Retirement home visit no.2

18/4/12
Went to the retirement home again today. I took a lot of landscape and garden pictures based on what people had shown a preference for as a subject for their mural at the last coffee morning.

I had just over 60 images of landscapes by painters as disparate as Egon Schiele, Ivon Hitchens and Eric Ravilious. I was fascinated by what people were interested in and what they hated, I was pleased I'd decided to take so many examples to discuss. We passed them around the table a few times, discussing the comparitive merits of colour, perspective and style, putting some to one side and then mixing them up again. Finally I held them up one at a time for mass scrutiny in order to make a pile of images that contained things people liked, and another of what they really didn't.

See the full gallery on Posterous

I asked them to look at the pictures not as complete images but as prompts and samples of nature. So "I like that picture" wasn't a useful comment but "I like the texture of the gold leaves on the ground between the trees, but I don't like the trees and I'd prefer the colours to be more green" about a Klimt painting of a birch tree wood in autumn was just the right kind of information.

I was interested to notice that the Klimt paintings were popular except when they were "too full", it seemed that people generally didn't like the overpowering heaviness in his paintings of trees and plants but liked the colours and some of the shapes. This surprised me because I thought the oppressive floweryness of some of the Klimt gardens full of hollyhocks and delphiniums described a full border at the height of a warm summer perfectly. When I look at those paintings my ears fill with the sound of bees. I had never thought of them as being confusing or too full but I can see their point.

Generally they liked Schiele's crucified yet delicate trees and the muted colours, but they didn't like Ravilious' subject or colour when I showed some of his images of the Downs.

I was struck by how a few people had difficulty reading some of the images; they saw figures with boots on in plants, or snowmen instead of paths, we had a laugh about that.
Anyway I think I can see a way forward to the next stage and we have agreed that I should go back with more specifically garden, blossom tree and plant based images. I have a style of approach in mind from what people said about what they saw so I will be interested if I have got it right.

The overall unanimous favourite painting of the morning was Van Gogh's blossom tree on what looks to be a manganese blue sky (but that might just be my printer).

Drawing event for spring 2012

For the spring show "I see infinite distance between one point and another" by The Otolith Group, I am running a drawing workshop, "Drawing from word to image" about listening to words in familiar and unfamiliar languages. It's a starting point for making drawings about the images that pass through the mind when listening to words, intonation and poetic phrases. It's a workshop about exploring visual translation.

Coincidentally it mirrors the writing workshop that the poet in residence Maria Jastrzebska is running for writers about translating from languages you don't understand, have a look at her blog for more information http://unquietborder.wordpress.com/

see below for details on "Drawing from word to image" to book phone Fabrica 01273 778646

A day; another attempt to find an appropriate blogging form

Wednesday.

The retirement home…

Began the day going to meet with the residents of a retirement home who have had their pictures taken down from the corridors between their flats 'because of Health and Safety'. I'm sure there's a sensible way around this but it would take someone time and intelligent and sensitive interpretation of H&S legislation. It seems it's easier to just say no pictures or vases allowed in any of these homes.

They invited me to their regular weekly coffee morning to discuss the possibilities; they think they want a mural. I have been trying to think of an alternative to this solution as I do have a low opinion of murals. The majority of murals tend to be poor attempts at realism and make me shudder, surely the traditional art of the people could be, well, just better.

Anyway enough of my prejudice, they had good reasons for wanting a mural and so I am taking it as a challenge to help them make a good one.

The idea is that I begin the process, based on many years experience of public art commissions, and then hand it on to Fabrica volunteers picked for their commitment and drawing and painting skills to transfer to the wall of choice.

After talking with the residents about what they had been thinking about I suggested to them that we also think about elements that we could invent from the mural to make lots of smaller cut out drawings to place around all the blank walled corridors. As they seem to be most keen on the subject being landscape, gardens and nature I think it would be good to get them to come up with lists of birds, plants, butterflies, insects, that they know, like, see or grow. I think we could have an interesting combination of botanical drawing and drawings of bugs and seed pods etc. scattered about the rest of the corridors so that no place will look the same as any other. I'd like them all to be hand drawn.

I've agreed with them that I will take in as many print outs of landscapes as I can get my hands on so we can all sit around next Wednesday making collages of landscapes together as a way to share ideas and realise what's possible. I'm aware that everyone involved will have their own vision of a landscape; I think it would be good to get them all out on the table in visual form.

The poet's kitchen…

I went home to think about murals for a while over a sandwich and then went off to meet with Maria Jastrzebska who is Fabrica's artist in residence during the spring show "I see infinite distance between one point and another".

Maria is a poet and the film by The Otolith Group depicts Etel Adnan, also a poet, reading her work 'The Sea'. I hadn't met with Maria before today but she was immediately easy to communicate with and fabulously dynamic, I had asked if she would mind me recording her reading some of her work in Polish (she was originally born in Poland and also works as a translator) although she does all her writing in English, her work has been translated into Polish by others.

I am making a collection of poetry read in lots of different languages for a drawing workshop that I'm running at Fabrica on 30th April 1pm - 4pm. I wanted to do something based on how we hear poetry, how we think the concepts, words and rhythms in our minds. Do they make pictures or do the words and sentences find images in our memories.

I am very excited by this as I'm not sure how it will turn out, people often find it difficult to draw from their minds, they feel more at home with the struggle of drawing from a more concrete reality. So I think it will be hard but a true exploration of how we each perceive the poetic.

I was also thrilled to hear that Maria has been thinking along similar lines and is planning a workshop for writers around translating from languages they don't understand. Looking at shape and form. I will be interested to speak with her after and see the results of both workshops side by side.

The Quaker's quiet…

I dropped Maria off in town and went to Fabrica to meet with Eva Kalpadaki who kindly agreed to read me two poems in Greek with her Cretan accent. As everyone was banging and sawing in Fabrica getting the show together we went to the Friends centre and begged the favour of making the recording in the peaceful corridor of their building. The man at the desk said oh no that won't do, come with me you can borrow a better place, and led us to their lovely peaceful 'quiet room'. We spent 15 minutes of tranquillity recording Eva's mesmeric voice, said thank you and left. That’s four poems and two languages I've got today.

Fabrica...

I rushed back to Fabrica with half hour to spare with Maria and Jackie Wills (another excellent poet) before the volunteer briefing. This is Fabrica's regular pre-show meet when volunteers get to hear things about the show, i.e. the contents, the commissioning process, the background of the artist, other events and the exhibitions procedure in the sense of how it will work in a practical way.

It’s a great idea because the volunteers who will be the ones out with the exhibition and the visitors for the course of the show get to meet the various people doing things behind the scenes and can ask questions about any aspect they like in an informal way. It's also potentially time for them to get involved in more things going on. We all got to see the film for the first time on the big screen together too.
(Who was the fidget sitting on that squeaky stool at the back?)

Drove Lisa home and flopped out feeling happy and full of more ideas.

Life drawing - February series

During February's series everyone found some surprising and interesting insights into their own work by exploding it and sifting through the fragments.

It began with two weeks making many many studies of body parts up close.
In the third and final session we spread out, up on the walls and across the floors in the huge empty space of the gallery, reassembling the body parts to make new composite drawings.

At this point we looked at Annette Messager's installations to broaden the scope of possibility, to lessen the world's pervading influence of 'realism'.

I was told the process revealed:
Pleasure and discovery in spending time looking and arranging ones own drawings (rather than storing them under the bed).

A different way to look from afar and obliquely at the drawings thereby noticing rhythm in lines and marks.

An alternative way to draw, using drawings as marks to place in space.

motivation

Working WITH people...
I'm doing my "CASCADE" drawing workshop at Fabrica tomorrow so I'm wandering around the house seeing if there are any more bits and pieces that will help people find new angles on their drawing. Washing-up liquid bottles that I keep to refill for instance - what more could you want in a workshop about fluidity and unpredictability than what amounts to drawing with a water pistol?
Then I checked my emails to find one from Johanna Samuelson the model I've booked for the session who has just been to see the exhibition "CASCADE" in preparation for the session and is proposing ideas about how to work with the installation - it doesn't get better than this for me, I feel exhilarated to be working with someone so committed and responsive. This is the exciting bit, setting things up so that you can collaborate with people on ideas and ways to work, I absolutely love this!
Now I am going to get back to her about her fabulous new perspective on how to work with the body and the water and we will proceed, building together, how perfect work can be sometimes.
Thanks Johanna.

CASCADE drawing event at Fabrica

Comments about Jane Fordham's Drawing workshop 'MARKING TIME' at Fabrica

 

Thoroughly enjoyed it! Great set up and really good fun. Very accessible - thanks very much.

 

Excellent space to work on one large piece. The music was totally transformative - another world and having a model move through it was inspirational and moving - Thank you.

 

Wow movement sound centred me. Totally emercing experience.

 

Enjoyed it very much, something different and well set up in ideas and materials etc.

 

Fabulous, serious, inspiring tutor with an excellent model. Big thanks.

 

Fantastic - very liberating.

 

Great, lovely energy - thank you.

 

The wrap around sound gives a powerful kind of protection to enable you to take risks with paint and mark making on a large scale.

 

Great, I enjoyed it as always and I always learn something new about myself too in relation to what I like doing as a photographer.