Bright & Breezy...

... the result!

Thank you to;

• everyone who took part - the result is excellent
• everyone at the library - who will be finding glitter for days
• Art Circle St Annes who not only joined in but ably assisted

Art Circle returns to St Annes Library; 

11 - 12.30pm, Thursday, 10th September - newcomers welcome

time to rest...

"Bright & Breezy" at St Annes Library: 11 - 5pm, Thursday 23 July

Come and help me make things that fly...

Work will become part of temporary panel near "Books as Material" 

No experience needed but if you're an expert expect to be stretched!

part of St Annes Music & Arts Festival

last Art Circle in Lytham Library 'til 9th Sept

Colour, pattern and cropping / abstracting...

A lively morning with Art Circle in Lytham Library.   It's hard to believe it was our 20th session!  We close now for summer and re-start Wed 9th September.  Plans are afoot for our new season... 

Well done everyone and thank you for all your enthusiasm and brilliant work.  Enjoy the break - better have a rest too!

Mandy

Ann

Brenda

demonstration

"a good start"

Jane

Mabs

Sam

Books as Material, St Annes is... OPEN

...at St Annes Library, 18 – 26 July as part of St Annes Music & Arts Festival

The Boleyn Inheritance & Flowers in Vase
part of Books as Material, St Annes

Read Leaves, untitled and Legacy
part of Books as Material, St Annes

Spiders
part of Books as Material, St Annes

[Above are a few of the items on display.]

Art Circle explored the idea of using books as material. 

We found we could use the whole book, the pages or other parts of the book.  Possible processes included; cut-outs, folding, curling, rolling and origami.  We also considered using text as a background or subject and covers & pages as support.  Finally we thought about context; context in relationship to material, process and location of the final pieces.

Art Circle is a place to enable us to develop our creativity and extend our ways of seeing.  We meet at Lytham and St Annes Libraries each week during term time.  Cost is kept to a minimum and averages at £3 per session although it may be more depending on materials used.  Contact: 01253 713553 christine.stringfellow@hotmail.co.uk              

Have a go art activity...

11 - 5pm Thurs, 23 July 2015 

Bright & Breezy - colourful things that fly; from butterflies and space ships to texts and cupid's arrows.  

an experiential exploration of Cubism

Cubism was a revolutionary new approach to representing reality invented in 1907/08 by artists Pablo Picasso & Georges Braque who aimed to bring different views of subjects (usually objects or figures) together in the same picture, resulting in paintings that appear fragmented and abstracted. 

Cubism was one of the most influential styles of the C20th.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

Cubism is generally agreed to have begun around 1907 with Picasso's celebrated painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.  It is said critic Louis Vauxcelles who, on seeing Braque's paintings exhibited in Paris in 1908, described them as reducing everything to "geometric outlines, to cubes".

Cubism opened up many, many new possibilities for the treatment of visual reality in art and was the starting point for many abstract styles.

By breaking objects and figures down into distinct areas or planes, the artists aimed to show different viewpoints at the same time and within the same space and so suggest their three dimensional form.  In doing so they emphasised the two dimensional flatness of the canvas, instead of creating the illusion of depth.  This marked a revolutionary break from creating the illusion of real space from a fixed view-point using devices such as linear perspective.

Cubism was partly influenced by the later work of Paul Cezanne in which he can be seen to be painting things from slightly different points of view and in which he has become interested in the two dimensional aspect of the picture plane. 

Paul Cezanne:  Still Life with Plaster Cupid 1895

Our task was to draw part of our view of the subject, exchange work, add to the drawing, exchange again, add to the work again finishing with the person who had started the piece.  By each drawing the same view points in different drawings we were able to re-create a sense of the process Cubism.

On completion we had approx 15 minutes to draw the subject again however we liked.  The results below demonstrate on a personal level how Cubism became a springboard to many different approaches to depicting reality.

 Excellent work - well done everyone!

context & scale with... Lego

Good News - Lytham Library is starting a Lego Club!

More Good News - Art Circle was the first to use some of the Lego to explore context & scale.  

What a clattery, chattery morning was had...

The context of an artwork and especially an intervention can emphasise and in some cases be integral to the pieces meaning.  We looked at David Mach's Train and work by Lego artist Nathan Sawaya.  

David Mach: Train 185,000 local Accrington Nori bricks , 60 x 6m, A66, Darlington

Mach's Train celebrates Darlington's heritage and the record breaking, steam locomotive, the Mallard. The Stockton-Darlington Railway, 1825 was Britain's first permanent steam locomotive railway.  Mallard, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, broke the world's steam train, speed record travelling at 126 mph in 1938.  mallard-powered-her-way-to-speed-record

A 5 metre maquette or smaller version of the piece was constructed before work began on the finished piece.  185,000 bricks were used to build train and her billowing smoke:  architects, engineers, bricklayers, quantity surveyors and mortar experts made up the team of 34 who took 21 weeks to build it.  All overseen by the artist.  The finished piece also includes 20 special areas to encourage bats to nest there.

Mach's train is all about context and scale whereas Sawaya is more about the use of an easily recognised material.  The use of Lego seemingly makes it more accessible to recreate or to "have a go".  Sawaya's work also speaks for itself.   

Nathan Sawaya:  Apple 

,

Nathan Sawaya:  Scream 

These were our starting points.  The task was to play with the Lego; build, make or assemble a piece and consider potential contexts or locations and scale. 

Sam:  signal system on a railway line & dynamic scuplture to walk under and around

Mabs:  a gateway approx 28ft high

Mabs:  in homage to cinemas with kiosks that seemed to fade away in the 70's

Jane:  clockwise from top - improved Hadrian's Wall, untitled,
a dog "that just came in" and a directional sign 

Jane:  mint & liquorice battleship

Jonti:  gateway

Jonti:  towering public artwork for the city
where they can be viewed from above too

Ann:  a garden for Chelsea Flower Show 
Viewers would stand on the path outside the structure

Brenda:  an experimental balloon

Brenda:  a garage

Eil:  disowned - not everyone likes Lego...
but its black shininess reminded me of  Richard Wilson's "Sump Oil 20:50"

Sump Oil 20:50

Brenda:  Shard

An interesting morning...

We found that;

• Lego is made in more colours now including pink, lilac and orange
• despite its new colours it still has an industrial feel and curves don't come easily however more curvy pieces are included
• it's a good way to explore maquettes and create narratives
• it still hurts when you kneel on it 

Well done everyone - a fun packed morning again with lots of ideas and conversation!

Finally:  If you have any Lego you would like to go to a good home Lytham Library would like to adopt it.  Please call in or contact the library 01253 736745