After a particularly helpful tutorial this week in which I was able to clarify the continuity of work across all three modules of Stage 3, I was able to make a plan for my degree show. This is still some time away but now I know what’s eligible for inclusion (everything produced in units 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 whether formally assessed or not), I can start to think about possibilities.

In the meantime, while this is mulling, I had a go at oils on slithery surfaced A5 Yupo paper. The objective, again in line with suggestions from my tutor about trying not to overwork and to leave space instead of always working into it, was to reduce my capacity to overwork and in-fill. This was most evident in my mono-print series and so the Yupo paper plays the part of the acetate but forces me to draw the image rather than apply paint on a transparent surface placed over a photograph.

Thinking of my degree show plan, I used a reference from a local shop. Boris the Gorilla features regularly in the window of the newsagents and this time was in pink to commemorate someone who used to work there.

I’m finding it hard not to see something of Kevin Kitten in this!

The image is full of reflections sliding into view over the darker reality and the other reality, what the eye/brain sees, is a miracle of selective attention. Although I noticed my own image because it was moving, I didn’t actually ‘see’ much of the intereference from other reflections until I got home and realised I could barely see Boris at all. This is the kind of system that allows us to pick out what’s important in a scene; and is generally helpful, although not when you’re homing in on the weed and totally miss the much closer pointed end of a stake.

This technique definitely limits my capacity to overwork and I can see spaces where I may not have left any had I been painting directly. But while I can’t say I’m fond of this surface, it’s another tool in my bag and reminds me that, reviewing everything I’ve done up till now will be handy as an audit of all the other tools I’ve collected since I began the course in 2018.

SCH 2023

For a list of workshops, groups, conversations, and other activities see my dedicated page