Still in the Red

Still in the Red

Open Day

Another New Studio

Still in the Red

the studio in a convex mirror

Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush?

TS Eliot ‘Burnt Norton’ 

Despite my best efforts the concerns I had when developing the geranium project  remain central to my practice and I feel as if I’m in a dialogue with the inherent nostalgia evoked, in particular, through the Four Quartets 

The work I started and discussed in my last post led to me making the space to build a large sculpture based on the three trees maquettes I’ve been making. The sculpture must have spaces inside its mass that are inaccessible to adults because that’s the truth of the actual location (I am working alongside on a VR project that will express this better). In order to clear apples from the garden I need to get on my knees and that act immediately changes my relationship with the earth. I am attached more strongly to the ground, limited in my ability to move and given a different view of things. It’s this feeling I carry in to making and essentially try to replicate in the process. The object is the manner of its making.

Still in the Red

The build process

In this case that starts with an external armature to which I can attach shapes based on those that have grown. Each of the stages is followed by a Polycam scan of the sculpture at that stage.

Still in the Red

with the armature removed

When I’ve got the basic form I remove the armature and make sure the structure can stand.

Still in the Red

with the armature removed

This, if you like, is the outline, and I can then build on this to fill out the form I envisage.

Still in the Red

adding form

I used cartridge paper to do this and I’d normally make this more rigid with resin but my current studio arrangements don’t allow for this. It’s always worth noting that the material determines the quality of the form.

Still in the Red

adding form

The form, once complete can be painted and in this case it will be red.

Still in the Red

First coat of Red

The piece is about seven feet tall and will intially be painted using two shades of red. I’ve managed to put the first one on so far.

First coat of Red

I’ve found time to work on some of the drawings and my sketchbook, this is the third red garden drawing

Red Garden Three

Still not finished.

Open Day

You’ll have noticed this at the top of the page, try to visit if you can, the other two are really good!

Lockdown Five (a continuing, if erratic, saga)

A bit of a mixed couple of weeks (12 days as I’m writing) doing a variety of different things.

Lots of gardening, lots of preparation for a series of small sculptures – nothing to show there yet – drawing, painting and so on.

Looking through Instagram, which I just rejoined, I came across #draweverydayinmay2020 run by ‘Marigold the Maker’ under the auspices of The Big Draw. Part of it is to use the additional hashtag #stillpointsketchingchallenge and place some creative limitations on your daily sketching. I decided to use Autodesk Sketchbook to produce all the drawings on my iPad, work between 9:00 am and 10:00 am each day and remain in my seat at the kitchen table.

painting of lemons

Teaching myself to paint

I also bought myself some boards, 5mm ply 25 cm square, to do some small paintings, just to keep my hand in. These lemons were started the same day I drew the two in the dish in the gallery.

I also applied for the Yorkshire Sculpture International Network 2020, which is a set of online meetings fortnightly from June until October where Each of the participating artists will be invited to contribute to developing the content of the network’s programme and to the research and development for the next Yorkshire Sculpture International festival. This programme will enable us to ensure we are building the future artists’ professional development in the most useful way for artists.” I should find out if I’m successful next week, I can’t imagine there will be many people my age applying.

ArtBomb Video  

Flickr Video

Art Bomb Video

I’m posting this again to remind myself, the arts group I did this with has done a zoom meeting with all the videos played, I wasn’t invited (or I missed the email?) I know it’s not great but it would have been nice to be asked.

More Lockdown (less success)

I’ve got the WebGL down below seven minutes consistently, with data caching, it’s still too long though. www.ian-latham.com/geranium/build_newmirror

Began thinking about meadow forms for sculptures.

07/05/20 tried loading the WebGL again, took 20 minutes to do nothing, 12 minutes to load, then twice seven minutes to load each time with no sound! Next step is to upgrade the Unity programme which means a complete rebuild. Love this game!

08/05/20 Too nice a day to mess about with Unity so I did some sketching in the garden and started to work a maquette for the meadow forms.

buttercup sketch

buttercup sketch

I’ve started to draw on the iPad in the mornings as well, posting them on instagram. [@latham_1959] The maquette is air drying clay and will be varnished and cast in plaster.

common orchid maquette

common orchid maquette

I’m thinking of different finishes, certainly mounted on a stem.

meadow forms sketch

meadow forms sketch

Since these, a couple of days ago, I’ve had to update Unity to try to resolve the load issues.