Exhibition 2014 continued- Etchings

And then there are my etchings.

I was encouraged to go to etching by my dear friend Anne. Initially I resisted but I am now completely in love with the process and the results. I used images of miniature theatres as reference for these etchings.

Check out The Printing Press run by Sharon Sanders McClelland, a very lovely, enthusiastic, patient and experienced teacher. At her studio she does all types of printing and book binding. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Printing-Press-Durban/167640076713892?fref=ts

My exhibition 2014

Personal Myth, Collective Dream

For the last few months I've been focusing on getting ready for my exhibition at artSPACE Durban. I decided to go ahead with this exhibition even though I am still working towards my masters as I have found that I need an unmoveable deadline to really get me to focus. I am rather a diffuse individual and can float around my studio trying different things for months on end and an exhibition can help me to consolidate, take stock and then move forward in a well thought through direction.

So this is, as I see it, the beginning of my masters and really the tip of an iceberg as far as both the theory and practice are concerned.

Below is the artist statement for this exhibition named 'Personal Myth, Collective Dream'

Joseph Campbell talks of personal myths as dreams and collective dreams as myths.

Each of us has a personal myth that shows itself to us through our dreams. It further reveals itself through the patterns in our lives, choices we make, stories we are drawn to and images we work with. Our myth impacts our everyday lives and influences who we are and how we behave.

When we become aware of our mythology, both on a personal and a collective level, through a journey into the psyche we gain the opportunity of facing and changing our story. Each part of the journey brings us a step closer to Individuation which, in Jungian terms, is a transforming process where the personal and collective unconscious are integrated into consciousness.

One of the ways this journey is being explored is through my artwork.

The theme of the forest in my oil paintings represents that journey into the psyche, an unknown environment in which the adventure takes place. In order to capture the atmosphere of the forests I have focused on mark making and tone using ‘Grisaille’ (grey scale) allowing forms to emerge from the tones and the marks.

Hermes, in ancient Greece, was the mythological messenger of the gods and god of transition and boundaries. He features in my work as a guide on my journey into the myth in the form of winged shoes and feet.

My childhood love of Pollock’s Miniature Theatres inspired my three dimensional theatres and two dimensional etchings. Each construction embodies one of the ‘rooms in my mythological house’. In analytical psychology the house represents the psyche. The sets; story, decor, characters and images symbolize aspects of my psyche that I am endeavouring to become aware of, accept and befriend. There is also something metaphorical about ‘The Theatre of Life’ and acting out the scenes.

Think of all the legends, myths and faerie stories where one finds a house in the forest and the guide that, in various forms, helps the protagonist to find a way out. These narratives link us all past and present- all part of the Collective  memory.

This journey is ongoing.

The forests I have painted symbolize the journey into the psyche. The forest is not a welcoming place and the journey not easy, but if undertaken promises to help us confront and embrace ourselves fully. Warts and all. As mentioned above the paintings are purely tonal using an adapted version of the technique known as 'Grisaille'. All oil on canvas.

First etching

I am so over excited about this etching. Anne mentioned that she was going to be going to artSPACE Durban to do some etching with Sharon Sanders McClelland at The Printing Press so I decided to tag along. Boy I'm glad I did. I'm just loving it.

To tie in with the theme for my exhibition and masters I chose a pollocks' theatre curtain...

 The plate early on

  after first hard ground

 after second hard ground

 after open bite

with aqua tint shadows

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Printing-Press-Durban/167640076713892?fref=ts

All the World's a Stage

Big changes have happened on the ceramics/house front. 

To recap, I started working on translating the cardboard rooms put together based on my active imagination work with Estelle...

... into porcelain. Unfortunately, but probably predictably, the two side walls without support started to warp. I didn't want to close the room off with another wall and for a good while thought about different possibilities.

Then a light bulb went on. Perhaps the idea had been lingering for a while as a few months back I'd been captivated by the idea behind the film 'Hugo' and Georges Melies the French illusionist and film maker's work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s

I suddenly remembered the Pollocks Theatres I'd played with as a child. How about turning every room into a theatre set. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_theater. 

After all, as William Shakespeare said: 'All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts...'

And I found one in, of all places, a small second hand bookshop in Stellenbosch, tucked away in a corner. (Wasn't for sale!!!)

So I set about making a first template and putting together my first porcelain theatre  bringing together elements of the original Pollocks Theatre characteristics and the dream work I've been doing with Estelle.

Still a long way to go with this first piece but I am very excited about how it is developing...

The black and white tiles that seem to always feature in my dreams and active imagination work

And the forest... Which I am drawn to. The forest, which stands for the unconscious and its mysteries and which features in my paintings

And instead of the orchestra at the front, another symbol of the unconscious, the sea.

Stellenbosch

Paul and I recently spent a few days in Stellenbosch and camped in a forest just outside of town surrounded by the wine estates.

We slept out and watched the stars through the forest canopy. And in the afternoon napped (after a considerable amount of wine tasting) with the sun streaming through the trees.

So I had to paint it. Works in progress using grisaille again and concentrating on tones on a coloured background with silk screened hand drawn images and patterns and a burnt sienna glaze

 I love the way the colour comes through from underneath

and how the silk screened images and patterns show in some areas

Ceramic samples

After a couple of months of feeling totally uninspired with my ceramic work, last week I had a breakthrough and am loving it again and so excited about the possibilities.

Here are some of the samples I worked on. I have experimented with layering colour, drawing and texture onto little porcelain samples which I have to say I am very happy with. I mixed the glazes myself which, for those who know me, know that this is very hard for me. Too much precision. Weighing out tiny amounts of oxides etc, and then sieving them for crying out loud! I have patience for some things and not for others and samples and glazing is certainly not one.

For these samples slip is put onto embossed porcelain and then scraped away leaving the slip in the embossed areas

 

 

Here I used oxides to draw images from my sketch book onto the samples

 

 

Translating images from sketch book to ceramic samples

 

 

 

After the glaze firing with coloured craze free glazes and turquoise Carina glaze

 

 



 Winged shoe drawn onto a porcelain slab with oxides and with the embossed slip technique

 

 And to the left porcelain winged shoes...

 

I love the combination of colours, textures and images here

 

 

The first attempt at creating a room in porcelain. Very exciting