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Bob Davison: The Art World
January 7th, 2014 by Emma
Bob Davison, currently the Head of Fine Art, Painting and Drawing at the University of Gloucestershire (and one of my tutors) gave a personal talk about his route into the Art World and what opportunities there are for us as Art students.
He began the talk by giving us some background information about himself and how he got into the art world. I actually found it very interesting and endearing to find out that Bob was very keen on the subject of Science, as I am too. I took comfort in this fact because I’ve always been concerned that I’d have a different way of thinking in comparison to my peers who have studied Art foundation or been ‘arty farty’ their whole life.. and to know Bob has similar interests.. makes me feel better! Anyway, Bob was a physics technician for numerous years whilst having a passion for painting landscapes. He saidthat he believes paintings are all about space, construction, abstraction and colour.. and that artwork can change with time.. a painting has different elements in it, which can be taken away, added, changed, distorted.. in anyway the artist desires… Different things can be seen within one image. This idea that Bob explained, definitely took a weight off of my shoulders- in regards to painting a picture. Stop copying a photograph and stop planning exactly what you’re going to paint.. just go with it… I like this way of working- his paintings were beautiful- full of energy, layers, texture, movement, emotion and vibrancy!
Another thing Bob talked about was the broadness of work in Art Galleries. He explained that the work entails hanging shows, publicity work, catalogue production, preparing upcoming shows, documentation of shows, art fair preparation and more! He basically put us at ease by telling us that there are plentyof opportunities out there for us, as art students. Obviously working in an Art gallery isn’t the only door we can go through.. I’m actually very interestedin branding/advertising/design, so I’m thinking of going down another route.. but yes, there are many many things that we can go into with Fine Art degrees. He did say that moving to London is very helpful.. but lets not get carried away!
All in all, Bob’s talk was very informativeand helpful in regards to how we can develop ourown artwork and where it can take us in the future.
This post was written in 2014, during my Fine Art Degree. One part of a module suggested that we start a blog to document our practice – and even though I cringe at my method of writing (spelling, grammar and tone of voice), I’m very glad I got started. You can find more up to date posts on my blog listing page.
After Stiffkeys, Bob Davison, Acrylic on Canvas
Royal College of Art Students: Their Experiences
January 7th, 2014 by Emma
Jeroen van Dooren and Pauline Emond are two students from the Royal College of Art in London, a very prestigious PostGrad University for the Arts. They came to talk to us about their own experiences as Art students and what their work is all about.
First up was Jeroen van Dooren, a dutch guy full of bizarre and fascinating ideas. He was very keen about exploring identities and the presence of the artist in the artwork- very interesting concepts! He went on to talk about alter egos (a second self), pseudonyms (a second name) and heteronyms (one or more imaginary character/s created by an artist/writer/author/video gamer designer in order to write/paint/design in different styles). Jeroen has created many heteronyms overtime and considered himself the director of his characters- he uses his characters to make different types of art. He used the example of a construction worker- what would their artwork look like? He said that every person in society acts in a certain way, so everyones Art is different for different reasons. Jeroen emphasised his desire to play with the gap between fiction and reality- he likes to use script to close this gap. He also admits that he is interested in numerous areas of Art, so having different heteronyms enables him to channel all sorts of mediums in any way he desires.. (Through his characters!)
I think Jeroen’s way of thinking is absolutely crazy, but in a good way- its fascinating and a really unique way to express his creativity.
Next up was Pauline Emond, a Belgian young woman who seemed to be quite timid but very endearing. She studies Printmaking at the college and considers her work very classical and image based- she likes to draw! She thought her school back in Belgium was too small and she moved to the UK with the hope to find another way of thinking. She felt as though her work would exhaust itself, and wasn’t challenging enough. She gave us tips about what she’s learnt about drawing- she stressed that its very important to ‘draw what you see, not what you know’ (especially when it comes to life drawing)- stop making things up, draw what is ACTUALLY there. Pauline also emphasised her interest in things being in reverse (hence why she loves printmaking- prints are in reverse!) and traces left behind. She feels that printmaking fits her way of thinking. Her talk was heart-warming because despite the fact she was very shy, I could really tell that she loves what she does- she’s really passionate about drawing and printmaking!
After this talk, it’s made me excited and determined to discover my own unique niche within Fine Art..!
Some relevant links:
Jeroen’s work: http://iamacollective.com/
Pauline’s work: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/wipshow2013/8264797746/
Grant Scott: Social Being
January 7th, 2014 by Emma
Grant Scott, a previous Art Director and current editorial and advertising photography lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire gave all Art & Design students a lecture on how to be a ‘Social Being’ earlier on this term.
He began by discussing what ‘Social Media’ actually is. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Flickr etc… It’s a software package, a digital code, a series of platforms… Also used as a reference library, a notice board, a means of communication, a publishing platform, a marketing tool, a community.. the list goes on. So basically, social media is extremely useful.. and somewhat an ‘essential’ part of life in this day in age… Especially in ones professional life. Grant went on to say that ‘the Creative Arts use social media to their own benefits.’
It enables us Art students to create our own ‘online personality’ by publishing our work online in the form of a ‘digital sketchbook’ or ‘digital portfolio’ .. as a promotion technique… therefore ‘selling ourselves’ to potential employers.. Much easier than going through huge, tangible portfolios and a thousand pieces of paper.. right? Environmentally and economically friendly!.. But that’s beside the point.. Social Media, like Twitter, enables us to show the rest of the world (i.e, potential employers) what you DO and WHY you’re great at it… So Grant emphasised the point that your own social media platform should be professional and to the point. Show these employers that you have a PASSION for the relevant area of work.. talk about it, retweet relevant information, post relevant videos/photos/posts etc… ‘build up an online personality’.
Grant finished his talk by stressing that ‘SOCIAL MEDIA + SOCIAL BEING = SOCIAL SUCCESS’!
I do agree with Grant.. to an extent. I believe that it’s very important to have a relatable, professional, appropriate and positive ‘online personality’ because that’s what’s important in our current society- that’s how things are, that’s what employers look at, that’s how the world is working at this moment in time.. However, it saddens me that this is the case… I would love to be in a world without technology. Do people even speak (in person) any more?! Interviews are done over Skype, CVs are now submitted over the internet, people become obsessed with their online personalties- distorting their idea of reality.. There are many negative and dangerous aspects in regards to the use of social media but I won’t ramble on..
I’ve learned from this that in my generation, Social Media is (in most cases) very important when it comes to business and work. I accept and welcome the ideas/opportunities that are available to me at this moment in time and now aim to be a great ‘social being’.
Belated Update
November 20th, 2013 by Emma
Good Morning!
So, it’s been a while.
In my defence, I’ve been absolutely swamped with life at the moment- it gets in the way sometimes. I work 24 hours a week (at H&M and an Ale House) whilst going to University full time.. so blog writing isn’t always at the top of my agenda.. But anyway-
This academic year, there is a module entitled Professional Practice- this basically is assessing our familiarity and interest in the ‘Art World’ (As in- how galleries work, what careers are available, how to write an artist’s CV etc..)… and writing an Artist’s blog can be submitted as evidence of an interest in art and ‘selling yourself’ as an artist. So, here it is-
What’s been happening since I last posted?
I’ve written and submitted my first essay- which I previously stated, ‘I really wanted to do’. It was entitled ‘Can Art Be Taught?’- a very very very difficult question and hard to fit in a 2000 word limit. I came to the conclusion that obviously it’s down to matter of opinion- as art is very much subjective. In my opinion, the answer is very much split 50/50- yes it can be taught to an extent- how to use materials, introduction to different styles, art history etc.. but then no it can’t be because you could argue that some children are born with natural talent, not many ‘great artists’ have graduated from art school etc.. In order to attempt to answer the question, the word ART needed to be defined and one thing I wrote in the conclusion was ‘if Art is considered to be all about ‘beauty’, ‘emotional power’ and aesthetics then it doesn’t need to be taught because it just exists. However, if art is defined by the level of technical skill of using specific techniques, then yes, it can be taught.’ – entirely subjective and a tricky essay to write.
My practical work has been somewhat of a roller coaster during the past few weeks.. I’ve had ups and downs, with my project going in all different directions- but at this stage, it doesn’t matter too much. Second year is meant for development, experimentation and finding your niche. I haven’t found mine quite yet. Since I last posted I’ve gone down two different routes:- 1.) Health, fitness, figurative, sketchy work and 2.) Colourful, landscape-like, mark-making, brushstrokes, expressive work. I want to combine the two. Previously, I stated my interest in advertisement and printing- but right now, I feel the need to get out the painting and drawing first- I want to make marks and splash colours everywhere! Then perhaps later on in the academic year I will focus on more precise print work. I also miss sketching people, random people, people on buses, couples holding hands- candid moments. Perhaps this will come up later on too.
In the Professional Practice module, we are also required to carry out a 1-2 week work placement in a relevant place. I’m very interested in a career in creative design/digital design/advertising/direction.. despite having little experience in the field. So, I have a digital agency half lined up so that I can shadow a creative director to see what they do and how they do their fantastic job! I’m also in need of the photoshop/illustrator programs- because if I want a career in digital design or art direction, I need to be familiar with them. Can’t wait to play around with them!
So, that’s where I am now. My head is a little tangled up with all sorts of ideas- but this is a GOOD things. I have many paths to go down.. I just need to decide which one and whether or not I should merge some together in order to make one GREAT path.
Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Motivation and Positivity
September 26th, 2013 by Emma
So yet again.. I’m guilty of being a bad blogger.
On a non art-related note.. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a lot on my plate; Started a new job at H&M (whilst continuing my job at the Ale House), said goodbye to my beautiful bestfriend who moved to Florida, travelled to Greece for a quick holiday, managed to miss my flight home through sheer disorganization (costing me my whole summer savings) and welcomed a new puppy (Rambo) to the family. Currently, I am running the Howell household, as my parents take a 2 week trip abroad- so I have the joys of picking up mountains of puppy excrement, extracting numerous foreign objects from a certain mouth (rulers, stones, plastic chunks, newspaper, moss- you get the idea..)- as well as having the responsibility to care for,medicate and take wee samples from our 16 year old lab, Barney (who Rambo cannot help but nose dive and launch himself at constantly- leaving Barney not impressed at all.) Anyway, as well as having this huge responsibility, I’m juggling two jobs and conveniently starting my second year of Uni.. So, I’ve been very busy, too busy to be a fantastic blogger- heck, I can’t even think to be witty or correct my grammar/punctuation mistakes.
Anyway, lets talk arty things- I’m now beginning my second year.. It’s finally arrived- despite the fact this feels very much like I’m starting my 4th year of University (due to previous wrong decisions..), I’m actually excited. I’m starting to feel the want to paint things, print things, write things- I even said the other day that ‘I CAN’T WAIT to write an essay!’, it sounds crazy.. but I’m itching to get my brain into gear- because lets face it- I’m fed up with the backache of retail and the beer stench that comes with pub work (yes I will still be working for now, but hours will be reduced..). I want to actually THINK and use my brain, not be in robot mode.
Over the summer, the task was to come up with a proposal of what ideas we have for our projects this year.. My previous blog post stated my initial thoughts and ideas- I still very much want to create a project which is personal to me, something that reflects my personality and what things I’m passionate about.. So, I thought maybe I could create motivational pieces of art which give messages to others about the things I think are important in life, like exercise, well-being, health, happiness, positivity (these are all things that I am working on personally in life right now, so it would be great to show my peers my progression and perhaps even persuade them to step back and think about what’s important to them). Right now, it looks as though I want to develop this idea through the means of photography, painting and screen-printing in an ‘advertising’ style. Andy Warhol has inspired me to use bright colours, text and printing to emphasise the importance of the messages I’m trying to put across. To put my own spin on things, I might take photos of people exercising, paint the scene in an abstract unique style (that I developed from first year), then screen print something on the top… not too sure what yet. Obviously my thoughts and plans are slightly clouded now.. things may change.. it’s early stages! Baby steps.
That’s all for now.
Key things are- to keep motivated and stay positive
Approaching Second Year.
July 11th, 2013 by Emma
So.. I’m bad at writing blogs. I always plan to write loads of posts and get really excited about it.. but everytime I open up the ‘New Post’ page I stare blankly at the screen and end up on Facebook. From today onwards I will try to be a good blogger. I need to be more open-minded about things and allow myself to be inspired by everything around me enabling me to write more interesting and regular blog posts.
Anyway, as I have now finished my first year of Fine Art (with quite pleasing grades), I now need to focus on what things I’d like to do for my Second Year project. I’m assuming it will pretty much be all in my hands in regards to the topic I will be focusing on.. So I have a lot of thinking and planning to do. My first instincts were to create a spider diagram and brainstorm all my instant ideas.. I wrote down things like skies, politics, society, music, personality, culture.. to name a few.. but nothing really stood out to me. It really got me thinking that I’m writing down things that I’m not particularly passionate about.. I was writing down very general areas of life than perhaps other people cared more about.. so I asked myself.. What do I like? What do I care about? What am I interested in? And to be perfectly honest (besides the obvious- my boyfriend, friends, family..), the two things that drive me at this moment in my life.. is my health and my desire to travel. Those two things are what make me content and excited for the future. So, perhaps I could focus on one of those or even find a way to merge the two together?
I want this project to define me and to show others what makes me who I am and how I intend to make the most of everything I can. I want to try and transfer my interests, my opinions, my flaws and my thoughts into a body of artwork, which can show others what epitomises me.
But hey, due to my indecisiveness, everything I have just written may be disregarded completely and I might end up painting something ludicrous, like dragons. You never know. That’s what makes Fine Art so exciting.
Those are my thoughts for now.
Hello
April 30th, 2013 by Emma
My name is Emma, and I’m a Fine Art student at the University of Gloucestershire. I’ve pretty much just finished my first year and I’ve decided to set up a blog in order to show some of my work and track my development. It’s been extremely difficult for me to be able to discover a ‘niche style’ in regards to Fine Art because prior to starting the course, the ‘scientific’ side of my brain made me attend (then drop out of..) two other Universities studying two very different and unrelated subjects (Psychology and Forensics). So, as you can probably guess.. I’m a very indecisive person, which causes a lot of inconvenience at times.. (e.g. trying to decide which chocolate to buy in the supermarket.. which is cheaper, which has lower calories, which contains less sugar etc..)- epic faff. From that, you can also probably guess that I’m health conscious.. Yes, I’m an obsessive calorie counter and gym goer.. and what?
Anyway, this year I’ve created a variety of things.. (mostly paintings and drawings) and thanks to the tutors/lecturers here, I’m actually learning quite a bit about different mediums/techniques/styles and most importantly learning how to find my own unique style.. (I’m not quite there yet.. that’s very much IN PROGRESS.) Let’s see how things change in the three years.
Below are a few paintings I’ve made this year. First two are acrylic paint on canvas and the second two are ink on canvas. I’ve focused a lot on people and cities.