Tree prints

Last winter I drew different trees and since then I have been making lino cuts of these drawings. I now have fourteen. With winter coming it is time to get drawing again as I have an ambitious plan for a final piece in a couple of years time.

Pandora's Box exhibition.

This piece below was made for this group show. The final piece is a giclee print. The second piece is an installation. (the framed image in the right has been removed and is installed as planned on the other side of the gallery).

Still I rise

Desire

Studio update

Art Jumble Sale at Limbo

Limbo put out a call to associate members to rent a stall in the project space to sell unwanted studio materials, tools etc and old work. This ran parallel to the artists car boot fair at Turner Contemporary. I participated with some casting materials, an old projector, some other unwanted equipment from Uni days as well as a small table with old silkscreen artist proofs I included one or two good bargain prints! 

It was an interesting and really creative event with a performative element.

Art Trail

Some local artists organised an art trail as part of our local Oyster festival. A time to take stock of some of my prints and to show off my new shed and studio to be. This will be the fourth space that I will have worked in since I left Uni last year! It is called studio hopping I've been told!

 Yes, the yellow tray is the hint that I got my tangrams out for any visiting children!

Shelves yet to be built... I am still keeping my studio at Limbo for a while.

V22 residence.

I had the use of a huge new studio in Ilderton Road South Bermondsey for a month this June.  Enjoying the exciting  challenge of working in a different environment under new conditions away from home turf, I experimented with materials and objects that I found outside of the studio. It was a daunting space to move into at first. Here is some of the work that came from responding to this space, situation and the local environment of South Bermondsey.

Work in progress

and there is more! ...

From Studio to Gallery

The piece 'Margate 1' that I have been working on has finally moved into a gallery space. I was unsure how it would work along side of the others work so was looking forward to putting it to the test. Work is in progress for 'Margate 2'.

Studio update

I've been working on a new piece in the studio. I am also taking stock of all the work stored at home. With two group shows coming up decisions have to be made. Also a small solo show in the Autumn which I plan to exhibit saleable work. Time to get organised!

Some of the smaller pieces in the studio have developed further since last week when this photo was taken. The assemblage painting on the right has been disassembled and logged!

Assemblage work in progress

This is a work in progress. I am making an assemblage using a painting that I was working on in my Hern Bay studio before the leasehold abruptly ended. It is combined with a painting that I have been doing at Limbo. It will be for a group show at the Horsebridge.

From studio to gallery

Finally installed. Here is my to date statement for the gallery minus a few facts about tree diseases.

My work focus’s around creating a narrative, one that is ambiguous, and open to interpretation. I use domestic ephemera to articulate my themes. Each object or image exists with its own narrative. That narrative is expanded on and altered when it is put in context with a given environment. The altered juxtaposition of one object or image with another changes the translation of the whole. As the narrative changes, the interpretation also changes depending on its audience. These changing scenarios interest me, adding dynamics that have multiple possibilities by layering and capturing what are subjective human experiences.

 For this exhibition I have created an installation using linocut tree portraits. It is about trees in our environment and the relationship that we have with them. Trees form an important role in our Eco system and can effect climate change. Climate change itself effects the aphids and diseases that destroy trees. This piece is called tree shrine, as it is a tribute to these magnificent plants. (the hand on the left and picture on the right are part of this installation, with the central piece being the fireguard and cascading prints)

The linocuts are all done from drawing of trees sketched in the winter months. I prefer to work from drawings rather than photographs; I am able to build up a better understanding of the trees' structure during this process even it is extremely cold!

On going

This ancient Cherry Plum tree can be found in the gardens of the Powell Cotton Museum. It is being quite a challenge. 

New work - New Studio

Since the Yellow suitcase project I have been working on producing a series of sketches and lino prints of trees in winter. This is an ongoing project and will continue next winter. Spring is on its way and although it is much nicer weather to sketch in, the leaves are beginning to form.  I have one more tree to draw and four more lino cuts. These will be incorporated in a new piece that I am working on to go in a group show 'All Change' which starts at the end of this month.
Due to having a couple exhibitions coming up I have rented a studio at Limbo Arts for two months to experiment and formulate my ideas. I am sharing with a painter Simon Foxall and it is great to have a work space again.

Art in the Market Place

To round off the Yellow Suitcase project or rather to extend it I did two interventions. The first in Margate market in part to collect tangram designs to send to Nomas. It has already been posted on this blog under Derivative Experiment in September. It resulted in a film which is on
 www.stella-theyellowsuitcase.com/ 
I wanted to experiment with my play on the tangram and to involve the public. I liked the idea of an interactive art intervention in the market.

Then during the Christmas season I took my Boboko to Canterbury market. It was filled with excerpts of William Blake's poetry or small tasks for people to do on the back of small paintings with the idea of gift and sharing. It was a lucky dip.

In the frenzied atmosphere of pre Christmas shopping people were confused at first to be given something for free with no strings attached. By doing this I had taken ownership of my Boboko.

It resulted in a positive exchanging of goodwill through Art.