Captivating images where I can refer from when painting..

These are all paintings taken from the Facebook account Girish https://www.facebook.com/GirishMusicTour?fref=nf. This account highlights on spiritual rise and benefits of meditation effects on lifestyle of individuals. Here is a glimpse of the kind of statements that are usually posted:

“The multiplicity of forms! The hummingbird, the fox, the raven, the sparrow hawk, the otter, the dragonfly, the water lily! And on and on. It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day.” ~ Mary Oliver

Jui Ishida

I was astounded by the richness of the colours in the paintings which seemed to stand out and for me these were the references I could need. I also liked the soothing, gentle and welcoming approach that seemed to emanate from these paintings: "the positive energy" which I remarked was represented by the swirl or the circular gesture. Could the flowing lines be linked with positive energy and freedom while the squarish to represent the stagnant and the unimaginative/negative? Here is all the panoply about colour therapy and its effects and benefits and about the colourful "inner self" backed with a distinct vocabulary of auras and chakras. Enjoyment- the aim of every artist (according to me), in its purest form.

  Debra Wenlock

 Erik DuPree

Susan Farrell

 
 Susan Farrell

 Gabriel Sampad

 Amy Chen


 
Jo Thilwind


Karmym


Dominque Hurley

 
Jacqueline Dodd

Visiting artist Donal Moloney.

Visiting artist Donal Moloney presented his stunning works yesterday (30th March 2015) during our group hangout with Caroline. A rich source of information that I needed to be stored. It was a real feast to the eye and vaguely I was reminded of artist HEW LOCKE. His ideas were most intriguing in the sense that there were elements of mystery prevailing. 

I like the rather complexed/detailed and brightly coloured paintings which were abstract yet on a closer look figurative as well. There was a refined touch to his works which also showed elaboration/intricateness and a clever grouping of different narratives. I enjoyed the playful attitude that prevails where he sometimes introduces elements of humour to shift the viewer's attention. He says "even if the painting is small you can hide little things inside that would shift your reading of the painting".

His strange compositions "where the eye can't simply rest" stores crammed information that can only invite the viewer to look again and again for a long time where each discovery is relished one after the other. His experiments of layering of images on top of images is most fascinating as he himself claims "almost like images are cancelling each other out". And he keeps adding more and more "until like the painting will collapse"

He play around a lot with scale from rather large canvases to postcard size miniatures. Also, I find a pattern in his research and making where he started with very large canvases and has evolved towards minute detailed very small works. His process is very important too where he uses abundant materials like pigment, charcoal, acrylic paint,pastels, watercolours, resins, oil-pastels,gesso and his experiments are quite broad as oxidising surfaces, diluting acrylics, obtaining stains from different sources as even dipping canvas into water, using tools like squeegees, etching and scratching the surfaces to obtain layers, marbling which is later scanned and painted on,etc.

He asserts that he has no real plan at the start of the work and he cannot say when it can also round up and say that the work is finished. He relies a lot on "his eyes" to "be his own critic". I also like the remark he made on working on individual figures and then grouping them together and make them look like "stickers".

 http://365artists365days.com/2014/10/04/donal-moloney-london-england/

                  Donal Moloney, Shrines.

Pondering on...

LUCY DAY.

Interesting presentation last Monday by curator Lucy Day. Rather lengthy but also much much educational to me. Wow, this is a whole new world to learn about. Important Fact and Information: I haven't sold much of my artworks in my whole "artistic career"..

 

1.Question to myself: Have I met a curator in all my life?

Answer: No, I don't think there even is one in Mauritius.(I mean a qualified one with a background like her) I have met press critics, people who have galleries, however, here in Mauritius "the domestic market" prevails and some people are not even clear about the endorsement process. Interesting words here also as "Instrumentalism" on which I had to do some research.

 

2.Question to myself: As an artist, Where do I stand? What are my expectations?

• Is my work commercial?

• Who is my market?

• Where is my market?

• Who do I need to know?

• Do I need additional skills? 

But I think the most important question to myself is:To what extent should I be concerned about selling my works?

I think I have cornered around this question a long time ago as I had started my BFA course. I knew right then that I was in to something that had completely to do with passion and not at all with money. And I knew right then also that I would NOT be embracing a career as an artist too as opportunities are scarce here. Rather, I wanted to become an art educator to serve people and educate them about art. I am too much of an artist to be a businesswoman (thinking over the "tangible tools"-business cards, postcards, leaflets,etc-these are really nice stuffs,however I do not see myself in them). I also tend to be too engrossed in my art to spend time looking out for and creating apt opportunities to sell my work. To add on, I think my personality has some serious fine-tuning to be done as I am an introvert and I struggle a lot on Making my work visible and to exercise rigour in "documentation" issues.

However, I feel that I have been quite successful in the local context. Whenever there are group meetings between artists, I always get invitation cards and it is always a pleasure to be acknowledged. I also get to participate in one of the major art exhibition which is held here, the "Salon De Mai". I feel fully satisfied to be in the picture. Should I aspire for more?/try to be more ambitious?

My aim for enrolling with the MA course was to be able to understand and tackle contemporary issues. Here also, I am fully satisfied. So I think some of the "Intangible Tools" are here too: confidence in my practice, clarity in direction, Knowledge of my "sector", reputation, networking. However, I really have to work for my "Artist's Statement". The small exercise we conducted made me realise how just some words can have a powerful impact on someone's way of seeing me and sizing me up/assessing me as a professional.

So to end up with, I think as Mark so beautifully said, I will continue on my venture with "making", "better making" and just purely "enjoying my making". 

Milly Martionou..

 www.millymartionou.com

  www.facebook.com/artmillymartionou

https://globalartagency.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/milly-martionou-flirting-with-the-abstract-expressionism-exhibiting-at-the-barcelona-international-art-fair-casa-batllo/ 

Interesting ideas which matches some of my own..
I also like the fact how she mixes realism and makes creative wholes.
And the technique behind the acrylic paint..

Selected images of Australian Aboriginal Artist Lena Nyadbi.

 

http://2014.australiacouncil.gov.au/news/items/news-features/leading-australian-artist-unveils-large-scale-rooftop-installation-for-major-museum-in-paris

Meeting with visiting tutor Stewart Geddes on 19 March.

Stewart Geddes was the tutor I was assigned to for Task Three. Prior to the meeting several days before,I had sent him several links to what I was making. 

This meeting was very enriching in the sense that I got first-hand commentary from someone who was looking at my work from another perspective...

Lots of useful hints and comments as what could be changed or added. Steward was very encouraging in his comments and liked my ideas in general. 

I also liked his interpretation of myself as being "immersed" when I talked about my emotions in relation to my work.

I discussed my ideas on mark-making and my preferences for some mark-making artists as the Australian aboriginal artist Lena Nyadbi, Alex Alien, Morag Macdonalds and most especially Heike Weber. 

I also talked about my painting being close to being meditative and positive and especially personal.

One important idea that came about while discussing things was the fact that I said that this work was like something trying to get out of my system. It's like I just want to work on and on and then I can finally move on to something else. This makes sense. This is why I feel a strong urge to finish it. I also feel like it is important to go on working without stopping. I feel like a flow.

We discussed about suitable materials as why I was using acrylic and canvas and Stewart suggested if I could experiment with some other materials and collage/installation.

We also talked about my essay and Stewart suggested to research on Henry Matisse and most importantly Joan Miro, the French Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and the British artist Howard Hodgkin http://www.howard-hodgkin.com/paintings

 

Stewart gave me several useful artists as references: the Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhaze.

 http://www.jamescohan.com/artists/beatriz-milhazes

Artist's bio:Beatriz Milhazes’ is well known for her vibrantly colorful, kaleidoscopic collages, prints, paintings and installations which draw on both Latin American and European traditions. Milhazes’ rigorously structured compositions are punctuated by a recurring set of arabesque motifs inspired by Brazilian culture, ceramics, lacework, carnival decoration, music, and Colonial baroque architecture. As Milhazes explains, “I am seeking geometrical structures, but with freedom of form and imagery taken from different worlds.” The artist has also cited opera, classical and Brazilian popular music as having informed the upbeat energy of her stripes, lines, circular forms, and rays. The careful balance of harmony and dissonance in her work, combined with her Technicolor palette, are evident of the strong influence by such 20th century masters as Tarsila do Amaral, Oswald de Andrade, Matisse, Kandinksy and Delaunay. Milhazes has stated “I need to have all these elements and put them together. They are in some sort of a conflict that will never really end up anywhere. There are not peaceful surfaces. There should be some struggle on the surface and then create some activities for your eyes” (Interview with Beatriz Milhazes, RES Art World/World Art, No. 2 May 2008). As the Fondation Cartier further explains, Milhazes’ “use of intensely vibrant colors, such as fuchsia, gold or orange, endows her canvases with an explosive energy that many have compared to the breathtaking rhythm of fireworks.”

The artist Raqib Shaw

http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/on-india/2013/12/raqib-shaw-paradise-lost.html

 And finally the Artist Hew Locke

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/mar/21/being-british-art