Patrick Caulfield...

The tate describe some of Paul Caulfield's work by saying it 'was characterised by flat images of objects paired with angular geometric devices or isolated against unmodulated areas of colour'. In the Guardians obituary for Paul Caulfeild, they describe his work as 'Middle-management office equipment and character restaurant décor were inspiration for him and not simply as prompts and props. The paintings absorbed banalities. The painter rendered them worthy, memorable, cherishable even, as emblems of modern life.' His work is similar to that of  Michael Craig-Martin and my own in it's style and the idea of it capturing the everyday, mundane parts of life.

'In Patrick Caulfield's earliest prints he seems intent upon radical simplification of the key themes of his painting at the time, a paring down to essentials, and an isolation of motif that demands of the viewer contemplation without distraction. In each case the baldness of presentation begs the question: what is the meaning of these jugs? Patrick Caulfield, print, signed 'Two Jugs'. This window? Patrick Caulfield, print, signed 'Small Window'. This coal fire? Patrick Caulfield, print, signed 'Coal Fire'. Our response may begin in the eye's delight at the brilliance of colour, the magical realisation of space, the immediate readability of image; it quickly complicates, as the mind engages with associations and allusions, with ironies, with references to life and to art, and whatever may lie between.'

 

 In quite a few of Caulfield's work he has focused on glasses, which was a prominent feature of some of my drawings in the first half of this year. What makes them interesting is that they are an object that we use all the time yet are the main focus of the work, “Caulfield was a hero of the everyday,” says Tate Liverpool’s head of exhibitions, Simon Groom'. I like the simplicity and the focus on what the work is about along with the focus being items that are normally left in the background, I suppose this makes sense as to why the detail needs to be minimal as these everyday items might be seen as simple decoration rather than the context of the whole work.

 

Other works by Caulfield are more detailed and zoomed out to center around the room, this changes the context completely as rather than the focus being about the individual items it is more about the environment and the activities that gone on inside it. These remind me more of my past drawings as I tend to include a lot of the room so it might be interesting to zone in on the focus only.

Tom Fruin...

Whilst looking for interesting ways of using of using glass etc, I  found New York artist Tom Fruin's installation 'Kolonihavehus'. Kolonihavehuses were originally small garden sheds that were designed to give cramped and often impoverished city-dwellers a small plot and a refuge from city life. This definition seems appropriate for the what it creates in the dense city area, some refreshing bright and colourful art shining over this small urban plot.

A contextual response to the multi-colored lights found downtown at night. Thousand of plexi-glass scraps went into its construction, culled from closed-down factories and dumpster-diving expeditions in the area – they were then meticulously assembled within a dark framework providing structural support and visual boundaries.

The thing I like most about this house is the projection it makes onto the street, the art proceeds the object itself and rather than just placing an object in an area it physically becomes part of it. This reminds me of my 'stain glass window' that I had made onto the living room window in my flat which I had placed into the room but it was when the sun moved and image was projected across the room that the piece really came to life. So far I have been considering ways that I could make something that is possible to be transported so that it's location can be changed but if I can keep the effect of projection in the work then maybe it can infect the space it is in and become part of it no matter where it is placed, like this house.

  

Contacting Birmingham City Council...

Considering the importance of the site in my work and how I had been looking at the derelict Office building on Belmont Row, I decided that it could be a good idea to put up my drawings on a large scale onto the white board space that surrounds the area, in the hope that they would look like the photoshop edits I had made in my last assessment. For this to happen I would have to collaborate with the council to make sure no regulations were being broken and to get full permission to put up my work in a public space. The following is my current conversation (via e-mail) to the council:


To Whom It May Concern,

I am currently studying at Birmingham City University's School of Art. As part of my second year practice I have been looking at the development around the Digbeth area, trying to capture it's current stage and to present it in a simplistic way so that we can not only remember how the development all began but also see the dramatic change in front of our eyes. Along the same theme I have previously tried showing the images I've created in the environment in which it was taken, this works particularly well with the idea of being able to see the change that has happened. I apologise to randomly spring upon you a brief explanation of my practice but I'm hoping there is something you can help me with.

Due to the site that the work is shown in being important I wanted to know if it was possible to display some of my images on the large white boards around the building works that currently surround Millennium Point and the new BIAD building. I am happy to do my own labour, either painting onto the space itself or transfer it onto the wall itself, however if you'd be able to help that would be amazing. I have designs available to send you along with previous images I've photoshopped on the white spaces with other designs applied that I can show you to give an idea of the effect I would like to create. They are not offensive images in context or design and as a BCU student I think this would be a fantastic opportunity to show the council collaborating and encouraging the creative that this university produces.

If this is at all possible I would be very grateful of your help, whether that be permission to use one single board (even if it's one on Belmont Row at the back of all the construction and completely out of the way) or if you could give me any information/contact details on how I can make this happen.

Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail, I would appreciate if you could get back to me as soon as possible.

Best wishes,

Kate-Marie Carter

_________________________________________________________________

Hi Kate-Marie

I have been passed your e mail and asked if I can assist you. I am the project Manager for the Eastside City Park

The idea sounds interesting but I will need some more detail from you, in particular the space you would ideally require and some designs /ideas you have. Do you have something you can e mail to me?

You need to be aware that the hoardings are in several ownerships. I am able to give approval for the hoardings around the City Park (with contractors approval) plus those around the vacant sites along inner ring road. The hoardings around the BIAD site are predominantly covered with existing images, however if you wish to pursue this site you would need to contact the BCU project team direct for permission. (I can give you their contact details if you require)

To start with, if you can send me some more details as requested above and confirm if your preferred option is to paint on the hoardings of fix previously prepared signs.

Regards

Jim

Jim Wilson
Project Manager

_________________________________________________________________

Hi Jim,

Thank you for replying, I really appreciate your interest in my idea.

At the moment I have been working on some design to be shown around the large derelict works on Belmont Row at the end joining Jennons Road, so ideally it would be best to show the piece(s) on the white boards that surround that building or on the opposite side of the road facing the building.

I've attached a few pictures which I hope will help. These include my first original design (so improvements or alterations may be made if necessary) which were hand drawn and then scanned into the computer to be edited. The same design follows, but coloured in full, next Photoshop edits of the possible image when applied to chosen space in front of (or opposite) the Belmont Row Works. I have also included some additional options of photos that can be turned into a similar design to either be shown with the first design along the white boards, or instead of the original. The idea with the additional photos is to show the detail with in the building and emphasis the current empty space with in it. I am looking into the history of this spot as part of my investigation into the development of the Eastside area, so there is the possibility of more images to come with more detail into what this building has been before it is restored. Although obviously even one of my ideas being aloud to go ahead would be fantastic.

I am able to do either painting onto the board itself or to create large posters which can be pasted onto the surface. I would probably prefer to painting onto the wall so that I can adjust the scale as well as having the hand drawn effect, but if you prefer for me to print it off first and apply it that way then I would be more than okay with that. There is also the possibility of painting onto/postering onto my own large boards that could be attached to the white walls if there is a problem with application straight onto the boards that protect the building areas.

Thank you for your time and for considering my work.

Regards

Kate-Marie Carter

 

I am still waiting on a reply since the last message, if I still don't hear anything for a while then I will try again but so far the response seems to have been positive and it looks as though I might actually be able to put my work up where I had originally intended! 

Watercolour and ink...

After looking at Dale Chihuly I decided to play around with some watercolours and inks to get the same drippy effect and concentrate on colours that would look translucent when watered down as though they have bright light shone behind them. There was no context or reference to what the images would look like, just an experiment to see how I could vary the application of the paint onto the page.

Seeing as so much of my work has been edited on the computer I thought it would be appropriate to scan in these testers and see what can be done with them, repeating, positioning and making pieces translucent. The more interesting edits were those that had been heavily edited, lots of layers and effects, which is very different to what I have been doing up till this point. Where my drawings have been very minimal with just basic outlines and flat colour, I feel that the idea of the everyday and mundane are made clearer as there is a blankness and a universal feel to the environments in which I have shown due to the lack of detail. In these edits, although looking more like the colours and detail you would see in a traditional stain glass window, there seems to be too much energy going on as though an activity is taking place. The idea of my work is to show the existence of a person without there presence being shown in the actual image, I think that the emptyness of the direction I have been going in so far shows this more successfully as if I were to incorporate this style at this stage it would become more about the technique and the activity occuring at the time rather than what has taken place in the past. 

 

Dale Chihuly...

Dale Chihuly is an american artist known for his glass works which he was introduced whilst studying interior design at the University of Washington. I like how he has taken a well known craft and turned it into an art. There's something very seductive about glass; the gloss, the colour, the flowing shapes. Like a precious jewel it can be decorative, but Chihuly makes it so much more. From his collection for the V&A Museum a permanent piece is the chandelier that hangs above he reception desk, although  chandeliers have been made  for hundreds of years Chihuly's size, detail and choice of material changes the idea of something that lights up the room because of it's practical source of light, but because of its high gloss surface reflects the light shone onto it.

 

Dale Chihuly at the V&A, V&A Chandelier, 2001(V&A Museum)

Dale Chihuly, The Sun, 2008 (Legion of Honor, San Francisco)

Due to the nature of Chihuly's glass it has a very painterly feel which is demonstrated in his drawings of the objects he creates. I particularly liked his series of chandelier drawings as his free hand paint dripping technique compliments the twist, turns and flicks of the glass.

Site specificity appears to have become very important to some of my work which also works for Dale Chihuly. On his website is says 'Chihuly’s lifelong affinity for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within botanical settings.' A green house seems to be the perfect setting for Chihuly's work, with overall idea of this large glass form containing colour and beauty, but also how his pieces have a plant-like effect with each parts shape and the wild-ness with which they have been put together.

Dale Chihuly, Thames Skiff, 2005 (Royal Botanic Gardens)

Different to his other works yet creating the same colourful glossy effect as the glass. I like how the use of neon lights as opposed to normal lights create such bright and enjoyable colours, also how if the ice melts it with change the projection of the light so it would literally change in front of your eyes.
The use of ice reminds me of the objects trapped in frozen canal I captured, only instead of holding an object these capture the colour that stain glass produces when light shines through it.

 

Dale Chihuly, 100,000 Pounds of Ice and Neon , 1993

Frozen canal...

On the 1st February as I was walking through Digbeth (Eastside of Birmingham) I took photos of how the cold weather had frozen the canal. As weird as it was to see the moving water made solid, the things that caught my eye where the objects that had been caught in the water, so were are rubbish that would have been floating after having been discarded, others like the bricks look as though they have been thrown in from the cracks that surround the area. I like how these normal mundane objects that are commonly littered everyday are made more significant by there unusual situation.
Considering my theme of the everyday, existence and the mundane this seems appropriate when combined with the thought of time as all of these object have not only been literally frozen, but they have also been stopped in time from continuing their journey. Everything is preserved and paused which reminds me of the passing moments I have captured in my Line drawings which were inspired by the idea of creating a stain glass like feel. The ice looks like glass, but can hold the physical object with in it rather than having to illustrate it.