It must be a sign

My sketch of "An Allegory of Prudence" by Titian and workshop (1550-65). This triple head of animals- wolf, lion, dog -represented PRUDENCE in late 16th century imagery. The three headed man represents past, present and future.

"Learning from yesterday, today acts prudently, lest by his action he spoil tomorrow."

It was interesting for me to contemplate this work in the National Gallery. It reminds me that we all stand on the shoulders of giants when we think that we create something new. Earlier this year I made a piece called HUMILITY which also explores the theme of symbolism. I am always curious about ways to combine words and images, how to represent what I learn from reading into visual imagery. Would Titian have allowed me in his workshop to study this?

AI WEI WEI

Whilst in London, Ai Wei Wei was exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts. It is a spectacular show that gave me insight into his activism, the oppressive regime of the Chinese government and his creative process. My favourite room was Wei Wei's tribute to the school children killed during the earthquake in Sichuan - when substandard buildings collapsed. Wei Wei and friends tried to get a list of the dead from the Chinese governement without success - so they have collected as many as they could by talking to local people. These are represented in large scale printed lists pasted to the walls. On the floor is 150 tonnes of straightened reinforcer bars that were covertly bought by Wei Wei. These rusty bars from the condemned buildings, form ripples that look solid, but you have the ominous feeling that they would slip underfoot if you ventured to walk on top. It is a moving memorial.

There is a mix of playful and serious as you move through the rooms of this show. The gift shop is filled with Wei Weisms:

Art is not an end but a beginning.

I want people to see their own power.

A small act is worth a million thoughts. 

From prudes to nudes

Musee Rodin on a sunny day in Paris was a delight. In a previous life the building was a nunnery, the French cleverly passed some law that allowed them to kick the nuns out. It became rundown, so artists started moving in. Rodin plea bargained his collection and chattels to save the building from demolition. He loved that the garden was so unkempt that it had reverted to forest. Today it is a polished landscape that makes a fantastic for his statues. Often his initial models for sculptures were nude, with later versions being draped and accessorised. Apparently he preferred to be left undisturbed when he had a female model, what would the nuns have thought?

Portrait of a young man with eyeball

In a visit to the National Gallery in London, I noticed there were quite a few portraits of young men. Bronzino's gazes directly at me, he seems a man engaged with life, whilst another looks thoroughly bored with life, ennui seeping through the oil.

I was fascinated to see how so many painters convincingly rendered eyes. In Brozino's portrait the eyelash was simply painted with one upturned flick at the top edge of the eye. My quick sketch does not capture this quality, but it was a wonderful freedom to be able to sit, draw and contemplate the painting more fully. It made me think of Betty Churcher when she went to re-visit her favourite paintings when she was losing her sight and of the welcome those big institutions gave her, often giving her access after hours. Her gift was to encourage us to stop and wonder about art.

In the gift shop there are Van Gogh finger puppets - disappointingly they have two ears. My favourite snatch of overheard conversation was some advice from a wife to her husband as she pointed to the label next to a painting "If you read it, it explains". True on so many levels!

Blue and White

Blue on white, has a beautiful purity. It's Delft pottery, it's shibori, it's Willow porcelain, it's clouds in the sky and waves on the ocean.

Cobalt was first used in glazes by potters in Iraq and China. Early examples of these wares were found from a ship wrecked in the ninth century. Initially, these were considered garish compared to the pure whiteporcelain plates being produced. Soon though there was a flourishing trade in these goods and so we have had this aesthetic planted into our visual literacy.

Shapely

I'm continuing to work with the idea of triangles. Last week I started experimenting with the idea of two squares in a rectangular filled with triangles.

Triangulation

A while ago I scanned an article that talked about a new theory that proposed that a circle was actually a type of triangle. I don't remember any more about it than that, but it has stayed in my mind. Being interested in shapes this idea has seduced me into exploring the possibility by drawing. These shapes are definitely triangular in nature, yet I can see that if I push the three points into softer curves it could eventually become a circle.

Khan Academy tells me that you need to define 3 points to make a unique triangle or circle. Triangles are used as symbols in eastern and western philosophies and religions. In the west it is used to represent the holy trinity, while in the east it symbolises the connection between mind , body and intellect. Often a triangle is encompassed by a circle, which it turn represents a source of power, like the sun.

It's wonderful to discover how a snippet of information is processed by your thoughts over time to help generate your curiosity and creativity.

Home made

A big part of walking most days though the Grange Forest and along Kedron Brook is noticing changes to flora and fauna. Lately the wattles have been in flower, so I gathered a bunch to see if I could make ink. The yellow in the image above is the result of boiling up the blossoms in vinegar.

Our local forest evangelists have been poisoning weeds, one of which is a vine with red berries. I really like the vermilion colour they make. Back to the forest and back to the kitchen for some more experimenting....

Rediscovered

Following on from copying a master, the next part of the challenge is to do your own composition in the style of your chosen master. As though this painting has just been discovered, I imagined Xu Behing travelling to Australia and being captivated by the majesty of the Bush Turkeys.

This is my first attempt, nowhere near masterful, which means I will paint it over and over again until it looks like a noble fowl. FOUL!

attempting to master the classics

Our latest painting challenge is to copy a painter whose style we like, so that in the process of copying we may learn different techniques. One of my fellow students found the process soothing because so many decisions had already been made: colour, composition, medium and subject. Another chafed against the restrictions. I decided to try Chinese ink painting as I love the vibrancy of ink on paper.

"Flower-and-bird painting  was separated from decorative art to form an independent genre around the 9th century.  A great many artists painted in this genre during the Song dynasty and their subject matter included a rich variety of flowers, fruits, insects and fish.  Many of the scholar painters working with ink and brush used a great economy of line." This great description is from Asia-Art.net.   I did three copies of a rooster in the style of Xu Beihong (1895-1953) with varying degrees of success. I was really pleased with the feathers of my first attempt, the claws of the second and the head of the third. Displayed together they have a certain whimsy.