A couple of months have passed since the last update here and I've been busy. February is the shortest month and boy did it feel it this year. The month started behind the lens photographing the resined pieces I finished in January, the remaining pieces are now online and but a few short clicks away.
February was further shortened by taking a week in Finland to visit the in-laws which turned into two. I spent much of the time exploring the sea ice and walking to the islands exploring abandoned buildings and scouting out fishing spots for the summer.
I'm always working on one drawing or another and whilst in Finland I worked towards getting the new still lifes print ready. I also worked on the postcard club print for February.
I enjoy the challenge of postcard club, each month working on a new piece, some months postcard club is a glimpse of what I'm working on, testing a composition, finalising a colour palette. This month I wanted to do something new, something just for postcard club subscribers.
I was drinking a glass of wine thinking about what to do for postcard club, and if in doubt I look at other artists work. As I often do I was looking at Patrick Caulfield's work, and as I sipped from my glass I turned the page and saw his 1969 painting 'Wine glasses'. One of my favourite pieces of his and an exercise in restraint and control, a master at work at the top of his game.
As I drank and thought, music playing gently in the background, a song came on the playlist, Johnny Cash singing Personal Jesus. A cover version, an excellent one at that. Is there an equivalent for a visual artist I thought? Can you do a cover version of a painting? Should you?
Broadly speaking I'm happy with how this turned out, I wasn't totally happy with the wine bottle, I think the glasses work and feel grounded but the bottle floats a bit. An interesting exercise none the less, would I do a full print like this? No, I don't think I would, it would feel a bit derivative, but for a postcard I think this works.
March started on the textile table with more track tops, these have been really popular and I enjoy making them, the majority sell before I get a chance to photograph and upload them to here. I will take a day in April and update the website though. The image on the right is the cut pattern for a denim boiler suit, a client asked me if I could print on their boiler suit and I said yes! I'll post the final result here when it's done.
I like printing on wood. I like being able to present the print without a piece of glass in the way. It feels immediate, more like a painting. I like that each piece in the edition has its own voice through the unique grain of the wood. I like the smell of sawdust when I'm preparing the wood.
These still need to be cut from the larger sheet and framed. I'm really happy with these and looking froward to seeing them finished.
Soon enough March was rolling to a close and it was time again for Postcard Club, there are lots of cherry trees on the streets of SE London and I love this time of year when they blossom. Postcard Club for March was this lovely colour blend with a halftone photographic print of the blossoms.
