Elaine Phipps

“When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape.”
― Claude Monet

Artist Discussion & TERM - Claude Monet I absolutely love the work of Monet - like Turner - his fascination with and depiction of light is masterful. This lecture was all about observation and fluidity. One of the best things I've ever found on You Tube is this documentary by Waldemar Januszczak - scroll forward to 45:03 - it is absolutely wonderful.

The activities for this lecture were about looseness and observation. I didn't do much during the lecture - but the quote above is so lovely and playful and joyous. Here's a bit of what I did do.

Oh. My. Word.

Thought carefully about this one as life has been a bit dark of late.

The first activity used a melange of imagery and film as reference - and we were invited to create our own howl of despair.

Alright then. We moved on to the meat feature in which Francis Bacon used meat literally - and as a metaphor in some of his work. Funnily enough, I found this more disturbing than the existentialist howling thing. Perhaps it's because I'm a vegetarian.

However, I did like the slightly queasy palette - and of course, with Bacon - you start seeing orifices and Hieronymus Bosch everythere . We were concentrating on the contrast between flesh and the unyielding, almost violent quality of the meat hook.

I had to leave before the end of the class - so missed out on the wrapping/rope fetish imagery that informed the last activity.

I can't say I enjoyed the subject matter - Bacon was obviously affected/broken by his upbringing and early life - then seemed to spiral off into disfunction, a gambling addiction and a clique of enablers. However - you wonder if his work would have had that urgency and visceral quality without the chaos.

Great session - loved going somewhere 'a bit different'!

A fellowship bringing artists together - Artist Discussion Peer Support with @e_lchapman and TERM Art Classes with @AnnaFCSmith @KlaireDoyleArt & guests.

The session tonight was a Practical Art History module (there have been a series of artists covered in the Practical Art History series). Each session involves some hands-on activities inspired by the artist featured - David Hockney in this case. The modules are short, evening sessions - so whizz along at a fair old rate!

The first activity was inspired by a collage self-portrait by Hockney - and we were invited to create our own self-portrait from bits of magazine and print. Here's mine - I can only aspire to wearing so many pom-poms in one outfit. My reading glasses were never intended to be a homage lol

The second activity involved evoking a swimming pool (a Hockney classic) from memory or actuality. I learned to swim at Southport Bathing Lake which had originally been a Lido - nothing nicer than an outdoor pool. Happy memories!

Very at home with bouncing light and water - the numbers relate to a depth guide - the floor of the pool set at a slope, to enable it to go from shallow to deep. There were always red plastic chairs, poolside at my school trip swimming pool (we went into town to use it) and yellow lane markers.

The final activity was to emulate a Hockney journey through the countryside. Feel a bit uncomfortable with this one - but I do like the marker-made 'stripes' and dabs. I cropped it in and stayed away from using a rubine or orange marker lol.

 A brilliant way to spend an evening!