Project 5 - Painting and Printing on Fabric - Silk Painting

Let me first start by saying that I have NEVER painted on silk before. I didn't even realise that I needed a frame to hold the silk taut. It has just been something that has never appealed to me, mainly because my only experience of painted silk had been garish scarves covered with bright flowers. Once you put 'silk painting' into Google, you will see plenty of that, however you will also see some amazing images created by very talented artists. It opened my eyes to what is achievable with silk paints.

I'm still going with the honeycomb pattern as I like how it has developed since those early sketches. When I used the watercolours to create the initial image, the small cells started to look like very strange landscapes as seen from the inside as opposed to the original context of cells filled with larvae or honey. I wanted to build upon this with the silk painting as I knew that the qualities that the paints had, would give another level entirely.

The first attempt was quite good in my opinion, it was really just about using the materials and getting used to how they worked in my hand. I realised that in places, I hadn't used the gutta effectively and that the colour started to bleed.

The salt that is intended for silk painting use, didn't give me the effect I really wanted for this piece. It was far more grainy than coarse sea salt for example. I made the cells quite big and the 'alien' landscape that I was trying to convey actually looked more like the original drawings.

For my next attempt, I was a lot more patient. I allowed the gutta to dry overnight rather than attempting to paint when it was still damp. I also took a lot more time placing the grains of salt to make sure that it wasn't just a haphazard sprinkle.

Initially, the hexagon outlines were in a very pale yellow similar to the one used in the first attempt. however when I had finished the cells, I felt that they needed to be lifted more. So I used a brown and black mix of paint which I feel, framed the cells and gave the image more of a 3D effect. 

This is definitely a medium I can see myself using in future work, I like the way the paints work together but I know I will need a lot more practice. Hence the the dark cell, as that is what happens when you are careless and drip where you don't want to!

A visit to Aberdeen Art Gallery.

One of my favourite artists of all time, is Annie Lennox. From her days with the Tourists (I know, I'm showing my age now) through The Eurythmics and then as a solo artist, her music and style has always held a great appeal for me. So when I heard that a collection of her costumes from videos, tours and album covers was going to be on display at Aberdeen Art Gallery this summer, I was very excited.

It was great but a massive drawback for me was that photography was not allowed in the exhibition itself and I had really wanted to write about it and include lots of photos. There was a guide book but it was thin and didn't include many images. Thankfully, Aberdeen Art Gallery is much more than that one exhibition and I was surprised at just how much there was there.

One of the first things that really caught my eye was a sculpture by Kenny Hunter - a Scottish artist - titled 'Feedback Loop' - it is stunning. I'm not entirely sure why I liked this so much. It has an almost cartoonlike look, akin to the type of characters you would see in Japanese computer games. I know that it is of a Japanese girl from the streets of Harajuku but the holding of the pink flowers (the only colour other than grey in the sculpture) made me think of Tiananmen Square, of youth and hope standing strong and proud but slightly coyed by the situation. I love this sculpture and I want it in my living room. Isn't this the feeling that art is supposed to convey?

Highly Sprung by Julia Douglas is a completely different piece of art entirely. It is a dress made from the small metal springs from clothing pegs and surrounded by a circle of the wooden pegs. The scary thing is that I didn't even realise that this is what the dress was made of. I was staring at the hem of the dress and how it flowed onto the floor when my husband pointed out what it was made of. I love the flow of it. I especially like the rusted element to the hem.

There is a section of the gallery devoted to samplers, costume and Applied Art - which has more than 1500 items, covering all aspects of applied and decorative art, design and craft, costume and textiles.

One of the samplers was by an Ann Stopforth, aged 12 years in 1822. It's very interesting to look at something that was made with great care and attention that has been kept so long and passed through many hands and that it is still in such good condition.

Another standout piece for me was a statue of mother and child called A Thank Offering by Benno Schotz (1891 - 1984). It cries out to be touched. I'm not sure if the photos do it justice but there is the grain of the stone running all the way through it, layers and layers that he has worked on - almost as though the sculpture is ring upon ring of stone and not sculpted.

Aberdeen Art Gallery has many pieces of work by many artists, including Degas, Moore, Turner, Hirst and many lesser known artists and sculptors. It was delightful to find so many new (well, new to me) artists and I will definitely be going back. It may not be on such a grand scale as the National in Edinburgh but it has so many wonderful works of art and it is impossible to appreciate them all in one morning.