Recently I acquired a lovely, shiny totally unnecessary iPad. After seeing Hockneys iPad drawings at the RA exhibition I persuaded myself that no right-thinking artist should be without one and eventually scrimped together enough money to drive my husband to the shop where he bought it for me. Ah, the commercial exchanges of married life....
Anyway, I truly am in love with this bit of gadgetry. I won't rhapsodise over the ability to obsessively check emails and Facebook wherever I go, or how easy it was to find and download every episode of the Camomile Lawn (felt a frenzy of need to see it after reading Caitlin Moran's 'How to be a Woman', in which she pays tribute to Jennifer Ehle's breasts floating in a bubble bath). However, I will upload the sketches I have done on it.
I've not used the computer much for art and so the whole idea of layers came as a bit of a shock but I'm getting used to them. I'm using Procreate at the moment which seems to suit the way I work but if anyone else has any suggestions I'd be pleased to hear them. I also treated myself to a Bamboo stylus as I hated the way fingertips leave greasy smears across the exquisite, glossy surface. Apart from that, I'm just mentally welded to the idea of a pencil in my hand so using it seems far more natural.
There's lots of development to do using my new beloved (fantasy dinner party - just me and iPad at the moment) but here are my early experiments..
Sadly this show has been cancelled - but there will be more next year.
In September Madame Fifi and I are putting on an exhibition at the Nucleus Gallery. We had great fun over the weekend having our photos taken for it. Carl, the photographer, was excellent at negotiating children, dogs, snakes and vanity. The snake (a pampered pet, by the way if anyone is worrying) particularly liked Madame Fifi's crocheted dress and decided to make a home in it. Poking it head through the holes it got stuck and did not appreciate my efforts to free it. Let this be a lesson to you all - no matter how good an idea it seems at the time, never wear a live snake with a crocheted dress.
Marge Simpson trying to rescue the snake - you can tell I'm enjoying it.....
Our exhibition is called called Cock'n'Bull although the content, at the moment, is a bit.... how can I say? Fluid. That is, we haven't made much of it yet.
But that is all part of the excitement. What will it be about...? What will be in the show...? Will there be anything in it...? Anyway, here are the posters.
Madame Fifi, with me as Victor Spinnylicker, the wicked circus ringmaster....!
The cover for our forthcoming country and western album .....
Absolutely gutted - the Sucklord, contestant on Next Great Artist and substitute fantasy dinner party guest if Grayson Perry is busy, is out! How can that be? Despite naming himself 'Suck Lord' he was pretty much the most charming and agreeable television reality show contestant there's ever been (not a difficult title to take, I suppose). He didn't do himself justice in the competition - it seemed clear that he has real talent and a unique vision but maybe the structure of the show didn't allow that through. Just like in the last series when Manipulative Miles hung on till the end, the irritating Lola seems to have her place in final assured (this time I'm not spoiling it by looking up who makes it). Now SuckLord is gone I'm rooting for Dusty from Arkansas although Sara Jimenez does some great work. Only two more weeks to go and then, I fear, no more NGA until next year....
Anyway, here is some of the contestants work
Lola, baring all (secrets as well as flesh in this piece of art)
Last week I saw two wonderful performances that you would expect to see in a theatre - but no.... there are always other options.
Last Saturday I saw dANTE or dIE (http://www.danteordie.com), a dance/art group perform La Fille a la Mode at the Nucleus Gallery in Chatham as part of the Medway Fuse Festival. It was a unique experience! They danced through the courtyard, in the conference room, by the loos and on the roof. I very much enjoyed it although I think the performance was enhanced by the reactions of some very young French children who were both enraptured and terrified by it at the same time....
dANTE or dIE performing La Fille a la Mode at the National Theatre
A few days earlier I'd been to see the National Theatre's version of Frankenstein - not live but at the Vue cinema in Thurrock. The National has taken to filming its plays so they can be shown in cinemas worldwide.
Initially, in the foyer of the cinema I was surrounded by a host of fabulous Essex girls in 9 inch heels and mini-skirts all on their way to see Men in Black 3. The usher didn't even need to look at my ticket - 'middle aged lady in a scarf? You'll be wanting Frankenstein in screen 6, Madam'.
I was a bit concerned the experience of watching a play in the cinema would be too odd and indeed the first act proved challenging. It's a 20 minute piece of visceral, physical theatre in which the Creature is born, it's senses awaken and it learns how to walk, make sounds and become aware of itself - how it turns from an 'it' to a 'him'. In the theatre I can imagine this was an edge of the seat and breathtaking piece but the screen proved a barrier I couldn't ignore. However, by the second act I was fully engrossed in the play and completely forgot I was in a cinema. In fact, considering the seats at the National can be a bit uncomfy and the play was sold out, the huge squashy cinema seats in a near empty screen competed well as an alternative.
Trailer for the NT live showing of Frankenstein
I saw the version with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Frankenstein, which according to the reviews is the 'wrong' way around with both actors having the edge when playing the other role. However, the improvement must be tiny because the performances I saw were phenomenal. Jonny Lee Miller was the surprise for me. Being the only person alive to have still not watched Trainspotting I've never seen him in anything and only knew him as Angelina Jolie's ex. He may not be the pretty young thing he once was but he is certainly superb in this play. If it comes around again - brave the miniskirts and make sure you see it.
Sadly, not the island, but the hotel in Hastings. We had an overnight trip to the sea-side town earlier this week in order to take a look at the recently opened Jerwood Gallery. Places like Hastings (and Margate and Broadstairs, of course) are my idea of heaven. English sea-side with a weeny bit of culture thrown in.
The Jerwood gallery has been built right on the seafront in the old part of town. I visited a couple of years ago before it was built and, although there was local opposition to it, I have to say I can't for the life of me remember what was there before.
Personally I think the building, which obviously takes its design from the fishermen's net huts that surround it, is beautiful. However, the 'no to Jerwood' graffiti that is still visible bears witness to local reluctance. So was it worth it?
Frances Rose, 1973, by Maggie Hambling
Hmmmm, I think the jury is still out. Although only a fraction of the Jerwood collection is on view at any one time, I found it to be pretty uninspiring. In fact the architecture of the building could be the collection's undoing - most of the galleries have large windows framing scenes from the beach and the town which are far more enticing and exciting that the art on the walls. The work is a collection of late 19th to early 21st century British artists. With the exception of a wonderful portrait by Maggie Hambling, I found it fairly underwhelming.
