The Secret Life of the Pencil

Thought provoking and interesting photographic project with detailed images of famous people's pencils. The pencils become mini portraits of their owners giving clues to how their users might work and who chews them...

http://thesecretlifeofthepencil.co.uk/

amusing & informative, 8 minute talk with artist Alex Hammond about the pencil

[link below]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeI36d9a89o&list=PLdkAfOu-dFyIncMxUej_ciJXgrSfWFB8c

St Annes Library, using collage to explore narrative in visual art.

Making connections is fundamental to how many artists think and work.

  

We began the session by bringing together images that could tell a story.  We each worked separately without disclosing our ideas to enable others in the group to "read" the work made, once finished.

Everyone brought their own ideas to the individual pieces and although the sense of each work was understood, we decided a title might work as an additional pointer to ensure the artists' message was clear.

Informed by our discussion, a very quick second piece was undertaken some of which had surprising results.

This approach could easily be the starting point of drawings or paintings.   

Angie 1:  Fallen

 From fertile and fecund downward to introspection and sadness; the loss of a baby.

Angie 2:  untitled 

 Phoenix, pregnancy, a new beginning.

Betty 1:  Metamorphosis of a Princes

This turned a little unsettling when Betty disclosed that the body of the person on the left was an image of the body of the person in the middle.

Betty 2:  untitled

This piece brought in a range of ideas from "running away" and "needing lots of shoes" to "not wanting to be in her shoes" and "to never criticise another until you've walked a mile in their moccasins."

Maria 1:  Dinner Time

Self explanatory and fabulous use of colour in this.  My image doesn't do it justice.

Maria 2:  Save the Whales

 Lovely ambiguity - could easily be Save the Wales'.

Monica 1:  Beginning to find the End

 A journey through life.

Monica 2:  Apple of My Eye

 Tears were added to the pictogram to make a gentle expression of loss.

Jeanette 1:  Someone to Watch over Me

 The first piece enabled a simplified, expression of health and vitality in the second.

Jeanette's 2nd piece

Remarkable work - well done again!

Next week we're exploring narratives using assemblage and working three dimensionally.  Do join us if you would like to have a go.  

Lytham Art Circle, Drawing using Grids...

 

Excellent start - next week we're working with colour and composition. 

Room for more...  if you would like to give it a go, you would be very welcome.

11 - 12.30 at Lytham Library

The Big Painting Challenge & The Little Painting Challenge with Art Circle

The Big Painting Challenge 

BBC 1:  6pm Sundays starting 22^nd February for 6 weeks.

The BBC also has a website promoting this which has some excellent “How to draw…” pages including faces and buildings.  Well worth visiting.

BBC The-big-painting-challenge  

The Little Painting Challenge

  

The Little Painting Challenge

[from the website…]

If you’ve been inspired to take up a brush or pencil by The Big Painting Challenge on BBC One why not enter The Little Painting Challenge?

All you have to do to enter is draw or paint your entry on the blank side of one of the pre-printed postcards, fill in your details, add a stamp and pop it in the post box.

1000 of the best entries including the winners will be exhibited in the newly refurbished Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester from the 4th of May 2015.

Before entering the competition please read the full terms and conditions.

Categories

·        Children Age 7 to 15*

·        16+ Beginner

·        16+ Experienced

*Entrants under 16 must have permission from a parent or guardian to enter

Closing Date

Entries must be received by 5pm on Thursday 2nd April 2015.

Prizes

Children: Art supplies to the value of £250

16+ Categories: Art supplies to the value of £500

Notes

·        Works in any media but not digital or computer generated artworks

·        For the purpose of this competition beginners are described as someone who is untrained, self-trained or has taken a few classes in art at a basic level.  As a guide any art courses attended above A Level Art would be classified as experienced.

BBC The-little-painting-challenge

Let’s do it!

more info on how, next week 

25 & 26 th February Art Circle at Lytham & St Annes Libraries respectively

Art Circle Lytham Library, drawing what we see...

Two approaches to enable us to draw what we see rather than what we think we see.

In one we used a straight edge to identify vertical & horizontal lines which helped to determine angles and distances and in the other we drew a grid over the image and a grid on the paper to enable us to breakdown the image, plot where lines intersect and transfer the image into a drawing.

Angie:  using a straight edge & working from the vertical & horizontal

Julian:  using grids

after using the first method, Ray drew from memory

William:  using grids

Well done everyone - next week we'll do some cutting and sticking!

Art Circle: New Start and Knives...

Art Circle at Lytham Library began this week.  A quiet but very interesting start.  Next week we move onto using vertical and horizontal lines to create drawings.

There are still  places if you would like to join us.

Meanwhile at St Annes Library we've pushed the idea of folding and cutting to make folded, symmetrical cut-outs linked by working with a knife in the spaces between and enhancing with colour.  Although we did find that colour sometimes detracts... I've left those images out!

Excellent work again - well done everyone.

Hina Aoyama 

Art Circle starts at Lytham Library this Wednesday...

11am - 12.30pm
Wednesdays from 11th February 2015

beginners, improvers and experts welcome
materials provided

£2.50

Friends of St Annes Palace - Community Day

Thank you to Friends of St Annes Palace, the Freemasons, everyone who attended and especially all those who were interested in my work and Art Circle. 

Many thanks too to Eloise.  Your beautiful picture reminds me of the song, "Always look on the bright side of life" which pretty much sums up the day and the lovely people who give so much to our community to make things better.  

The links below will take you to more information about the Palace's history & use and the aims of the Friends of St Annes Palace.

link to The Palace St Annes
link to Friends of St Annes Palace

Art Circle: 2 into 3 will go...

We looked at different qualities of paper and experimented.

One piece of paper, plain or printed was folded / scrunched / torn / cut (with scissors) / rolled and manipulated; all the page was included nothing was discarded; and sculptures began to appear...

This week was all about the process.  
We didn't look at other art work first so this is the first time the group will see how well they did next to artists who work this way.

Next week we'll bring out the knives...

Simone:  "Footprints in Snow"

Peter Callesen:  Hold on to Me Yourself

Peter Callesen

Peter Callesen:  Cowboy 2006

link to Peter Callesen

by Angie

by Richard

by Jeanette

by Graham

by Jeanette

Jennifer Khoshbi

Sue Blackwell:  Through the Looking Glass