OPEN STUDIO - DEREK NICE

I first saw Derek Nice's artwork at a show in the Victoria art gallery in 1998 in an exhibition called 'Sea Dreams - Art Salutes the Boat'.  I went to the show because it contained work by Alfred Wallis, the Cornish Primitive painter whose work I had always admired, and I wanted to see originals, not photographs in books!  I wasn't disappointed by Wallis's work, but I was blown away by the work of local artist Derek Nice.

I visited him at home in his studio during a Somerset Art Week, and bought a piece from him.  This went on to inspire me to think of boats as a subject matter and use the driftwood which I had collected over the years!  Click on the Derek Nice link, at the bottom of this post, for further details and to see what I made!

This year, I discovered, via the Somerset Art Works Open Studios brochure, that he had moved to Wells, only a few miles from Shepton.  It was great to see his work again after many years.  I loved his collages, paintings, use of text within them, and, of course, the boats!  Above, he was pictured in his new studio, which has been converted from his garage.

He now has another subject matter - angels!  Many people love and believe in guardian angels so he hopes that his angels are spreading some happiness around!  He has done a series of large free standing ones for himself and has sold an enormous one to a church!  A lot of his work is made from found and reclaimed materials which are preserved, and often enhanced, before being recycled into works of art...

The pics above show Derek's delightful garden, complete with a Shepherd's Hut, sculptures, and some of his angels - inside and out!

BEACH HUTS SOLD

I have just sold this small seaside picture which I did for an exhibition a couple of years ago.  This summer, to go with our seaside theme in the gallery, I took in the beach pictures that I had left.  They are part collage, part assemblage and use a variety of materials. This one uses paper, tissues, plastic projection slide covers, Crayola Model Magic, real shells, acrylic paints and alcohol inks.

The Model Magic, an easy to use lightweight, air-drying modelling medium was used for the roofs of the beach huts and to stuff inside the shells. After drying overnight it is ready for painting or, in the case of the shells, to glue onto the canvas board.  This design has also been used for a greetings card which has proved popular.  The image is 7 x 5 inches and the writing says, 'close my eyes and lie on sun-drenched island'. A lovely thought as our summer in the uk has not been the best and today it is pouring with rain!

ELUSIVE BUTTERFLY

A few weeks ago I stumbled apon a tv programme called 'Hollywood Me', featuring the fabulous Martyn Lawrence Bullard, interior designer to the stars.  Since then, I have watched a few episodes as I love seeing what impact he can make when he does 'makeovers' to 'ordinary' British homes. He often uses unusual wallpapers.  In one episode he used some fantastic wallpaper covered in butterflies (from the stylised to the photographic) with shadows so that they looked 3D, as if they were flying off the wall.

This inspired me to do a collage/assemblage using butterflies.  As often happens, when I start a theme, song lyrics popped into my head and guided the development of the work -  "across my dreams, with nets of wonder, I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love".   The song is Elusive Butterfly written by Bob Lind and the cover version that I remember is by Val Doonican.

I used a box frame, wooden letters, bits of wood and various butterflies taken from recycled cards, mobiles, napkins etc.  I worked in my layered method for the collaged background, using muted tones as the song was written early in the morning.  I printed out the lyrics and put them as the first layer but by the end not many words were visible, so I stuck a copy onto a recess on the back of the frame. I also had a 3D butterfly which came in a 'box of bugs' from the zoo. The colours were not quite right and I wanted to change the slightly 'plastic' look so I used alcohol inks, gesso and silver acrylic.  I also splattered the silver all over with an old toothbrush. 

'Elusive Butterfly'  mixed media assemblage/collage (34cms x 30cms)

ASSEMBLAGES IN FRAMES

Here are my latest assemblages using a couple of recycled frames as a shallow box.  The first thing I did was to glue in a back board and primed all sides with gesso.  I then looked at some of my bits and pieces and the frames themselves for ideas.

Recycled frames

Some bits and pieces

My first idea was to pursue one of my favourite themes - doors. The ornate frames seemed to mimic door architraves. I decided I wanted to frame the door with topiary and use a vintage metal bird from my collection. I started painting with chalk paints in pastel colours so that the door took on a mediterranean look and reminded me of being on holiday. Collaged and 3D flowers were added and I used scrabble pieces for the flower boxes and repeated this for the lettering - scrabble being appropriate for a holiday pastime. Distressed gold metal gilding gave the look of faded grandeur.

'Holiday Home' (22.5cms x 19.5cms)

With the second assemblage I took my  two vintage metal trees as my starting point.  I decided I wanted them to be part of a wood.  One of the forests I remember from my childhood was the Hundred Acre Wood where Pooh Bear lived.  I used an illustration of his friend Owl's house, which was embedded in a large tree trunk, from the book Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, as inspiration.

'Hundred Acre Wood' (22.5cms x 19.5cms)

'Owl lived at The Chestnuts, an old-world residence of great charm, which was grander than anybody else's, or seemed so to Bear, because it had both a knocker and a bell-pull.   Underneath the knocker there was a notice which said: PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD.  Underneath the bell-pull there was a notice which said:  PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID.'

'

ASSEMBLAGE ART

Valentine Gifts

As I am an avid collector of stuff - natural or man-made - from vintage metal animals to sea shells, it was a natural progression to add them to my collages and then start making some artworks that became more 3D and assemblage like. Assemblage art is often described as three dimensional collage or found object art.



The pioneer and one of the most celebrated artist in this field was the reclusive American, Joseph Cornell (1903 - 1972).  He was a self-taught artist who also did sculpture, collage and experimental films, but it is his boxed assemblages that he is best known for.  Simple glass fronted shadow boxes, that he made himself, were filled with found objects to tell a story. Fascinated by fragments of once beautiful and precious objects that he found in thrift stores in New York, pages of books, and trinkets from dime-stores, he made up many series of boxes that reflected his interests from birds to the ballet.  Many were interactive and meant to be handled. They are beautiful to look at and worth investigating.  Having reminded myself about this fascinating artist, I have just ordered a book about him to give me some more ideas and insights!

I find that this kind of art is very time-consuming, throwing up many technical problems along the way, but it is so rewarding.  I tend to start with a theme, as in my seaside pieces (see blogpost - February 22nd), or valentine gifts (see above) but I like the idea of letting the found objects 'talk' to you and letting the artwork develop.  I haven't done a lot of assemblage art but I have been working on two for several weeks and they are almost finished - one inspired by the objects themselves and one following one of my favourite themes - doors. I shall be photographing them shortly to share with you.

NICE INSPIRATION

I have been to loads of art exhibitions and sometimes an artist's work excites and inspires me to do something different.  This was the case when I first saw Derek Nice's work at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, many years ago.  I loved his work so much that I went to his studio, a somerset stone barn, when it was open as part of Somerset Art Weeks, and bought one of his magical boat assemblages.   

Boat Assemblage by Derek Nice (72cms x 62cms)

Derek Nice work is influenced by maritime, archeological themes, myths and legends, and often uses recycled and found materials and objects.  He collects old bits of weathered wood from boatyards and beaches and creates works that evoke the sea that have been formed by the sea.  As he said, when I spoke to him in his workshop, his intention is to find in the essence of sea-going life and not the literal  interpretation of the subject. As well as sculptures and assemblages, he also produces wonderful paintings.

After I had hung this artwork on my wall, I used it as inspiration for the following works that decorate my home.  The frame of 'FY4' is an old tray and is 47cm (height) x 31cm (width) while 'Seadreams' is 60cm high and 'Shell Steamer' is 44cm high.  All the other materials used were found on the beach.  Having looked at these pieces again, I remembered how fun they were to do, so I am planning on going beachcombing soon and doing some more! 

HARBINGER OF SPRING

There is always much excitement every year at hearing the first cuckoo calls, as they are taken to be harbingers of Spring. This year, with large areas of the country are covered in snow and ice, we need that reassurance!  Because of this, the cuckoo is known as a lucky bird and there is a superstition that it is lucky to have money in your pocket when that first call is heard.  Jingling or spitting on the money will draw attention to it so that in the year ahead your money will grow.  On the other hand, if your pockets are empty, it will be a poor year ahead.

This time last year, one of my best friends, who has several businesses but also finds time to be a mixed media artist,  bought an old clock that was falling apart at a local flea market. She challenged me to do something with it. Here is the result.

'Cuckoo', assemblage 20cms high 

My idea was to look at cuckoo clocks and combine it with the fact that, in Spring the female cuckoo will lay her egg in the nest of a smaller bird and expect it to raise the alien chick that emerges, hence the saying 'cuckoo in the nest'.  I used a different clock face, the door was taken off leaving only the hinges, a roof was added and a nest made with strips of leather. The egg and the cuckoo were made with model magic and then painted. The text on the roof, cut out from old papers is:- 'cuckoo in the nest' and 'nest in the cuckoo clock'.

MODEL MAGIC

'Seashore'  (30.5cms x 30cms)

I was working in the gallery yesterday and talking to customers about my beach pictures, which are part collage and part assemblage. I was asked what I had used to model the various elements, such as, the seagull, mermaid and the lighthouse in this artwork.  It was Crayola Model Magic, which is a soft squishy modelling material which is easy and fun to use and, unlike normal modelling clay, does not stick to your hands.  When I have finished sculpting the design, I leave it to dry overnight and then paint it.  It is lightweight and spongy, even when dry, and can be easily joined to the finished piece.  I also found it extremely useful to stuff inside shells to create a surface for attachment.

'I do like to be beside the seaside'  (34cms x 26cms)

In this work, the sun and some of the beach huts are created in Model Magic. The huts were punctured with holes before drying so they could have string put through them.