Studio time

Today I am mulling over the amount of time spent in my studio.  Or rather the lack of it currently.

Other artists will concur that once in 'the zone' having faffed with the paints, brushes and spent an hour pondering over the last work you did, it is a joyful, frustrating, wonderful place to be. Painting makes me truly happy, and that motivates me to continue. However, I do find that because I also work full time,the time I get to do this is rather slim. Don't get me wrong, I do actually enjoy the variety that working this ways gives my life, but I do find that my two days off in the week which are usually Sunday and Monday are often swallowed by the day to day chores of life: the food shopping, cleaning, exercise (yep I manage a bit of that!) and other day to day jobs.

My Studio is a 15 minute walk or a 4ish minute drive away, rather than being at home, so I find that in summer I feel motivated by the light nights to go of an evening, but in winter I confess I struggle to motiviate myself...

So I ask, how do you motivate yourselves to go to the studio when life is getting in the way?

It's all in a name..

Quite often when people discover I'm an artist, the first thing the quite rightly ask is 'what kind of work do you do?' A branding of the practice it seems is quite an important tool in the quest for understanding it would seem...

You'd think that this would be easy, but quite often I find it quite a tricky question. I find myself being generally descriptive 'Big bright abstracts' or 'Really textural abstracts, with spray paint, glitter and enamel' but feel these are quite an inadequate way to try to encapsulate my work, particularly if I'm trying to describe it to an audience with a bit of art knowledge.

I usually then simply show a picture as an example which resolves the problem.
However, it has bothered me that whilst being able to talk at length about other artists work, I find myself baffled by my own practice, one which I should know best of all!

Having spent years writing about my work, cogently and with joy, I have realised how easy it has been to get out of the habit of talking about my work, and how self consciousness can lead to a 'dumbing down' attitude.
I recently re-read my MA thesis which was basically a mapping excersise, based on contemporary painters in line with my own practice. It has inspired me to reengage with the academic side of my practice a little.

So over the next weeks and months, I will try to put together a way to describe my work, a short but sweet 'abstract' of you will.

How do you talk about your practice? Do you have any self conscious trouble?

The Joy of Pinterest

One of the most powerful tools I use, and perhaps one of the most simple, is Pinterest.
I have been known to be a little behind the times with technology, mostly because I enjoy the old fashioned things like books and pencils, however, Pinterest is something I was immediately drawn to as it caters perfectly for the visually minded. It also links up beautifully with twitter  (see, I'm down with the kids)

Essentially a great big internet sized pin board for ideas, it does what a mood board used to do for me when I was studying my A Levels. I have filled board after board of things that make me tick, over the past year or so, predominantly artwork that inspires me, but also, nods to my childhood and hobbies like baking and sewing....

This isn't an advert for Pinterest before you say, and they're not paying me or anything! I just think it's a great tool for the creative brain.  A way to put down ideas, to find colours, concepts and to meld them all together in one place. A place I can check freely in the studio whenever I find myself flagging.

Just seeing the artwork that has excited me makes me refocus on my own work, and so I'll leave you with an insight into my brain, mapped out in all it's slightly quirky glory for you via the channels of Pinterest...

http://www.pinterest.com/vlawsonart/

Bye for Now

My Muse

What better way to re-start blogging than to talk about my Muse.
Over the years, my inspiration has come from all over, from other artists, from the media, from books, films, all kinds of places. However there has been a constant force that never fails to get me excited.

I give you Fiona Rae.


Look!! Look!! Look!!

oil and acrylic on canvas, 2006
84 x 69 in / 213.4 x 175.3 cm

© Fiona Rae

I've been to two Fiona Rae shows, once at the Timothy Taylor gallery in London, and once at Leeds Art Gallery. I can't even tell you, I become a kid in a candy store.
Visual bliss they are, just spectacular, vibrant, cute, and yet at the same time oozing with slightly sinister hints, the odd face of a beast, perhaps a dragon; a throwback to her background in Japan perhaps. Running paint that hints of dripping blood, whilst dancing deer, or sometimes collaged cats and dogs peek out at you.

Her ability to take modern imagery, popular culture and manage to unite this with a very painterly approach, to create a formal language in paint astonishes and delights me.
Her colour palette is perfection in my eye, not abashed about using garish street colours against beautifully harmonised taupes, browns and blacks, her ability with colour is phenomenal. If I could attain even a fraction of that in my work I'd be pleased

I am in awe of her work, go and see it if you get the chance, I certainly will be going again.
The next one, hopefully at Nottingham Castle. As you can see by following this link, she's scheduled to do a joint show with Dan Perfect in Spring. Can't wait!
http://www.fiona-rae.com/news/fiona-rae-dan-perfect-joint-exhibition/

You can check out her website here: http://www.fiona-rae.com/

Bye x

A change of pace

It's been a very long time since I blogged, and I've realised why...
The blog was focusing on my own practice, my scanty competition entries, works in progress etc, but when you work full time, your artwork naturally develops at a slower pace that were you working on it full time and so, I ended up with big gaps in my blogging whilst I built up work to talk about.

However, I now hope to change tack a little and blog about art in general.
Working as I do in the arts sector and enjoying my practice alongside, I live and breathe the subject daily. There's also a whole host of craft projects that I enjoy; sewing, baking and anything else that takes my fancy. so I will make a promise to write more often, as I do have plenty to say!!

Hope you'll come along for the journey :)

Vicki

John Moore's Entry

"You can do anything you want to do, this is your world"

Well, I did it, I submitted on time for the John Moore's. I've already posted this on Facebook etc so apologies if you've already seen it, but I did promise to keep my blog up to date more this year. I'll firstly just post below what I posted on facebook for continuity...

As promised, here is an image of my newest piece for the John Moore's painting prize. After entering twice before in 2010 and 2008 with quite serious pieces, I decided to be more playful this time. I've been working on a technique I used a fair bit during my masters in 06, experimenting with it on and off as I love the effect and have lots of fun using it. The piece is really a celebration of all things painterly and is a bit quirky as you'll see from the image. Fighting the whole 'Painting is dead' notion with a piece based on a quote from the marvellous Bob Ross, "You can do anything you want to do, this is your world" It's a cheeky little dig at the stuffier side of the art world...

So it was a little diversion from my usual work, but with links to techniques I dabble with every now and again. The thick squiggles of paint give me more enjoyment than you'd probably imagine- they're very satisfying to make!

Also, I will talk about the little lady in the middle because you might be wondering...

For literally years, I have been on a rambling directionless mission to incorporate some simple figurative elements into my work, and particularly like the idea of actual people, like the scale model figures you can by for model railwaying. I have dozens of these little figures, gathered from wanderings in model shops, looking rather out of place amongst the hardcore of role playing model makers and narrow gauge miniature railway enthusiasts, I lurk around the tiny people section and peruse quietly. I have couples, cyclists, people sitting, people standing, the usual stuff, but also a small selection of stranger pieces, including a naked fairy, a clown with balloons and the charming lady lifting her top so confidently that I have included in this piece.

I have to say, that I laughed out loud when I saw her on the rack (no pun intended) and had to buy her immediately - even though at the time I had no clue what to do with her. She would join the many other plastic figurines until I found a purpose for her. (Just next to her was a figure of a police man pointing a gun at his victim's head, and an escaped convict in his orange jumpsuit.. A little more sinister - I may have to find a use for them too at some point)

So said lady has been attached to a piece of paint, not unlike the paint now adorning this piece, for ages, stuck in a box in my studio. It was only when painting this new piece that I really felt it needed some embellishment that the thought struck me that she would be perfect. Bingo! The thick sculptural paint was perfect for standing my little lady in. She had a purpose at last.

So she will enter the John Moore's competition as a cheeky and fun display of painterly loveliness that is pretty and colourful and all things that 'serious artwork' probably shouldn't be. The reason being; I'm tired of the dreary and academic manifesto's associated with 'Fine Art' that seem to sap the pleasure out of contemporary painting.

If there's one thing I've learnt from working with commercial artists is that they get to do what they love for a living. They love what they do and have fun doing it, and that is surely the point of art? To bring a bit of joy

I have fun painting, and this painting is about 'The Joy of Painting'.

God Bless Bob Ross

(rant over)

V

A little Challenge

Every post I make seems to start with 'So it's been a while'.. My new New Years resolution must be to blog more! 2011 has actually been a bit of an artistic black hole for me with one thing or another.

Those who know me will be aware of the family trauma's we've had, and so every day off work has been spent travelling and hospital visiting rather than painting. However, fingers crossed that that period is coming to a close, due to the ongoing recovery of said family member, and so I have set myself a bit of a challenge to get myself motivated. Not just to blog more, oh no! To paint an entry to submit into the prestigious John Moore's painting prize again this year. No pressure or anything, I've got til the 6th of February to submit my images... And I've paid £25 for the priviledge of submitting, so I'd better get on with it!

The temptation of the £25k top prize is too much to resist, along with the prestige of being in what is one of the biggest painting prizes in the uk....
So watch this space. I will post the pictures up soon, hopefully before the 6th of feb!!

Time Lapse Painting

Just a quick post tonight. I'm in the middle of painting a duo of pieces that will hopefully look great as a pair but stand alone too. Rob caught me in the early stages of one of them, when I was just laying down the initial colours and shapes, and snapped this time lapse video. Unfortunately, as I'm studio-less at the moment, I'm crouched on my living room floor with the painting propped up against the coffee table and cardboard everywhere! Still, thought you might like to see...

Every time I blog, I start it with... 'It's been a while...' Well no more, I hereby start this blog with the pledge to post more often!! Life has got in the way a little bit recently, but I've been painting in between, working on some commissions and one that I may be hanging on to myself because I really like it! Which is unusual for me. Often on encountering my work weeks or months after completion I can't look at them! I had a piece in the Nottingham Open last year which I really liked, but when I saw it hanging in the gallery at the Castle I avoided it all night... Might just be me being weird?...
Anyway, 2 new canvases are on order and should land on Monday which are slightly smaller than my usual at 60cm square, but my studio can only hold so many big ones so I'm down sizing for a while. But I like working big so I may have to actually try to sell some so I can make more!

That's it for now as as of tomorrow I have four days in which I will be out of the studio visiting family, friends and taking in some Shakespeare don't you know. After that I'll be heading back into the studio and you should see more soon. I promised! I'll leave you with an image of the piece I might be keeping for myself, 'Where Angels Dare' Vx

Back on it

It's been many weeks since I got anything productive done in the studio with one thing or another, but today I went and although no new painting commenced I cleared out all my junk and moved my desks around to make a much more functional space. Over all I feel pretty positive and like I can now get on.
So it's coming to the time of year where I seem to get more productive, the studio is no longer an icebox, longer days are here and the increased enthusiasm all round means that hopefully more work will follow. So any requests for commissions or anything, let me know! ;)

I've won an award! Kind of...

Big thanks to my friend Lucy and her blog Littlelostsoul for awarding me this rather fabulous and glitzy stylish blogger award! it's nice to know there are people enjoying my little posts.
Apparently the idea behind it is that when you receive one of these you link back to the person who awarded it to you, share seven things about yourself and link to 15 other deserving blogs and let them know you have done so!
However, since I am fairly new to this malarky, I don't yet have 15 other blogs to link to so I'll put that part on hold until I do.
My seven things however, I will attempt for you!

1. I hate the summer! The sticky horrible british summer combined with very pasty skin that burns easily and supercharged hayfever makes me long for September every year.

2. You'd no more get me on a rollercoaster than fly to the moon. I've tried; I failed and cried a lot!

3. As I'm getting older I'm turning to tea rather than alcohol.

4. My favourite smells are lemons, bacon frying, fresh coffee, clean sheets, distilled turpentine, the garden when it's raining, pencil lead (odd?) warm chocolate brownies, Lush shops and oil paint.

5. My Studio is affectionaly referred to as 'The Cube of Pain' owing to it's difficulty in design, construction and cost to build!

6. I'm soon to be an auntie again, something I'm very excited about!

7. I like peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Hey, don't knock it til you try it!

Vic x

Good Day

Today has been pretty productive, made a start on 4 new panels and a lot of progress on the base painting of a canvas that has been calling my name for a while. The studio was warmer than it has been for a while and it doesn't half help!
I have some time off work coming up so am looking forward to getting all of these pieces finished very soon! Images to follow as and when, for now, here's my lovely sunny studio taken today.

OPEM Open East Midlands

Just a quick one to let you know that I have a piece of work showing at The Collection in Lincoln from Saturday the 5th, along with a collection of other artists as part of this new Open competiion which showcases artists from all over the east midlands region. I'm really looking forward to the Private view tomorrow and who knows, I could win a prize!

New images of work

Just a short one today, just had confirmation that my profile on the OKYA artists online collective has now gone live. You can find me by going to www.vickilawson.co.uk
Images are in the early stage, but hopefully will be improved soon. It's a stop gap until I can get my own website together, but there are some other good artists on there too. Check it out!

First blog of 2011!

Well Hello again, it's been a while!
I can't say I have been the most productive over the winter period, with a freezing studio which suffered from frozen pipes a fair bit, and a general desire to stay at home and eat Christmas cake, my painting has definitely slipped a bit. However, over the last few weeks I have ventured back in, and spent a few pleasant hours yesterday priming four new boards to work on in four rather vivid and garish colours. So general feelings of progress are starting to bubble again, and I am aiming to go to the opening of the new show at my studio tomorrow night which should be good too.
In other news, my work will be appearing in the OPEM (Open East Midlands) show at The Collection in Lincoln, opening on Friday the 4th of Feb, along with some other great artists, so things are on the up! Hopefully will have more to come soon. x

There are times when my brain goes into overdrive. Apart from the constant mulling over painting ideas, colour palettes, how to get more depth and mood into my compositions, how to incorporate direct imagery like people and buildings, whether I have overdone it with the glitter (again) or whether I should switch from canvas to board, all of which are constant recurring mental conversations I have with myself, I am often cursed/blessed with the mindstate where these mundane ponderings step up a notch and I end up scribbling away into sketchbooks or creating massive brainstorms on my studio walls that are intended to be mind maps, to simply get down on paper everything that is tumbling around in there before I forget something that could be worth remembering. (I have a tendency to do that)
The outcome of this is often a lot of wasted paper and some serious under eye bags thanks to the lateness of the hour. I'm one of those people who cannot switch off when going to bed, I lie there going round and round over ideas, churning and tumbling over the potentials. Annoyingly only about 5% of what I mull over during these periods actually comes to anything which at the moment is quite frustrating. What doesn't help is that when I'm not painting, I have other projects on hand, be it planning exhibitions, joint or solo, planning new enterprises like developing into sculpture and possibly installation, right down to making the odd bit of jewellery, or dabbling with the novel I have been trying to write for three years.... If it's not one thing, its another... It's a wonder I haven't gone a bit emo over the years with all this....
Tonight is turning into one of these nights... I've been trawling the internet all evening and fear that my sketchbook could be in for a battering until the wee hours. To make it worse, I have to be up for work at 6.30am tomorrow... I presume this is simply the creative tendency making itself known and I should be welcoming it, however, why is it never there when I'm in the studio on my day off? Staring at a blank canvas then giving up and coming home to grump about why nothing is happening is the usual course, whereas tonight, when I can do nothing about it, I have ideas coming out of my ears....

Ideas a-plenty

My visit to Frieze art fair in London last week really got me thinking. What am I doing compared to the state of the larger art world? How does my work relate? My visit was quite eye opening, a lot more painting that I expected which was pleasant to see, and moreover, a seeming slide towards a more creative and skilled approach to work. Sound silly? I mean that over the years, visiting contemporary galleries has become more and more depressing for me. As an artist I personally place value on timely, considered art. Art which takes some skill to create, something that not everyone could come up with. I have personally found exhibitions rather devoid of this attribute in recent years, save for the stunning exhibition Fiona Rae compiled in 2008. I remember a quote from her, saying she liked witty art, art that was intelligent and challenging. I find I agree more and more. So to see some really quite interesting and engaging art at Frieze gave me some hope... Perhaps in these difficult economic times, when money is not as plentiful, those big bang make the money art works are stepping aside for those practitioners who may have been slightly sidelined by the shock and awe of the likes of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, and we are allowed to see some creative beauty coming through? A very positive note then... I would not say that the entire fair was to my taste, certainly not. I still find it hard to engage with video and performance art, however, each to their own. As the old saying goes, if we all liked the same thing, the world would be a boring place.
I feel an urge to get back in the studio.

Ta Daaaa!

I can finally say that the studio build is finished! That is unless I find some minor detail that needs attention, but for all intents and purposes I can reveal my 'Showroom' thus called because of it's pristine unused state! Or as my friend James called it, my 'Marvel of Architectural Wonderment', which I like very much and may adopt as a sign over the door.
So all's well, now just have to get on with some work, although there is a show at the studio tomorrow night which may simply involve looking at other people's art and drinking. I feel it could be a good way to christen the space. Til next time x

The Studio build progresses

A Quick update on the studio build... Well over half way done, perhaps just one more evening of building to finish it off. Tonight, we rest, because Rob is tired and I have a cold, and frankly it's time to have a night off! My creeping worry now however is that I only have 3 more days to be out of my old studio and there is still one car load and a couple of walking trips required to shift 4 rather large canvases down to the new place. I say down because it's downhill all the way. There's something to be thankful for at least. Still, we're nearly there and it will be worth it in the end. The space is actually feeling rather big now it has been defined, although this picture fails to show it, it is in fact 14 feet long and nearly 8 feet wide. More than enough room for little old me anyway.
In progress picture attached.

The studio build has commenced! After a quick trip to HSS hire that is. Turns out my cheap Argos drill just doesn't cut it when attempting to drill into brickwork, so one hefty hammer action drill later and we have progress. Aided by my glamorous (and somewhat stronger and taller) assistant Rob, who turned into Superman for the evening, we now have wall batons and floor beams in place, and very sturdy they are too I might add.
For clarity I attach a before image in which you can see the other artist's spaces on either side of me, and may understand why I want to build walls to keep it all out. We're based in an old factory, which in fairness as with so many of these type of place, has seen better days, in that the walls and ceiling are a bit worse for wear, but it contains twenty five very nice arty types and I'm very much looking forward to moving in officially.

Today = day of rest, both for me and Rob, who in fairness has done most of the hard work so far, except he was at work when the delivery guys arrived with all the wood and panelling. We had to shift it all up 25 steps to get it in. They weren't happy. They were sweaty and red faced.
And so was I.

Still onwards and upwards, for tomorrow it continues. We should actually see some walls appearing all going well.
Til then.......