Titles of Paintings

I've just read the first part of an article on how the titles of paintings influence how the painting is interpreted. Lately, I've been thinking about how I title my paintings and come to the conclusion that they lack the personal element that guides the viewer to the meaning behind the image and that made them feel rather dull.

When I made sculpures, I would spend hours thinking about the meaning and how to title the work, mainly because they were so abstract, I felt I needed to give the viewer a clue as to what my work was about whilst leaving them enough room to develop their own interpretation.

For example, the images below were part of a body of work with the long and convoluted title of 'People Often Talk About Being Scared of Change But for Me I'm More Afraid of Things Being the Same'  Its so long, I have to get the catalogue out to remind myself of the title... But this work was the result of a year long research & devlopement process so perhaps the title reflects those long hard months of painful thought processes.

I think my now 'neutral' titles, such as 'View towards Belper' while being factual, give the viewer very little clue to the thought process or the visceral feeling I have towards that place.  I have got lazy with my thinking and perhaps in opposition to the longer titles, I have gone to the other extreme, which feels rather dull.

So when I dropped 3 paintings off at Crich this morning, I had retitled them, 'View Over Belper' has been renamed 'Where I Walk My Dog' because this is an area where I walk my own Shaggy Muse, Maybe.

I'm hoping this retitling will convey some of the sentiment & feeling behind each image I produce and this may even spill over into the art, making the work more exciting.

Next Exhibition

DE MIRABILIBUS PECCI

An Exhibition of Mixed Media Paintings by Christine Gray at The Crompton Tavern, Derby

In 1626, Enlightenment Philosopher Thomas Hobbes, toured the Peak District in the company of the Second Earl of Devonshire. He described the places he visited as 'Wonders' and was inspired to write the poem, De Mirabilibus Pecci, which was translated to English in 1678. This poem inspired early tourists to visit one of Britain's most popular destinations.

I have followed in Hobbes footsteps and explored the areas that Hobbes enjoyed, using a mixture of collage, paint and drawing, I have painted his favourite places in the Peak District. Hobbes's 'Wonders' included Chatsworth House, Peak Cavern, Tideswell and Buxton.

I have also included some of my favourite places in the Peak District and the UK, ranging from Belper where I now live, through Matlock to the White Peak, to some favourite places from my native Anglesey.

find me on Facebook here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/ChristineGrayArtist

PREVIEW NIGHT

Saturday 25^th February, 7.00 – 9.00pm at The Crompton Tavern, 46 Crompton Street, Derby DE1 1NX. Opening times: 14.00 – 23.00 (weekdays) 12.00 – 23.00 (weekends). www.cromptontavern.co.uk  They also have their own blog here:  http://www.cromptontavern.co.uk/Exhibitions/forthcoming-exhibitions

Red Ruff will be singing their 3 part harmonies. Red Ruff is Jen Aitken, Sue Devine and Nansy Ferrett.

They got together early 2011 just because they all love singing... also because they love big boots and red hair!

Red Ruff do a mix of their own material and covers: folk, jazz, blues and rock. And make people smile! Go to their website to hear them sing:

http://www.redruff.co.uk/

Very Exciting New Year

I feel very excited at the moment.  I'm preparing for an exhibition at The Crompton Tavern(more information to follow) and got my cheque in on time for the Derbyshire Arts Trail in June.  I'm joining a group at Banks's Mill in Derby and showing my work there.

I've been reading some historical context of Derbyshire and some of the travel writing.  Daniel Defoe (ca. 1659–1661 to 24 April 1731) was less than complimentary, calling the Peak District a 'Wonderless Wonder' while Celia Fiennes (c.1662-1741) was very scathing of the beer in Buxton. 

'... the beer they allow at meals is so bad that very little can be drunk..'

My favourite writing has been by Thomas Hobbes(c.1588-1679), the philosopher who is credited with being the founder of English moral and political philosophy.  His most famous work is Leviathon, where he presents his thoughts on metaphysics, psychology and political philosophy.  He wrote De Mirabilibus Pecci after touring the Peak District and dedicated it the Second Earl of Devonshire and describes there being 7 Wonders of the Peak.  My aim is to visit and paint all these wonders over the next couple of weeks ready to show at the Crompton.

Revived and Rested

I'm feeling very revived and rested after this xmas break.  I even managed to finish a painting and start a new one.

View of the Mountains from Beaumaris

I was fairly exhausted in the run up to this xmas and very relieved that I now feel recovered.  I also feel very hopeful for the New Year.  I have a instinctual feeling that something good is going to happen and lately I have been trying to practise trusting my instinct.  If my gut feeling says its wrong, then I'm going with it.
Learning to recognise the feeling of instinct or nervousness is tricky though and I have got these muddled in the past.
So I decided to put myself outside of my comfort zone and start applying for competitions. The first one I've applied for is Channel 4's, Show Me the Monet.  They attraction of having my work critiqued and a possible selling show in London was strong so I followed my instinct, ignored the horrible nervous feeling of 'What if I actually get somewhere with this and end up on telly!' and pressed the submit button.
I have also got a list of other competitions to enter and a feeling of great positivity.  I plan on making the Law of Attraction work for me this year!

Mountain View

View from Beaumaris to the Mainland.

My latest painting, again, not sure whether I like it. But I have learnt to do hide it away for a couple of months before I look at it again.  I used my new paints for this, which are very vibrant and colourful, exactly the sort I love to work with.

I've struggled with this painting, at one point, I whited it out and had to return some of the vibrancy.

I also used a board and not paper, which is out of my comfort zone, I feel very precious about using boards to paint on and it was a challenge to let go of having to produce a perfect piece of work.  When working on paper I am happy to make a mess and remain playful, to make mistakes and not feel that I have ruined whatever I am working on.  I'm still trying to find this freedom when working on a different background.

My two wooden frames have been returned to me today, so the challenge will be to cover them in canvas and make two large paintings in the new year.  

More experiments with paint.

This is a painting I've been working on for the last couple of days, it a view of Belper from the fields near my house, where I often walk my dog.  Its one of my favourite views, showing a vista from the Chevin to Alport Heights.

I'm really enjoying playing with paint, but have realised that I have a preciousness about getting it right.  If I start a painting on a canvas or on a board, I put a pressure on myself to get it totally right.  When I work on paper, I'm more relaxed and often I quite like the results.  However, as the image above shows, paper is not always the best thing to work on as it does not carry enough weight to keep it from becoming warped.

So my next challenge to myself is to become less precious about getting it perfect the first time on a board or canvas.

Experimental Paintings

I've been experimenting with painting for the last few weeks and really enjoying it.  I'm interested in exploring mixed media collaged pieces which then have overlays of paint.  These are just two of my small experiments done on watercolour paper. 

I'm looking forward to an art fayre at The Muse Gallery in Heage on Saturday where I'll be selling and displaying my mosaics, still debating whether to take these small pieces along.

Baron Hill Mansion

I've completed another painting about the old mansion house near where my parents live and thought it was about time I put some of the history of the place down.  There are more photo's on this website which has some amazing shots of the inside not long after it was abandoned. I would credit the author of the pages, but they are anonymous.

The original house was built in 1612 and underwent various changes, some of the dates around the gutterings are from 1835 and most of the architecture is from the early 19th Century.  It was requistioned during the WW2 as accomodation for the polish army (tales of polish soldiers bumping into the Stalin moustachioued local look alike caused much amusement). Fire destroyed the building and it has remained empty and decaying ever since, but has become a valuable source for artists and photographers alike.

I spent many hours running around this old mansion frightening myself with anticipation of coming across a ghost (or the very real gamekeeper) and the place still holds a fascination to me.  I once spent a good 30 minutes nervously pacing as my sister and our friend bravely (studpidly?) explored the cellars and basement.  I was far too sensible and timid to join them, although in hindsight I wish I'd been braver.

Rumours about restoring the old house and converting it into flats have been circulating for the past few years.

Above is my latest painting, which is the view from the opposite side of the first photo (above).  It is much more overgrown now,  this is done using dyes, acrylics, collage and pen & ink drawing. There is a lot more to follow!

New Sketchbook!

Just received my sketchbook for the sketchbook project, I'm looking forward to getting on with it, I chose the subject 'fold and stitch', so will be doing some new experiments in it. I may take it with me to the Tin Ladies Non Birthday Meeting today... it would be good to do some scribbling and eating non birthday cake at the same time.

I've been drawing and using dyes a lot lately. I really enjoy doing this and can loose myself in that flow when drawing, that I can't achieve in other ways, the above image is one that I did last week. I've joined a website that is an artists community and had to pay to subscribe, this is forcing me to produce work as I am inherently quite tight with money, so I want to get my full use out of the site. It's also brought out my competitive side, which I usually keep dormant, I find myself wanting to be at the number 1 spot!

The second image is my interpretation of a photograph I took of some rocks. I enjoyed playing with Oil & Acrylics last weekend and this was the result. I'm enjoying working with mixed media for now.