Guide to the blog

To see all posts please click on 2007 on blog archive.
To view the Greenaway films please click on one of the stills on the left and it will load above.
Thanks,
Ellie Richens

Finished Soutine Piece

Here are two of the pieces for the soutine finished piece. The one above was a blown up version of the side of the cow.



The one above is the piece I am submitting as my assessed piece.

Finished Sculpture Painting

Here are the completed sculpture paintings. I am really pleased with this one as I found it challenging both in terms of the unprimed canvas and because of it's scale (I am used to working small scale). However, it has definately made me appreciate large scale works more, as well as inspiring me to do them in the future. I feel quite a sense of pride in the finished piece, and retrospectively, quite enjoyed it :)

Finished Shapes Painting

Here is my completed shapes painting. I am very pleased with and feel it was so much more succesful than the one I started originally. I am glad, for once, that I did not resolve it as I find this piece much more inspiring.

Caravaggio

In his 1986 film, Caravaggio, Derek Jarman portrays Caravaggio as a victim of his own desires. In truth, Caravaggio spent years on the run as a murderer, which is the basis for the film. However, Jarman, extends sympathy towards Caravaggio, who is merely caught in a visious love triangle with his beautiful female model and a young homosexual apprentice who is obsessed with his master.

Derek Jarman shows how art and life cannot be seperated and that such high passions for things such as art can run deep in people's lives. It would be impossible to disjoin the two ideas, as they are centrally running themes in this film, and all of the main characters are connected, and indeed attracted, to Caravaggio because of his artistic influences.

If I understood this film to define both painting and the role of the artist, I think then that Jarman is suggesting that some of the most incredible painters, and the more succesful ones, were devoted to the point of obsession not just with their art but with everything they cared about. I think this is true of many of the 'masters' of painting, although whether or not it actually improves your work (or your state of mind) is quite enough matter altogether.




The film itself is very dark both in tone and appearance and this reflects the style of Caravaggios' pieces (as shown above). I think it is very similar to that of Caravaggio's paitings but obviously his paitings are more like a snap shot in time that you cannot create with a film.

Peter Greenaway film

Another Peter Greenway film, 52 Seconds long.

Georgia O'Keefe

Georgia O'Keefe has long been a favourite of mine and also of my GCSE art teacher, who had endless books on her work. The quality and depth of the paitings amaze me more than the subjects for me, which for obvious reasons, are not everyone's cup of tea. It is useful to study her work when using colour as she does it do well, particularly with oils - which I have used frequently throughout the colour project.