The Hidden Order of Art, Ehrenzweig).
The very brilliant book “The Hidden Order of Art” by Anton Ehrenzweig explains this point wonderfully as he lays out “syncrestistic” theory. The marks of Rembrandt are, it is suggested possibly almost subconscious and toward an auto type repetition.
Below are the details of the self portrait perhaps illustrating my own subconscious mark making.
The works of Topolski are a good example of drawing and line that are descriptive without being directly representative. I do hope that this idea is conveyed through those of my works that I have shown here? I love the way Topolski’s handwriting is so similar to his drawing, the folds and twists and curls. The twists of line in the faces of the writers club are to some extent like elements of my touch self portraits.The twists and curves of the figures in “Their burning village” is somewhat like the features of in the black and white self portrait face to some degree. Daumier too, had lines and marks that danced across the surface, wonderfully described figures without direct representations.
“The Writers club” and “Their burning village” from Russia in war by Feliks Topolski.
Gripping a piece of charcoal, pastel or pencil and twisting or swirling it as the marks freely dance across the surface, is my way of doing this I would imagine. I like to let the tool twist and turn in fingers for the sensations and sound the feeling and then the incidental marks that are made.Sometimes monochrome sometimes colours, though increasingly over years with found pigments and materials to be of a real help to explain and elaborate on my feelings with landscape.
Small works using found pigments looking down the river Dart on the Sharpham estate, over the salt marshes. The soil and mud, the smudges of plants or seaweed are so freeing to work with. There is also a very rewarding connection back to the place and to the seasons. The earth maybe dry or wet, cold or even warm to touch in the sunlight, the proximity to Nature is so very rewarding.
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This, like many elements of the artistic world is a subjective view, perhaps though, it may chime with some readers and possibly cause others to raise an eyebrow. The aim is to touch on the elements of materials and their uses and disciplines and techniques from a mental and emotional point of view rather than a formal view. The art schools and their formally trained artists are vociferous enough to provide ample sources of the latter.
Materials used have a conscious and subconscious effect on an artist’s feelings as an expression is formed. The sounds and movements, the sensations felt, the connection of brain, body and materials. The creativity, the act of creating is what is sought, the end result is often not always the main objective.
As Rosenberg (Action Painting late 1940s to 1960) put it.. “The painter no longer approached the easel with an image in his mind; he went up to it with material in his hand to do something to that other material in front of him. The image would be the result of this encounter.”
But is this dialogue, a dialogue with the canvas or surface at all? Can it simply be a desire to express…to speak or think out loud? Or is it the process of using materials that in itself is rewarding in some way to the user?
I returned to making and creating without any materials to speak of really. I had some pva glue, ink and a head full of things that needed to be put into some sort of order. Collage is an art form that can be so much fun, expressive and versatile.Collage and drawing with newsprint, adding charcoal and ink, exploring a space, feeling freedom.
(left; relief of Moorish arch detail in collage and right; the walls of a gallery covered in newspaper)
The “performing” of the drawing in the gallery as the week progressed, inviting and encouraging contemplative time and performance was a key element of the expression. Music and art combining to form a mesmerising pattern against a backdrop of columnists and their columns (walls and press).
Sometimes it is the particular time and place, the materials that are at hand or the surfaces themselves that attract a form of expression. A combination of both a corporeal urge and disembodiment, or somewhere along a spectrum connecting the two. The creative journey of exploring and experimentation has for me, had it ups and downs, like many things in life. But it is the constant searching and willingness to find new and interesting artistic pathways, without fear of judgement, that for me remains exciting. Adapting to circumstances of the mind and daily life whilst realising the benefits of creativity.
I really enjoy using and exploring what is to hand almost everywhere I go, creativity does not have to be constrained by what is expected of the artist. However sometimes it is the state of mind of the artist that triggers the direction of creative expression and perhaps some improvisation is needed.
The desire to wrap a monument on the anniversary of Rosa Park’s birthday was public and perhaps about the process of rejection. Stopped by the police at half past three in the morning, meant “getting permission” and the wrap did not take place until Bob Dylan’s birthday and that of my sister. Meetings and the bureaucracy of acceptance, “jumping through the hoops” of discussions with the town council and mayor, samples of fabric and a stream of emails to and from various public bodies… but why? It was because it was public and anonymous/ clandestine subversive that appealed.. non conformist and an expression of how I felt. The procession of meetings and correspondences was just as much part of the creative journey as in other work I has made.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/project-obscurity-ivan-unframed
Often intrigued by how people want themselves to be perceived and how they actually are.. buying things consuming things… or are you, what you eat perhaps? It was what people discarded I felt described them. Like a serpent discarding its skin. With no materials again.. or any money with which to buy materials, I quietly gathered discarded shopping lists. The irony stared me in the face each day as I saw how people were spending their money.
I looked through the lists again and again seeing patterns emerge, people types and habits, the same persons lists week after week. I made some work on boards using the materials that the shoppers were buying. Jam, custard powder, pads, deodorants,cleaning equipment etc. I realised that making of the artworks was a journey and the that the works could be exhibited the shopping lists being used as a prop alongside the artworks. It meant that a wider “audience” could be included as the show was not simply to look at but one in which the “viewer” could participate and react in too. The gallery becoming a result of an encounter?
( left ;Working with turmeric and coffee grounds, iodine and muslin and sack cloth. Right; Using creams and prescribed medication with food materials in self portrait.)
There are times when the techniques and materials reflect the mood or mind set perhaps. Yachts and boats hauled from the water and thrust upon supports to be maintained. They looked uncomfortable and out of place. Some ply board squares and corrugated cardboard, ink and a printer running out of ink (so the colours were totally unpredictable) became a series of mini collages that made up one )large image. It was circumstance and the need to delicately build up layers and then cut into them and ink into them that absorbed me. Small detailed pieces that made up a greater picture that I could visualise but did not have words to express.
The use of both materials used and even the tones or colours expressed are sometimes reflected in what is being created as a means to handle it, to mollify…to deal with “IT” . The support of Outside In; https://outsidein.org.uk/galleries/ivan-grieve/ and realising a sense of self worth and opportunity has played a very important role in my work and direction. A charity I work as an Ambassador and proud volunteer, Outside In have been inclusive and advisory, supportive as well as company. A number of self portraits I made defined me by the materials and gestures made, the techniques of the “touch” self portraits too. The mood lifted and the horizon beckoned and a fascination with the seasons and Mother Nature beckoned. This led to involvement with a wonderful environmental project, The SaltMarsh project. https://bioregion.org.uk/project/thesaltmarshproject/
The gestures or movements are complicit in the form of expression, this little article just touches on some thoughts and as always please feel free to e mail or contact for more information. Or go to the Linkedin page see above (project Obscurity) and follow links to more explanatory notes and images on creative projects mentioned here.
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A journey in which we find the seasons and natural rhythm by which to live. Learning to realise that there is not a need to constantly fight and speak louder but a time to observe in contemplative way, to listen without necessarily speaking, to feel without touching…
]]>I always wanted to be an artist, it was what I wanted to do when I was a teenager. I realised before it was too late, that there was nothing really stopping me. Everything is somehow surmountable, as someone very close to me often says “There is always a way”. Frightening yes, risky perhaps, lots of obstacles to overcome..most certainly. The barriers to the art would are strong but nebulous, it is like wrestling with Hydra the best tool is to have a burning desire.
When a desire to make something during a particularly challenging time in my life came to the surface, I started making collage and pen and ink drawings of Moorish architecture. The subject matter was in itself a means, a method of managing the tumultuous times that I had been immersed in.
With an armful of rolled up pen and ink drawings tied with an old bit of ribbon il plucked up courage to ask to see a local gallery manager. “Use the the gallery as a work in progress a studio space….” Little did they know that the gallery walls covered in newspaper and then huge charcoal drawings. That people come and sit on the floor, play guitars or perform Mongolian Overtones, even the gallery hire was paid for by a kind visitor. This need to resolve something using the only means I had, blossomed into my exhibition opportunities.
The decision to do a foundation course was to understand what is required of an art student who might attend an art school and what might be learnt at an art school. The art foundation courses seem to have an expectation that a foundation art student will proceed to art school, this did weigh heavily on my mind.
With a first solo exhibition for a week under my belt..it occurred to me that I would need to get known locally.. The idea of open studios was almost a contradiction in terms. A vetting process to meet a panel and follow a prescribed route and talk to artists in the town. To try visit or make contact with some local or established artists was far harder than one would imagine it to be.
The wrapping of a monument was about Obscurity, climbing a ladder, bureaucracy and finding a way around challenges. The delivery of the project was done at 3.30 in the morning on the opening day of the Open Studios (as it happened my sister’s birthday and Bob Dylan’s birthday) It was in part about not being accepted or known expressing an upset, a failed funding application and further rejection. It was a quite a project in the end.
It seemed that the flame of restless creativity still burned, I scoured the checkout baskets and the empty supermarket trolleys where ever I went and begun to collect and sort out discarded shopping lists. The resulting show Human Detritus (2013)
Above all showed me the huge importance of true inclusivity in an exhibition as visitors were invited to pin shopping lists on the gallery walls alongside the works on show.
The work with found materials, had me intrigued and as a direct result I looked up on it and decided to meet with Peter Ward (https://peterward-artist-illustrator.co.uk)
Some experimentation and another collage project Baltic Wharf… then a period of struggle with grief and poor health.
The work on self portraits and the search for an understanding was particularly hard and from this exploration it was a period that was also cathartic.
The clouds rolled back and the seasons moved on, winter tipped in to Spring filled with promise and new energy and I wanted to enjoy the landscape that lay before me.
Thank you for reading and do ask or get in touch if you have any questions, more blogs and information to come.
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Portfolio Review. The open call on the Artrepreneur websitehttps://artrepreneur.com/p/Ivanlgrieve was on the 8th September 2023 and provided the opportunity for winners to :“Calling all artists! We are excited to announce that our most recent Open Call is here, “Meet A Professor” offering a unique chance to connect with distinguished art school professors from across the United States.
These educators will serve as jurors, providing invaluable feedback and creating opportunities for aspiring artists, current students, and graduates to showcase their talent. Participating in this open call not only allows you to have your work evaluated by respected professors, a total of nine winners will have the opportunity to have a 30min one-one portfolio review.
We're thrilled to collaborate with Professors Melanie Vote, who serves as Adjunct Painting Faculty at the New York Academy of Art, and Matt Rota, an Illustration Faculty member at the School of Visual Arts. “
I had my portfolio review with Melanie Vote on the 4th October 2023. Melanie is a really interesting and personable New York Professor of art.
https://nyaa.edu/graduate-program/faculty/melanie-vote/
MV reviewed five of my works asking about the materials and techniques the feelings and connection with the subjects. Each insight that MV provided was objective and constructive.
(Top left to bottom right; Winter at Sharpham Marsh, Winter in Polaroid, Dartmoor to Yelverton, Summer Evening, Totnes, and A family Visit).
The range of the portfolio review covered five pieces of work that I selected for the open call. The pieces I selected varied in size, subject matter and materials used.The review was to look at these works as well as my areas of interest, the processes and materials used and expressions through the artworks created.
Technical advice included for example, the use of shellac for some works on paper including a discussion of how I might present some of the field sketches on paper to preserve them, or to show them more effectively or work into them in the studio. The suggestions from MV being very much food for thought and being given with a real feeling of encouragement.
The use of more specific terms rather than simply “site specific materials” MV felt would be more illuminating for any audience, be they viewer or someone wishing to understand more about my technique. It will be fascinating to learn and describe more about the found material the type of seaweeds or moss the soil type and paper and materials used. This has certainly got me thinking and researching the materials that I work with. At times when the soil is dry, some dew from a leaf or water from a bottle can allow the clay or loam to be used to draw with, or the pigment held in leaf mould.
MV mentioned and I must agree, that it is very special to have a specific day to go drawing after I had detailed my regular “walk and draw” sessions each week throughout the seasons whatever the weather. I do look forward to the time I dedicate to commune with the passing months, it is something of an honour in my view. I have in my bag some pencils, charcoal, pastels and liquid charcoal. I take an old cloth to wipe muddied fingers and an old medicine bottle filled with water. The visual notes are made as quick and simple gestural marks on a selection of papers cut down about A5 or smaller to fit a large pocket.
From each trip there are memories and sensations that find their way into a sketch, a studio drawing or perhaps a later painting. The other week I was by a lake sketching in the Autumn sunshine, the sound of the October birdsong occasionally punctuated by the satisfying plunge of acorns falling into the still water. Feelings or memories I feel I put down on paper, parcel them up and bring them back to the studio to unwrap and gaze upon again.
The contrast between en plein air drawing and studio practice is delineated largely by the augmentation of materials. Back at the studio I have a small collection of found pigments and materials.
For example there are a small range of raw ochres and some rich Bideford Black. The excitement of reviewing the work that I have brought back to the studio from my walks never fades and always satisfies a longing to bring a piece of the outside world with me.
There is quite difference between an urban life versus rural life and yet as an artist I find interest and beauty in both. A trip to the city of Bristol, produced sketches and a small body of work that proved to be as saleable as the country cousins.
As with any conversation artists love to discuss the work of influencers and favourite artists, MV mentioned el Greco, Anselm Keiffer in respect of an element of moodiness in my work.
The discussion around artists who are new to me included Rackstraw-Downes at the Betty Cunningham Gallery, http://www.bettycuninghamgallery.com/artists/rackstraw-downes., and the work of Outsider Artist James Castle, https://jamescastle.com/art/ whose work really appeals, perhaps also because of my voluntary work as an ambassador with the U. K. based charity Outside In https://outsidein.org.uk. The work of William Kentridge for me was a real eye opener and a new source of inspiration for future creativity https://www.thebroad.org/art/william-kentridge.
So thank you Artrepreneur and thank you Professor Vote.
https://artrepreneur.com/winnersList/%22Meet%20A%20Professor%22%20with%20Matt%20Rota%20%26%20Melanie%20Vote
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The two main reasons for this particular blog are as follows; the process of putting my thoughts into writing (a blog), plus providing images to illustrate my thought process, I hope to clarify my direction and goals. The purpose being to help with any submission I may make in the future with my current project.
Then the there is the plain and simple fact that you, the reader, have been given a direct insight into my method of working and the thinking behind it, getting to know me a little better.
The project I have been working on for the last year has been based on the local landscape of South Devon. The outcome I have been seeking is to capture a depiction of each of the seasons in this part of the world. The choice of subject has remained broadly the same over the year but metamorphosed taking new directions and growing in focus.
I initiated the project in early winter of 2021, so as I write a “false Autumn” has arrived but not the same time of year. The shock of pandemic, walks and a sense that the seasons were being missed and ignored in such a busy world, had a profound effect on me. I drew constantly in all weathers with site specific found materials and made small natural interventions on site occasionally. Retuning to the studio I rapidly built up a large amount of sketches some of which I worked from to make pastel drawings. I repeatedly returned to the same spots throughout the year, different colours and rhythms emerged as representational of each season.
Reviewing details of the drawings and sketches from each of the seasons, I selected nine details (squares in 3 x 3 grid) using an App called Diptic. I painted bold and gestural marks on some 14cm x 20cm paper using acrylic paint. Again reviewing and editing these “visual notes” allowed for the selection of four of each the details from the winter, spring and summer (which I had originally sketched and drawn). The ones I picked had a real sense of the season in question and I painted these as small 26cm x 17.5cm studies, landscape or portrait format as appealed at the time.
I still wanted to focus the viewer more on an aspect of the landscape,a captured moment, a transient point in time, a mood for the place. Using a mount with a 15cm x 16cm aperture, but cut to mimic the format of a Polaroid photo was the next big step. What if I could paint larger works to look like oversized old Polaroids of landscapes?
Polaroids capture the light in the moment with a distinct humanistic feel. I decided that I would paint some 42cm x 52cm testers, painting the “faux Polaroid” border too, hoping to convey the feeling of along forgotten image that had resurfaced. I have so far made 3 of these larger experiments and have to review the surface on which they have been painted.
I like the idea of Tela Fabriano to work on as the supplier has the right size. I am using up some old varnish in the studio for the glazed look of the photographs, I would like to compare satin versus gloss though. Then it will be a busy time making the 16 final pieces, which is a lot of paint. The works will be for a Christmas show at a gallery, not all the work would be shown. One thing I have learnt over the years is to keep making and then be selective in what you show.
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]]>Type in to a search engine the phrase “I can’t believe the way I’m feeling about this” and most likely the first few results returned will be YouTube videos of bands, musicians / artists expressing their emotions. The list will then become peppered with self help and mental health links amongst further lyrics.
Most artists are emotionally wired into the environment in which they live, though frequently portrayed as being “over sensitive”. The courage of the artists to lay bare their emotions and may be insecurities, should not be underestimated we shall comeback to this “courage”. The first point we must consider is the essential quality of the artist, to open up emotionally in order to be creative. This opening up of emotions is where an artist has to risk something.
In “Courage to Create “ a book by Rollo May, he states “Artists pursue meaninglessness until they can force it to mean something …They immerse themselves in chaos to give it form.” I thing many artists, including myself may identify with this. Personally I work prolifically and then gradually allow my feelings about the subject to emerge.
The emotional freedom of a child entwined with adults desire to make something that will always be there, is perhaps where the beating heart of creativity may lie? This is the polar opposite of conformity, control and material wealth, which eat away at the shoots of true artistic creativity.
This piece is called “A sunset in the Desert” by Beatrice Grieve.
In fact May goes on to explain the careful balancing act between conviction and doubt, this may be manifested by artist failing to experiment or take a risk in their practice. Conversely continual scepticism and self doubt leaves an artist lacking drive or any hope of developing. So the creative person balances these emotions continually in their work.
In “Creativity, Emotions and the Arts” (Zorana Ivcevic Jessica Hoffmann Marc Brackett Botín Foundation) the authors write ; “Pablo Picasso, one of the most creative artists of the 20th century, saw artists as receptacles for emotions and vehicles for transforming felt emotions into tangible works of art (Picasso, 1988).”
Referring to (Bledow, Rosing & Frese, 2013) there is an explanation for emotion of working on something and then having to decide “Am I happy with this? Do I need to push it further (and maybe be more creative still?) This is a good example of the balancing mentioned above, the happiness or satisfaction versus the frustration and or sadness in the process. How one we creatives respond to these feelings can make the difference between giving up and achieving something satisfying.
A artist friend of mine kept a journal every day of his moods and emotions, including hunger and tiredness. He has been able to use this mood diary to identify the times of day and circumstances to best harness his creative energies and understand his emotions.
There is a theory of emotional intelligence that posits individuals who have the ability to use emotions to help thinking understand the influence of moods on performance and can apply this understanding in their work (Salovey, Mayer, & Caruso, 2002).
Another reference to emotional intelligence skills, is that it can be taught, practiced and developed (Brackett, Rivers, Reyes, & Salovey, 2012; Rivers & Brackett, 2011) and people can learn how to deliberately use their emotions as aids in the creative process.
Scott Barry Kaufman in the Emotions that make us more creative, identifies that key aspects of the creative personality are adaptability and the ability to switch seamlessly from one mood to another, intuition and laser like focus through to daydreaming, rebelling and yet following tradition. This I guess maybe why artists are sometimes perceived to be chaotic. I firmly believe that leading a life with passion and intensity lends itself to being creative.
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Having looked at some ideas and tips for artists in my last blog, to some extent this is a continuation along the same theme as I shall take a look at a couple of magazines that have caught my eye.
Creating artwork is a large part of what an artist does, if one is passionate about something it can be expressed in an art form. The artist’s message needs to be conveyed somewhere and some how. Looking for opportunities, a platform, a stage, I addressed in my last blog (social media and artist opportunities), it was a result of following the very steps I wrote about that I met these magazines.
I needed to find media coverage, a magazine, (digital and printed) that fitted with what my work is about. I am documenting the seasons (as many artists before me) in landscapes and still life’s as I do feel we are starting to ignore of our sense of place within the seasons and our natural rhythm with Nature. If my work were to be given some column centimetres in a glossy fashion magazine it would raise the question as to why I would want to be in such a magazine.
A.R.T. Artists Responding To..”create an accessible platform for artists to share their work to passionate audiences, with the hopes to inspire change for a safer future.” This award winning magazine who recently won “Art Platform of the Year 2022-2023” is an artist led community, with passion and real activism with contemporary art. A quarterly magazine that is in print and digital too.
https://www.artistsrespondingto.co.uk
I responded to a submission opportunity through Curatorspace https://www.curatorspace.com and am thrilled to say that my work was accepted for inclusion in the magazine. Thus empowering me and my work along side the voices of other international creatives, in the face of social, political and environmental issues.
This represented an opportunity to be alongside creatives, writers and artists, where conversations about what we are passionate about can be aired. Artistic expression helps our wider society in highlighting societal cracks and imperfections or the wounds of endured stigmas and finding ways of healing.
The second eye catching magazine that I wish to draw your attention to is also new to the market this year and is highly exciting in its approach, Art Etcetera Magazine.
https://artetcetera-magazine.com
I noticed the magazine posting on Instagram in March earlier this year and the idea of a new and positive way of writing about art got my attention.
The magazine is for up-and coming artists in all forms and disciplines and the writing is focused on the themes and perceptions of the artist’s work, in a positive way rather than taking a critical approach.
The magazine has just put out it’s third edition at the same time as getting the printed AND digital subscription cost to an amazing £6.99 per month.
The up coming features on next editions will include themes of the Summer solstice and glass workers.
So the key points to this article are that there are opportunities to find magazine inclusion and I believe it is really important to the magazine and the artist that they are in harmony and sit well together.
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It would be unusual for an artist’s professional career to just “take off” and for galleries and curators to be falling over themselves to represent an artist. Even more unlikely for any self taught artist, like myself though. So here I will put down one two ideas and tips that have helped me so far, but i must add that hard work and commitment are vital. There is extra pressure on the artist to be multi skilled, with such a huge growth of art in the digital world. An on line presence with a web site and social media is not enough though.
An interest and a real dialogue must be grown with both “the followers and the following”, it is more than just likes, it is about “engagement” (perhaps an overused word but there we are!). Through twitter I was really thrilled to be considered and subsequently accepted as artist of the month for Sketch social.
You can on occasion, even ask advice about how to do something that you may have not mastered, like making a short storyboard, using an app for displaying/ presenting work. I notice many people use video in the form of YouTube, I have not managed to get this working for me as yet, but I am getting there.
https://www.parkerharris.co.uk/artists/artist-opportunities/
There are many sites offering artist opportunities. Some seem to be more fruitful than others for me however. There are the big heavy hitters in the U.K. such as ; Parker Harris, one of leading visual arts consultancies in U.K. whose clients include trusts and foundations, SMEs and multinationals to charities, arts organisations and individual artists. At this level the prizes and publicity are big and the competition pretty fierce. The Wales Contemporary for example is represented by Parker Harris, a £15 entry and with some generous prizes too. However it is worth keeping an eye on and selecting one, perhaps two, open calls at this level to go for in a year. There is an argument that this keeps us artists focused on a deadline and the subject of the specific call. Speaking personally, I try to identify and target recurring calls, about two years ahead, so I can be truly selective in what I propose to submit for. This also gives the advantage of being able to look at the submission application and have a practice without submitting, reviewing it, prior to the real submission and improving it.
Then there are subscription organisations like a-n, who are an artist’s information company with a subscription of £35 per annum. There is also Curatorspace, who offer project management for curators and artist’s. Curatorspace offers a basic membership which is absolutely free, or a choice of subscriber memberships “artist” and “artist plus” at £ 25 and £35 per year respectively. Both these offer members access to artist opportunities as well providing a personal “gallery” to show works or portfolios. Curatorspace for £25 annually will match up artists to prospective curators, which is great and it works. Curatorspace has a great “previous projects” page which I find helpful. There are some fantastic opportunities that are available to members, crucially there are some that charge a nominal submission fee and some that are free. I have found that the opportunities that state “free entry” and “payment only taken if the artist is included” are not perhaps as giving as they may seem. Make sure you check where the opportunity is, it may be that applicants need to live within a certain area, or it may mean costly transport of work…just saying. That said I submitted to an open call for an Artist of the Month, paid a small fee of £7 and won for the Month of June. I believe budgeting and trying to consider a return on your investment is definitely worth bearing in mind.
Let’s face it a glossy magazine that drops an email to you via your website, may well be inflating your ego and selling valuable column cms. I was offered one column x 5cm in the back of a very well known magazine recently…an eye watering £440 plus vat per month (the deal was for 3 months!) …it was not for me.
Most rewarding for me has been the my involvement with an amazing charity that means so very much to me, the charity is Outside In. I have had help in creating a gallery on the website https://outsidein.org.uk/, writing an artist statement and quite frankly human support. I signed up to be an ambassador for the charity, as it has meant so much to me and I wish to share this help with others. Well the big surprise came earlier this month… the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. https://outsidein.org.uk/news/outside-ins-artist-ambassadors-receive-the-queens-award-for-voluntary-service/ .
Here is an example of the latest open, Outside In call-out and a national exhibition. https://outsidein.org.uk/national/
So if you have a passion and you care about an issue make sure you show it through your artwork and your commitment too what you really believe in.
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I know that colour and images are key to so many artists like me, not least because we strive to observe colour and interpret it. Colour is, let’s face it, a perception or sensation, just like smell or taste, touch or sound. Light of a particular wave length reaches the retina at the back of the eye, then a specialised cell generates a nerve impulse which is whizzed to the brain and hey presto … a colour is perceived. The light reflected from an object is what activates the visual process.
Delving deeper I refer to a brilliant book “The Human Brain- A Guided Tour” by the amazing Susan Greenfield. Greenfield makes several references to colour, one of which is based on Frank Gall a Dr born in Vienna ( arguably the father of phrenology), who suggested that there are 27 character traits with in the brain the bedrocks of personality ; memory of people, attachment and friendship, love of offspring, spatial awareness, sense of tonal relations etc and … sense of colour.
The particular cells sensitive to colour you may know, are cones (rods are for night vision in a some ways), three types of cone take responsibility for the three primary colours red, blue or green. Yes it seems wrong to state green as a primary colour. The reason is this though, when you mix red and green LIGHT together your eye sees yellow. This is called additive colour. Making a mockery of what I thought were the primary colours. A certain wave length of red and green cones in equal numbers hence the perception of yellow.
I have read a little more on colour and find the perception and subjectivity fascinating. I was jogged into this research on noticing how one piece of my work Sharpham Marsh in Winter, could look so different depending on how, when, and with what it was photographed or on what it was reproduced. Taking a picture in a cool northern light lifts the blue etc.
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I was first introduced to Bideford Black by artist Pete Ward, who I met in 2013, to explore and find naturally occurring minerals on the shore line of the North Devon coast at Fremington Quay. Pete demonstrated how to gather and use raw materials in a creative and free way connecting us to our very origins.
Pete had researched the history of this geologically unique mineral here; http://bidefordblack.blogspot.com/p/history.html.
The history of this material is fascinating and worth learning about, the use of Bideford Black as camouflage equipment during the war and Max Factor making mascara for example.
Nearly ten years later, the genesis of an approach has now grown to be part of my established practice. I still have jars of raw mineral pigments such as Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, White Clay and Grey that I have used in larger works.
The act of walking to a site to draw is just the beginning of a work. A crucial element is to sit and observe with all the senses, taking in the landscape and the changes the seasons have made. In making a visual dialogue with the landscape I have walked to the same spots on many occasions, meeting inquisitive walkers sometimes or enjoying the solitude of time and place.
This process of walking, observing and the initiation of a drawing with what is found at my feet, really does give me a connection to a place. The small sketches I make act like a conduit for bringing “the moment” back to the studio with me.
There are also materials that I have gathered that are site specific and which are used as tools.
Having made some sketches and gathered any materials that I may wish to continue using in my studio. I often make a small natural intervention to honour Mother Nature’s simple kindness.
Then it is time to return to the studio and continue the visual journey.
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I have taken time to carefully select the materials at every stage of my creative process. Choosing what I am going to use during this creative process, through to presenting the finished work means care and consideration must be taken at every step.
In this blog I shall share some “behind the scenes” information and images regarding the photographing of my work and the mounting of original work. These are both key parts in the presentation stage of my work and are both extremely important as I shall outline below. Attention to detail as you shall discover below is really important.
So let me start with the photography and the reason that I consider it to be so important. I make digital submissions for exhibitions that always require good imagery. Then there are magazines and the various profile pages that I use and pay for, these include Curatorspace and a-n the artists information company. Who knows when a gallery director or potentially important client may be looking at an image of my work, so it must be best. First impressions really do count on a website, original work must be presented perfectly. For fine art prints too, it is so vital to have high quality images to create wonderful Giclee prints.
Great images are also so important to document my work and have an accurate and professional record of it. The digitally stored images can be easily accessed for talks and presentations to peer groups and galleries. It is for this reason I believe it is a real MUST to set aside time each week for documenting and describing work, keeping up to date with each aspect of my whole practice…even writing these blogs!.
The images need to be photographed in natural light on a cloud covered day (to avoid glare) or inside if the weather does not permit using a studio set up which I have shown here. I tend to do both so I can choose the right image for the right occasion. The colour saturation, white balance, brilliance, vibrancy etc can then be re edited to match as close to the original as possible.
Mounting of the work, using Daler Rowney “White Core” which is certified by the Fine Art trade Guild. The archival quality mount board is used in a system to “envelope” each work before being placed in specially sourced packaging for artwork shipping. The work is attached to the under mount with T- hinge (as pictured) using Hayaku Japanese hinging tape. T-hinges allow the work to expand and contract with humidity and temperature changes. This is turn means the artwork is less likely to cockle than a continuous hinge or attaching the artwork at each corner. A final point, I prefer to have the hinge attached to the artwork by just enough to give support, say 5mm -8mm.
The paper used for the tape combines the long , strong fibres of Japanese Mulberry paper with an acid free, water activated adhesive that can be easily reversed using just water.
When using this system the hinge should be same paper weight or weaker than the art work, not heavier, so that in case of an accident, the hinge would tear, not the artwork.
This is my preference for mounting, though artwork could be attached using corner pockets, platform mount and float hinges.
]]>Based in South Devon I am lucky to be able to enjoy landscape from the Moors to the sea following the river Dart and the seasons.
1.Dartmoor across to Yelverton (in banner) 2.Dartmoor across to Yelverton Pastel
My time is divided between being out in the landscape and back at my small studio. I value the importance of being out walking and sketching along the rivers and hills in South Devon throughout the year. A rendezvous with each of the Seasons as they come and go.I am sometimes wrapped up or conversely with a parasol.There are brief encounters with the passing, inquisitive walkers. The river like time continues to flow and is both a physical and metaphysical element in my work, flowing as she does from the moor to the sea.
4.(Swimming Platform) 5.(Endymion’s Rest) 6.(Blackpool Sands)
The studio is where I hold a variety of materials some natural, some unusual with which to express further my dialogue with the landscape.The shelves are lined with pots and boxes of things, some labelled some not.
En plein air sketches and drawings initiated using found materials that are supplemented with pencil charcoal and pastel.
7 and 8.(Winter at Sharpham Marsh)
Documenting views following the River Dart or stopping to note an enticing aspect along a walk is always initiated with mark making.On occasion I may make a small and transient “intervention” at a site.As I set to return to the studio, in to my bag will go mud,sap,feathers,twigs used as tools etc.
In the studio,I then review field sketches and gather materials to work with.I have been working into small sketches with soft pastels and the “key” of dried found pigment adds a richness of texture and tone.
Using natural materials to start and making tiny and transitory interventions on site creates a personal bond with the landscape. (Intervention)
Working in the studio with pastels layering colours and working on composition I reference my sketches and any other images or materials from the site.I often choose to work with charcoal as it is a material that really does allow feelings to be expressed.
10.(Eleven trees at Dartington) 11.(Medlars at St Mary’s, Totnes)
Being outside throughout the year does require dressing to brave the elements be it a Sou’wester or a parasol, comfort is key.
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AN ARTIST WHO GREW UP IN THE BOHEMIAN NORTH LONDON OF THE 1960’S, WHO HAS SOME UNSUAL METHODS OF SELF PORTRAITURE AND DEALING WITH THE DEVON RAIN.
]]>Working with a range of materials Ivan Grieve develops surfaces through sensory expressions that evolve into landscapes or portraits.These become dynamic and intimate works that emerge from gestural mark making and experimentation with pigments and grounds.Ivan’s continues to practice his observational skills with still life work at his studio.
I believe that art and a passion to find expression are in my blood.A genesis that was then vitalised by growing up in Sixties Camden, the Roundhouse, sledges on Primrose Hill, Delancey St. and kites on Hampstead Heath.Happenings, “grown-ups” becoming visionary and inventive, were all around this buzzing part of London.I was lucky enough to have had some very inspirational art teachers in my younger days who set me off on a journey of no regret.
I really immersed myself with making art, ten or fifteen years ago-there was a lot going on in my life and indeed in the world, as now. It was a port in a storm, so to speak,during some particularly difficult times personally and globally.I drew day and night for months on end.I plucked up the courage to show what I had been drawing to a gallery. I subsequently had the opportunity to curate and stage my first solo exhibition.This was in 2010, a “happening” in a way, that took the form of charcoal drawing each day for a week, on the newspaper covered walls, in front of the gallery’s visitors.
Now, I divide my time between being out in the landscape and back at my small studio. I value the importance of being out walking and sketching along the rivers and hills in South Devon throughout the year. A rendezvous with each of the Seasons as they come and go. I am sometimes wrapped up or conversely with a parasol.There are brief encounters with the passing, inquisitive walkers. The river like time continues to flow and is both a physical and metaphysical element in my work, flowing as she does from the moor to the sea.
The studio is where I hold a variety of materials some natural, some unusual with which to express further my dialogue with the landscape.The shelves are lined with pots and boxes of things, some labelled some not.
It is also back at the studio where I have been exploring the the essence of being myself.Making sketches in different ways or with materials that perhaps define me;tea, spirulina and a plethora of lotions and prescribed potions.I feel that to make a sketch of someone using materials and tools that perhaps outline the soul of who that person has become.
In the field and in the studio I try to keep the freedom to make marks and loose gestural responses to a subject, it is integral to my work.
“Energetic, atmospheric and emotional” are words that have been used by others to describe my work.I work on a range of scales but nothing truly enormous any more.I build up layers of texture or use a variety of marks and lines to convey my feelings.Tonal qualities and colour with flowing marks set with soft forms depicting a documentation of Nature and humanity in an expressive way.
I work every day either outside, or in my studio.I rise early and go to bed early, especially as Spring emerges.The start of the day is reflective and quiet, reviewing progress on works that I am creating or projects that I maybe collaborating on with others.
Then it time for a quick look at the elements, in the South West, it is often essential to don a Sou’wester.! It is not just in April that we get the showers and it does make for greater comfort to dress according to the weather when sketching en plein air.
Documenting views following the River Dart or stopping to note an enticing aspect along a walk is always initiated with mark making. On occasion I may make a small and transient “intervention” at a site. As I set to return to the studio, in to my bag will go mud, sap, feathers, twigs used as tools etc.
In the studio, I then review field sketches and gather materials to work with. I have been working into small sketches with soft pastels and the “key” of dried found pigment adds a richness of texture and tone.
Inspiration is from the landscape and seeing places through the changing seasons. I have a deep seated urge to find rhythms and patterns to make sense of chaos.Winter landscapes have a more pronounced and visible order to latch onto, Summer has greater sensual depth.
In people and in self portraits I search for an understanding of how the subject thinks they are perceived and how they maybe perceived by others, along the lines of a Johari window.People change through the seasons and with the flow of time too.
My daughter in a way is a role model for me, she is such a muse, though not quite eight years old, her absolute joy in experimenting with her creativity and materials, constantly surprises me. Such a no hole’s barred approach is a great example and one which I hope is symbiotic too.
At the other end of this continuum I do admire the “ferocious creativity” of Anselm Kiefer, the drive and exploration in his works are boundless. The landscapes and materials are particularly of huge interest.
Atmosphere with a place or person is something that I search for. Trees and tree lines in the landscape and to some extent the equivalent in a person too.
Emotions for me are always spread across the surface of what I make, layered across the surface of a work.An emotional documentation of changes to peoples and place.
Drawing and making self portraits has become a bit of an obsession, a personal struggle documented on paper or canvas. I used to focus on these from November to the Spring as some sort of visual personal pilgrimage or penance. I have been looking at other artists work,self portraits are often within the mix. I really hope to develop a portraiture aspect of my work as `I feel it will sit nicely with the landscape style that I have developed.
I recently produced a number of “ touch self portraits”.Feeling my face and trying not to look at the paper, I drew what features I explored with my hand using charcoal on paper.It produced interesting movement across a facial landscape, reminiscent of Muybridge I guess?
On occasion I have been asked “What is your all-time favourite work of art (by another artist)?”
This is a difficult question and I shall have to say Anselm Kiefer’s “ Freya’s Garden” 2013, masterful , dreamy and mysterious but maybe at 330 x 470 x 10 cm a bit too big for my home in which to enjoy it.Kiefer remains as relevant today as ever with seismic shifts taking place around us.
But for many reasons I think I might choose “Behind Camden Town Station, Autumn Evening, 1963, by Frank Auerbach. It is very evocative of time and place for me and somewhere I have journeyed from many a time.
If I were to choose a recent work of my own? A small mixed media drawing “Winter at Sharpham Marsh” 2021, which I used in fact as a card for Christmas.This was the starting point for sketching with found materials and developing the marks and tones back at the studio.The card was really popular and some people even asked for some to be made for them too.
As for the future? I really hope to continue to make and create as I watch the seasons and changing faces of those around me.To develop my practice and make new connections in the art world.To collaborate with other artists who may have similar or complimentary views that we may express together.
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