0 Comments
'Living' pink with mellow yellow-gold undertones characterises Living Coral, Pantone Colour of the Year 2019, far softer than the vivid Ultra Violet of 2018. Certainly it brings some warmth to somewhat chilly times and draws our attention to the stunning beauty of the natural colours within the world of the fragile coral reefs.
 In reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, we are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy. Sociable and spirited, the engaging nature of PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral welcomes and encourages lighthearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression. Pantone
LiterArties Maeve Bayton is having a solo exhibition at the Stanton St John village shop, Oxford OX33 1HD (see map below). There will be a collection of her beautiful paintings, collages, lino prints and cards for the WHOLE of December 2019. Stanton St John village shop 13 Middle Rd, Stanton St John, Oxford OX33 1HD 01865 351532
Continuing with the theme of art inspired poetry....'capturing our creativity' in multiple modes. LiterArties Kay Jamieson and Dennis Hamley are an artist, author partnership. The beauty of Lake Hayes, Queenstown, New Zealand, inspired Kay to paint her tranquil artwork that, in turn, inspired Dennis to pen a poem. 
LiterArties' Deborah Martin's painting technique illustrated by a step-by-step example. "I thought it might be interesting to show a work in progress at the various stages from start to completion, as an example of the type of demo/talk/ workshops I offer. This painting I'm calling 'Heatherlands' ...  Step 1: Pick out the colours you see and place them onto the canvas in blocks of colour. Looks like a weird kind of patchwork, doesn’t it?  Step 2: Start smoothing with a fan brush. This is sfumato, a-la-Leonardo da Vinci; think Mona Lisa smile. Starting to look a little more like a sky now …  Step 3: Add more highlights and then go back to smoothing again. It doesn’t matter if the colours blend. They do in real life too. And it doesn’t have to be a carbon copy of anything either. It’s YOUR sky …  Step 4: Now look at your palette – ugh! What a mess; just the way I like it. What colours will you use, and which have you finished with? Get rid of the defunct colours- don’t be a messy Tike like me!  Step 5: Vary the type of fan brush you use to blend colours, I use about 6 different ones in total. Keep smoothing until you’re happy with the effect and you have ‘sky’. Step 6: Start adding the landscape, starting with faint delineation, and then building until you’re happy with the transition form sky to land. Now start to add the foreground …  Step 7: Use blocks of colour again, but also go with the shape of the land or the foliage. In this case it’s banks of heather so an arc shape movement works best.  Step 8: Add the path. I used a palette knife – good for coverage and you can get good effects by smoothing and stippling and scarping with it. It’s not just black, white and grey either. Look at all the other colours that are in there – yellow, cerise, purple, green, etc. Nothing is ever a block colour. There are always at least two other colours involved too.  Step 9: Now briefly smooth – but only a minute amount – and then stipple using the varying shades of the heather banks, following the line of the foliage. Sweep grass and underlying stalks upwards with a small fan brush to give the effect of stems.
Capturing our CreativityLiterArties vision unites us. Each of us is 'Capturing our Creativity' through many modes and mediums. Change is a feature of every moment and as creative people we strive to 'capture' the essence of a moment, or moments, in our transient lives using our 'creativity' in words, images, music, clay,... any vehicle possible. Not only is this creative process very rewarding, but through it we can share our inner worlds and experiences with others, hopefully to make their life more pleasurable as well. Inspirational images
Dennis Hamley's AnthologyLiterArties' Dennis Hamley scoured the internet and his own shelves to search out other examples of art inspired poetry and found 21 examples! A book in itself and maybe he will publish it. From his wide ranging and inspirational selection here are three examples. The first is about the experience of visiting the Tate Gallery:
This second example was chosen as it gives a humorous insight into the challenges of creating a masterpiece in cramped physical conditions, in fact the Sistine Chapel.
And thirdly, a short poem that encapsulates how a painting captures the moment:
'Being Seen and Known' by Karen L FrenchLiterArties' Karen L French - "It was a great honour, and moving, to have a poem created by Liz Everett for my expressionistic painting Being Seen and Known, about allowing others to see you for who you really are rather than creating a facade to hide yourself. Having words to complement a work of art really brings home its message. It was really insightful to hear, in her own poetic words, how my artwork had influenced her, personally and creatively."
Our visionLiterArties vision unites us. Each of us is 'Capturing our Creativity' through many modes and mediums. Change is a feature of every moment and as creative people we strive to 'capture' the essence of a moment, or moments, in our transient lives using our 'creativity' in words, images, music, clay,... any vehicle possible. Not only is this creative process very rewarding, but through it we can share our inner worlds and experiences with others, hopefully to make their life more pleasurable as well. Mixing it upNaturally we can explore our creativity through individual mediums, such a writing a book or taking a photograph, but mixing up mediums to convey our inspiration as an integrated whole is a wonderful challenge. Maeve Bayton - sound, images and words
"Among those in the know, Maeve Bayton is something of a local hero, or, rather, heroine. She has a long and distinguished musical record in Oxford, fronting the city’s first all-girl band, 'The Mistakes', in the ‘70s, while her second band, 'Jane Goes Shopping', were also a regular fixture. She remains a respected blues artist, has lectured on music at Ruskin and written on the subject of women in rock. That experience comes through in her second solo album – a collection of sweet, whimsical folk moulded in the tradition of Joan Baez or Sandy Denny. Featuring only five tracks, each tune has space to breath, particularly on the title track, which weighs in at eight-and-a-half minutes long. And it is genuinely lovely and uncommercial. Maeve’s heartfelt, pastoral songs, exploring sadness and loss are soothing, pastoral and, at times almost psychedelic in their simplicity and naivety. The title track even comes with a birdsong soundscape recorded at dawn near Maeve’s Otmoor home. The heartmelting lyrics, meanwhile, were written about her husband’s terminal illness. The standout track is opener 'Missing You' – with Jane Griffiths’s dreamy Celtic fiddle. But really the record works as a whole. The beauty of the music, Maeve’s clear voice and the sparse instrumentation by Griffiths and guitarist Ian Wycherly lend it huge charm. Here is music to soothe most frayed of souls." (The Oxford Times Review, May 2013) © Copyright 2001-2013 Newsquest Media Group
 The view from Maeve's window
"Gazing from my window this morning, I see verdant swathes of green: many species of trees (viridian, olive, sap), then meadows and fields (pea, salmon pink, yellow ochre) gradually turning into the misty blues of hazy far north Oxfordshire. The few distant village houses and church towers are toytown small. Whilst above, the vast dome of sky fades from cobalt to cerulean to pearly chromatic greys. In the wetter months this colourscape is further heightened by a reflected silver and blue from the wide flooded fenland of the RSPB Otmoor Nature Reserve. Closer to hand, I spy three rooks and a green woodpecker, spiking the grass for ants. A horse, a pony and two pheasant, like me, are at breakfast. Above, two whistling kites slowly circle. At other times I have seen March hares boxing, a row of newly fledged owlets strung along the fence, swallows having their first flying lesson, a fox stalking a rabbit, and deer of course. But today there is sparse activity and also little sound, for it is August and the birds have quietened. Later, dusk will bring bats and a pre-roost gathering of rooks. Spring is very different. I shall never forget my first May morning here. Living on main roads in cities all my life, yet always yearning for the country, I took the leap in ’97, leaving noisy crowded sociable Iffley Road for pastures new. I was woken by a cacophony of birdsong. There was a clattering of jackdaws on my roof and a clamour of rooks in the trees. A great spotted woodpecker was hammering a trunk and I counted many sparrows, a wren, a robin, blackbirds, a thrush and a blackcap amongst others. The church bell tolled the hour, 4 am, and I thought, “This is paradise”. I walked down into the nearby copse and recorded the woodland song. This magical experience fed directly into two of my songs, 'The 2nd of May' and 'Missing You'. A photo of the blackcap adorns both CD case and disc and the title track has my recording of the dawn chorus (with robin) running though its entire length. How blessed am I….." (Written for the Writers in Oxford newsletter)
|
AuthorLiterArties, people who embrace, explore and capture their creativity in many ways. Archives
February 2020
|
RSS Feed