Forgive me for being slack with Blog, but I have been syphoning, filtering, distilling and swigging the creative juices. Despite the ongoing India project, I have been thinking on other ways I can communicate stuff in a visual and hopefully, pleasing-to-the-eye way.
On the weekend I was lucky enough to head back to Geneva for a catch up with some friends. The weekend was perfect but I was reminded how much I miss that part of the world and now with the ski season fast approaching, how much I was gong to miss the mountains this year. This kick started a few thought processes and on a run through the woods on Monday with Dog, I had a vision! Ok, maybe not as dramatic, an idea then. I had to get home and get it down before it flitted away.
My idea (vision!) was a mixed media piece - or multiple pieces. I have never done anything mixed media, apart from the odd cut and glue in primary school and a horrible failed attempt in year 10 of a model village type thing. Needless to say, I am untrained and unexperienced in this field of artistic expression, nevertheless, I was going to give this brave new world of mixed media a shot.
Im a bit of a do or die girl, once I have made my mind up to do something, I have to do it and there are very few circumstances that can assemble to reverse my thinking. This was no different. After 10 minutes I was already putting together the ingredients and items I would need to make it work. I dug around in the shed and found sand. I found some white acrylic paint I hadn't used for a year - that would do. Some wall filler from when we moved out of Geneva flat to give the paint a bulk and allow it to hold stuff. All I needed now was some glass...
Anyone who knows me knows that the Jayne in my name stands for "Calamity Jane". Precious or delicate things and I don't go well together. So smashing up glass bottles wouldn't be a problem for me, but dealing with all the tiny tiny shards afterwards was something of a risk.
Slamming a hammer into a glass bottle is awesome. Very good for stress levels, although make sure its properly wrapped up in a carrier bag and a tea towel. I decanted the shards and headed up to the studio where I entered into the world of mixed media!
My idea had formed when thinking about the beauty of the mountains. The fact that they reflect any colour around them, in the sky or water, so they can be any colour. The range of textures that exist, from soft powdery snow, to jagged rock peaks. Cavernous crevasses and grassy nulls. My work with palette knives had made me acutely aware of these textures and its always something people comment on with my work, so it was always sort of in the back of my mind.
But with this outstanding beauty, comes a very real and primitive danger. Regardless of how advanced we have become with our technology, nature still overpowers us and shows us who's boss every now and again, usually taking lives in the process. It was this juxtaposition of staggering beauty and unpredictable danger that led me to my idea (vision!). I wanted to try something abstract. These pieces are not supposed to be of this mountain, or that mountain, they are just inspired by the shapes, colours and textures of the mountains. The glass element is there to give beautiful colour and depth but also represents the danger of the mountains and the care and respect that must be taken in them.
So this is the result. Its the first of what I hope will be numerous pieces. How they will be received is one thing - how I am going to transport them is another. But I am truly excited about this new world of mixed media and the door its allowed me to creep through.
N.B. For those of you interested and/or particularly keen sighted, yes, they are re-cycled bottles. In fact, both gin bottles, one of which is Bombay Sapphire - such a lovely lovely blue colour, like the colour of glaciers! I can see I am going to have to buy a lot more Bombay sapphire, such a shame.
On the weekend I was lucky enough to head back to Geneva for a catch up with some friends. The weekend was perfect but I was reminded how much I miss that part of the world and now with the ski season fast approaching, how much I was gong to miss the mountains this year. This kick started a few thought processes and on a run through the woods on Monday with Dog, I had a vision! Ok, maybe not as dramatic, an idea then. I had to get home and get it down before it flitted away.
My idea (vision!) was a mixed media piece - or multiple pieces. I have never done anything mixed media, apart from the odd cut and glue in primary school and a horrible failed attempt in year 10 of a model village type thing. Needless to say, I am untrained and unexperienced in this field of artistic expression, nevertheless, I was going to give this brave new world of mixed media a shot.
Im a bit of a do or die girl, once I have made my mind up to do something, I have to do it and there are very few circumstances that can assemble to reverse my thinking. This was no different. After 10 minutes I was already putting together the ingredients and items I would need to make it work. I dug around in the shed and found sand. I found some white acrylic paint I hadn't used for a year - that would do. Some wall filler from when we moved out of Geneva flat to give the paint a bulk and allow it to hold stuff. All I needed now was some glass...
Anyone who knows me knows that the Jayne in my name stands for "Calamity Jane". Precious or delicate things and I don't go well together. So smashing up glass bottles wouldn't be a problem for me, but dealing with all the tiny tiny shards afterwards was something of a risk.
Slamming a hammer into a glass bottle is awesome. Very good for stress levels, although make sure its properly wrapped up in a carrier bag and a tea towel. I decanted the shards and headed up to the studio where I entered into the world of mixed media!
My idea had formed when thinking about the beauty of the mountains. The fact that they reflect any colour around them, in the sky or water, so they can be any colour. The range of textures that exist, from soft powdery snow, to jagged rock peaks. Cavernous crevasses and grassy nulls. My work with palette knives had made me acutely aware of these textures and its always something people comment on with my work, so it was always sort of in the back of my mind.
But with this outstanding beauty, comes a very real and primitive danger. Regardless of how advanced we have become with our technology, nature still overpowers us and shows us who's boss every now and again, usually taking lives in the process. It was this juxtaposition of staggering beauty and unpredictable danger that led me to my idea (vision!). I wanted to try something abstract. These pieces are not supposed to be of this mountain, or that mountain, they are just inspired by the shapes, colours and textures of the mountains. The glass element is there to give beautiful colour and depth but also represents the danger of the mountains and the care and respect that must be taken in them.
N.B. For those of you interested and/or particularly keen sighted, yes, they are re-cycled bottles. In fact, both gin bottles, one of which is Bombay Sapphire - such a lovely lovely blue colour, like the colour of glaciers! I can see I am going to have to buy a lot more Bombay sapphire, such a shame.
