River Forth

I cross this river everyday - it looks like this.







But 30 or so miles east it has become this... a major estuary.

A few moments of Venice

I was in Venice for two days last October, these are just a few moments I remember. I willl post others onto Flickr and paste the link in here.

3d-cakes - the most fabulous

I pass this Edinburgh shop every week, never had the chance to stop until this morning. Would you believe these are ALL cakes, yes, edible ones!

View from the bridge

British Museum

An installation made from recycled bottle tops by El Anatsui, world-famous Ghanaian artist. Sainsbury Gallery, British Museum



El Anatsui's large installation at Venice Biennale, 2007 (below)

Horse at Marble Arch, London

More on three dimensions - I have not so far been able to discover who made this brilliant sculpture at Marble Arch in London, or indeed why it is there. Why a horse's head? And why in this place? I would like to know the back story.

More about this. I gave now discovered the sculptor is Nic Fiddian Green. Www.nicfiddiangreen.com.  

Going into three dimensions

Spending time at British Museum during visit early January, I became aware of how vital the three-dimensional pieces were. Of course most of the things in there are three dimensional because of the cultures from which they originate, or simply because of their antiquity. I took my iPod and listened to podcasts from The History of the World 100 Objects, by BM Director, Neil McGregor. It was so different to be in the presence of these pieces.

Here (above) is a marvellous bull from 2500 BC, Temple of Niwhursag.






















Here are some little very basic "three-dimensional
sketches" by me, February 2011!

The mystery of lithography

Time this month with the vexing issue of lithography.

Working on the stone is a complex process, needing much devotion, experimentation and time to learn and to become acquainted with. It definitely is a technique that has a mind and soul of its own, and demands much respect.

With the help of head technician and master-lithographer, Alistair Clark, I made a careful sample of different marks and processes. This picture gives an idea of what we did at Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop. It is a limestone litho stone with different strengths of wash.

google art project

This amazing project gives access to most of the greatest world art collections, in great detail.
It is possible to zoom right in to see brushstrokes. For example, Seurat is known for his pointillist form of creating colours by little separate marks which the eye then combines into one(ish) colour, and using the google programme shows exactly how he did this, probably even more than if I were standing in front of the painting.

I have been studying optical colour mixing, as it is called, and so this example just comes to mind, but there is SO MUCH more to discover and I am looking forward finding my way around this unbelievable and brilliant (free) facility. It is really interesting for painters in particular.

Have had a busy January, was away in London for a bit catching up with movies, theatre and dance, visiting relatives, recovering from the snowblitz we had in Scotland over Christmas and New Year. Spent lots of time in British Museum while in London. I am convinced many of objects in there still retain their original power of transporting humans to a higher or at least a different world.

I visited the London 2012 site one chilly morning with a group and a well-informed guide. Lots of politics around it, but given good weather on the day, it looks like being a beautifully designed success. The construction is well ahead of schedule apparently.

At present I am enjoying being able to get to my workshop without Arctic equipment, hopefully will not need same again this winter, dare I mention. Much satisfaction this week in doing a one-to-one class in lithography with the highly expert head technician at Edinburgh Print Workshop, although it is still a complicated technique, and I do not for a moment assume my struggle to "master" it is complete.

Will try to get some pictures into this post in due course. Happy New Year to any readers!