Leonardo da Vinci Painter at the Court of Milan

23rd November 2011

Less than 48 hours after seeing the Degas exhibition, I was standing in Trafalgar Square awaiting the opening of the National Gallery, my ticket in my hand.  I was surprised by the long queue formed by people without tickets -they had a very long, cold wait ahead of them.

Whilst the Degas exhibition had been full of surprises, this exhibition simply filled me with the joy of seeing these great works for myself. An added delight was found in all the drawings, diagrams and sketches which were preparatory works for the completed paintings. I had seen some of them before in an exhibition at Windsor Castle but found them far more valuable when placed on display so close to the works themselves. They acquired a new level of fascination and greatly enhanced the experience and awareness upon studying the paintings.
I have included some postcards in my Learning Log.

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

21st November 2011

I visited the exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts expecting to see paintings and statues of ballet and ballet dancers. I have enjoyed seeing examples of his work in many galleries over the years.

Whilst I was not in any way disappointed by the works on show, I was truly amazed to find how important photography had been to Degas and his contemporaries. The opening quotation "People call me the painter of dancers, but I really wish to capture movement itself, " perhaps should have given me a clue.

I read about his interest and use of early photography but was particularly interested in the included work of Eadweard Muybridge (1830 -1904) and Etienne-Jules Marey (1830 -1904) and their influence on the work of Degas.

Once again, my awareness has been raised by this experience. Since I started the OCA course, I have learned so much more about the things I thought I already knew quite a lot about. This exhibition did not merely display works by Degas - which was really all I had gone for - but it taught me so much about the man and his driving passions. Thank you!

OCA Study Day

On Saturday 3rd September, I attended an OCA Study Day at The Whitechapel Gallery.
After an early start, I arrived in London to find my planned underground  route to the Gallery from Euston blocked by line closures. I found the alternative route by bus and was surprised by the number of Police on duty at street corners, waiting in groups with motor bikes etc. I had not realised that a demonstration was planned to take place in the area of the Gallery!
I met other students outside the Gallery and went inside for the tour of Thomas Struth's exhibition. I had read that his photographs were large, but was unprepared for the actual sizes on display. The quality of such huge works was stunning and, at first, that was all I could think about. I returned to this part of the exhibition by myself later, when there were fewer people present. I was then more able to look at the work, which I found fascinating.  There was a huge disparity between the size of the people and the size of the environment around them.The frame was full of intriguing images, of people and place. In all the large photographs, there were small details to capture the attention - a huge oil rig, a small man fixing a bicycle.


The black and white street scenes had very central perspectives - not always an easy position to place oneself to take such photographs.


I really enjoyed the Paradise photographs - I identified with, feeling a familiarity with the exotic views portrayed. I then realised that they were taken in The Daintree River area which I had visited some years ago.


An overriding impression, apart from the size, was the simplicity of the way in which all the different subjects were framed and mounted. The picture said everything, there was no need to embellish with exotic mounts or complex frames.


I left the gallery only to walk into the demonstration where tensions simmered between opposing factions and the police trying to keep the peace. After the recent riots, I was somewhat afraid and rushed away down back streets to avoid trouble. I found myself in Brick Lane for the first time, and promised myself a return visit on a quieter day.

Southwell

Yesterday I visited The Workhouse at Southwell, a place which has long been on my "To go" list, but I was spurred into action by the OCA blog about Maggy Milner's work "A Delicate Balance".

After a lengthy drive, I eventually arrived and was amazed by the size of the workhouse. It is a very large building and seems out of proportion for the needs of the rural community I had driven through. I later went into Southwell itself to find a small town, so perhaps my first impressions were misled by the direction I had travelled from.

I watched an introductory film about the Workhouse' history and the principles behind it. Then I went into the buildings themselves and was surprised by the quality of the building itself, although the amenities for the people living there were spartan.

In the men's exercise yard I came across the first piece of Maggy's work, "Hard Labour".

The various sizes of hands represented the ages of all the occupants of the workhouse and the very physical hard work they had to perform.  The piece looked even more dramatic when seen from inside the building on the upper floors. It was quite chilling. The position of each hand seemed to suggest a silent plea for the toil to stop.

The ground floor of the workhouse was spotlessly clean, dry and sparsely furnished, but then I went into the cellars which were less inviting. It was cold, dark and damp in there, with decay on the walls and doors. There I found the second piece of Maggy's work, "Perishable Goods."

The fruit inside the jars, again displayed in regimented rows as were the hands, were in various stages of deterioration. The seven sets of jars, displayed in different parts of the cellars, represented the 7 categories of pauper admitted to the workhouse and segregated  in every part of the institution. Families were separated on arrival and were never allowed to communicate with each other. This must have been dreadful for the people, mothers torn from their children, brothers and sisters kept apart, husbands parted from their wives.

There was a sense of despair in the cellars and Maggy's work reflected this.

Upstairs again, a light, bright room -The Committee Room - held the third part of Maggy's work, "Classified" again emphasizing the cruel segregation of the paupers.

I chose this specific pile of labelled t-shirts as I suppose I would have been grouped as "Old Woman" although I am do not really feel old and I am not infirm !

The modernity of the t-shirts and slogan made me think about how we categorise people today - little has changed.

"More" is the title of the fourth piece, again displayed in neat rows on the floor. Begging bowls are always used as a symbol of poverty, distressing at any time in history, but having a sense of failure in our modern society as we still see them now.

The bowls were in the men's dormitory - other rooms displayed the simple beds, very close together and filling the rooms.

"Diminishing Returns" were pieces displayed in the dormitory for the "Old and Infirm" - the only "Deserving Poor". Here the acrylic shapes suggest the human form, with metal bars as support and restraint. Displayed against the windows, these pieces were lit from behind. When I realised that my reflection showed in my photograph, it made it feel very personal.

Finally, in the Master's Room, I found the sixth piece, "Deflation".

Although this room was not in quite the decorative state of the ground floor rooms, it would have been one of the grandest rooms during the life of the building as a workhouse. From here, the Master could see all the exterior aspects of the building and access all the interior. The paupers were always in his control.

The clear balloons, trapped in clear cylinders and slowly deflating and falling, suggest the total lack of privacy in the lives of the paupers, constantly in the control of the Master.

 I  enjoyed seeing the "Delicate Balance" project and for once felt that I understood the concepts behind it. I do not usually enjoy modern art installations, but this felt to be highly symbolic in its message and specifically in its location.


Having seen the workhouse itself, I came away feeling  dismay at the inhumanity man shows to his fellow man, sometimes in the guise of aid or charity. 


I went into Southwell to visit the Minster. A wedding party posing for photographs, the bells ringing and the warmth of the  summer day combined to restore my spirits. Inside the Minster, the architecture and especially the stone carvings were glorious. I faced the long drive home in a contemplative mood.

Rectangles

Rectangles

This photograph was taken at Mr Straw's House, a National Trust property which is an Edwardian house, redecorated in 1921 and unchanged since that date. The view of the kitchen shows several rectangular shapes, although some are slightly distorted by perspective. All the items in the kitchen seemed to be solid, rectangular objects - the sink, the cupboards, the chimneybreast,
the fireplace, hearth  and  ovens. Movement is suggested by the angles of the brush and shovel. Photography was difficult in the house as the rooms were small and very dark - flash was not allowed.


Exercise: Rhythms and Patterns.


On the seafront at Heysham, there were several examples of rhythm in the 3-storey terraced houses. I tried several different angles and focal lengths before choosing this one for the exercise.

The  house at the right hand side of the frame breaks the rhythm by being painted white over the natural stone and black paint on the stone window surrounds, door and drainpipes. The terrace then continued in stone, but the balance of the rhythm was broken by this house. This part of the terrace suggests its own rhythm, stone repeated and then white - perhaps a sharp, shorter note to end the rhythm before the repeat begins.

Exercise : Real and implied triangles

Real Triangles


On a recent visit to Blackwell (10th July) I took several photographs of the  house exterior and the beautiful views in and from the garden. It was a bright, sunny day and the photographs were taken around midday.

There are several triangles in this view of Lake Windermere , taken from the terrace at Blackwell. The stone wall at the bottom of the frame edges the mown field;  the left frame and lake form the other two sides. 
In addition, my intention was to show the lake as a triangle, bounded by the far side of the lake and the slope of the mown field.
Beyond the lake, the shoreline and hill form a third triangle.

This view of the house shows an inverted triangle by perspective. As the two main walls meet at rightangles, the roofline of the left wall appears to descend from top left to the centre of the frame, causing the gable end of the right hand wall to form the second side of the triangle, which is completed by the top of the frame. 


Implied triangles

Four plants in pots, with 2 baskets, form this triangular shape still life. There are plenty of flowers within the triangle for interest, but the placing of the plants on the trug gives width and height to the study.

Shape

Bryan Peterson (Learning to see Creatively) says that shape is the principal element of identification. Firstly, it is best defined when the subject is frontlit or backlit. Secondly, there should be a strong contrast between the shape and it's surroundings.


Triangles
I have been looking for triangles, both real and implied. Again I have found that, focusing on a new aspect of the course, I am noticing things I had not noticed before.  As with Curves, I realise that triangles have formed a part of my photographs which have pleased me, but not thought about WHY they have had that effect. 
The following three examples of my Granddaughter playing in the garden in response to my question "How many different triangle shapes can you make?"showed me how much more difficult it is to capture a posed choice, instead of just clicking away as she plays!

This shot fits with Peterson's  point about contrast. Maddie's red polo shirt contrasts strongly with the green background. As for his first point, these shots were taken on a very dull day, as can be seen from the lack of shadows.

 I was so busy concentrating on Maddie that I didn't notice that the garden shed is in the frame. It  would have been a much better shot if I had asked her to move a few paces to her left!
Unfortunately, it began to rain heavily as I realised this and so could not repeat the shot.

I think Maddie had as much fun as I did!