On the Up

I have had a good couple of days.  I went to the City Lit for my second Draw, Paint, Print class.

I had a truly wonderful time.   I worked from last week's drawings of a chip frying basket.  This week we were working in mono print and I had a very successful drawing session.  It was the first time I was  using an oil based printing medium, and it worked very well.  We had not only black paint, but red, yellow and blue, so I could blend a warm black, and we were working with a tiny (inadequate) amount of thinners, so this impacted (surprisingly successfully) with my outcomes.

In the morning I painted 5 different versions of the frying basket, using additive and reductive techniques, mostly building up several layers of print.  In the afternoon I did 3 versions of a hot drinks flask, using multiple layers in one, and one layer print in the other two.  They would work very well as a digital textile print.

Today Jim and I went for a bike ride, and I thought about the difference between making an object and making something about the object.  In my case, this is about mincemeat.  I have made another batch of mincemeat, anticipating making a dozen or so jars, to cover with the jam jar covers.  Yet now, on reflection, I think if the jars are full, the artwork message is about mincemeat.  But what I want to focus on is the amount of time it takes to make it, and how the labour is unseen.  So It would have actually more impact, if the jars were empty, but had a hand made jam jar cover, a tie, and a label.  Instead of ingredients, the label could have a breakdown of the time involved.  And in many ways, it alleviates potential problems, as if the jars were full, people might want to buy them, and then I would need to comply with legislation regarding ingredient labels.  It has taken me a while to grasp the difference between artworks of a subject, and about a subject, but I think I have mastered it!

Now it is time to sit and cut out jam jar covers!  And in the meantime, we might have to just eat the mincemeat!

The monochrome images for the mincemeat lids

Measuring the colour versions for marmalade

Pinking my way around the jam jar covers