'I can't believe how long it's been since posting to my blog. Although I've not had time to tell you about it, I've been really busy pulling together and hanging my artworks for our End of Year Exhibition. The Opening event is tomorrow - Thursday 10 May at 6.30pm, so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures in due course, and report on how things have gone.
We were all allocated a wall space to display our work. There has been a bit of juggling around over the past few weeks, and especially at the last minute, but overall I'm happy with the space I have. There was an unused noticeboard along from my original space and I got permission to pin up my photographs. I wanted to make the point about seeing employees as 'human resources', but they are of course 'people' doing their jobs. My display is an 'ensemble' of artworks, in different media, of the tools, machinery and mainly people, around the Xplore Dundee Bus Depot. I've mentioned before about how my theme of 'dirty work' developed, resulting in my final graded unit piece being based on what I consider to be 'The Real Dirty Work', i.e. ill-treatment of employees within a physically 'clean' office environment. (It's all hypothetical of course!). The mixed media piece has been coated in black acrylic, representing the redacting of confidential or secret documents. I've also hung a few photographs and paintings, and displayed my 3D sculptures at my work desk in our studio, where you would be welcome to visit. Contact me on; [email protected], if you have any questions, if you want to check opening times for the exhibition, or wish to discuss my work.
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Now that we are back in class from this week, I've got various bits and pieces to complete for my Graded Unit and other projects. I framed up a number of my pieces last night in preparation for our exhibition.
My final submission will consist of a collection of drawings, paintings and photographs of people at work. I split my time between working in an admin role, and studying for my HND, so I am really lucky to be surrounded my inspiration and potential subjects for my photographs and paintings. Elsie Turbyne retired today as Managing Director at Xplore Dundee after 36 years working there. I managed to kill two birds with one stone by painting a portrait in oils as a leaving present, but she is happy to lend it back to me as it will fit nicely with my exhibition of paintings in different media of colleagues across the company. I felt bad as it was still a bit wet. I've been fitting in the painting between other things, and was cutting things a bit fine, but she didn't seem to mind. Having been postponed previously because of the exceptionally bad weather, the Fun a Day exhibition was finally opened tonight! I managed to get my photographs up on Tuesday morning - pleased to get the same section of wall as before! My contribution to the project was a series of photographic portraits of friends, close family, and other 'Significant Others' that I 'encountered' and photographed across January 2018. The opening was lovely. Lots of the artists / crafters, family and friends, a pleasant musical accompaniment, (along with the traditional pick and mix) - a colourful and exciting event. Lovely to see people I knew - including fellow Penguin Painters! I was delighted Euan wanted to come along to see the exhibition. They put up with all sorts of artistic craziness and clutter at home, but my family is very supportive, which is much appreciated. The Fun a Day Exhibition is on at WASPS Saturday and Sunday (14-15 April) 10-7. I won't say too much for now, but I'm painting a penguin for the Maggie's Penguin Parade which will take place in Dundee this summer. We are saving photographs for the big launch in June when all the penguins will be 'revealed'.
Fortunately I've been on holiday from College these past two weeks, so although I've still been working part-time, I have been able to make a good start to my painting. There were around 20 penguins in the Wellgate shop unit where we are painting, although a number have now gone of to The Spray Factory which is varnishing the penguins before heading out to the streets of Dundee, on 'parade'. The only two photos I have put on social media so far, have been a snap of me, in my Xplore boilersuit, ready to get started on my blank statue, and a painting of Star. Star was the brown bear at Camperdown Park which died today (two days after painting him!) It means Star will feature on a Penguin, which will be a nice tribute. I spent much of today layering up my 'Dirty Work' final artwork. I added an old photograph of me in a professional capacity, which I want to cover up, before making a Jackson Pollock inspired attack on the painting using watered acrylic and ink. Boiler suits may be splattered with oil and greasy marks, so 'dirty work' is likely to involve splatters of one sort or another.
I previously posted a photo of the first layer of my oil painting of Paul, one of the Xplore Engineers. This evening I finished the painting and once it dries, I can add it to my collection of pieces for my graded unit. I'm quite pleased with the result. I wanted to leave a rough edge, to allow the aluminium support to show through. It was certainly very different from painting on canvas which creates a degree of texture, as this was very 'flat'. The oil paint appears to have adhered to the metal, but we'll have to see how well it lasts on the long term!
I've been building up a collection of experiments and ideas, and have now been able to imagine what my final artwork might look like. I'd always intended it to be a mixed media piece, probably on a large canvas, and incorporating the theme of 'people at work'. Over the course of the semester my thoughts developed into the concept of 'dirty work'. The engineers and mechanics at the bus depot where I work, wear boiler suits and protective gear, as they work on oily and dirty bus engines. They are however very colourful with their orange boiler suits and blue gloves, and also very friendly and have been fantastic letting me take photographs and paint them! It struck me that it would be inappropriate to label the engineering as 'dirty work', as it is skilled, honest teamwork that they do, in a decent and collective manner.
Thoughts wandered back to an office job I once had. Although it was based in a 'clean' physical working environment, some of the practices and actions were underhand and unprofessional - although the question of legality is outwith the realms of this project. Anyway, my thoughts turned to the concept of 'dirty work' and raised questions around physical dirt and professional 'dirty practices'. Through my final artwork I will challenge and develop the concept of 'dirty work'. I've started layering up my mixed media artwork on a canvas. I've added a section of an old hi-vis jacket from work. The idea is to question working practices as 'Hi-Visibility or a Dirty cover up?' It is protective clothing which has become dirty, but from another perspective I am questioning whether certain working practices are open and accountable, or suppressed and kept confidential. I'd also been messing about with mono-printing so added a couple of my creations, inspired by my theme. I think I mentioned before that I had the idea of creating an assemblage piece, in the style of Louise Nevelson. When taking photographs around the bus depot, it struck me that the engines at the rear of the buses, which were often exposed and being worked on, resembled some of Nevelson's work.
I'm an avid recycler, and love to use waste items and upcycle where possible. So I made a rectangle of wood, created a border with beading, painted it with black acrylic, and attached various waste items. With the whole piece painted black, it ticks a lot of boxes for me; it resembles work by Nevelson, reuses items that would otherwise be recycled, and I've created an assemblage style artwork to add to my graded unit collection on the theme of 'dirty work'. The following photos are of Nevelson's work and my creation, based on a bus engine (in the middle)! Despite being tired after a busy week, I managed to be relatively productive over the weekend. On Saturday I went to a workshop with the Monifieth Art Society, led by Jennifer Mackie, and painted a Highland Cow in oils. The support was made from a scrap of wood covered in linen which I'd acquired from Scrapantics, coated in watered down PVA. I enjoyed my day, and was quite chuffed with the result (below).
I've been very privileged to to have access to the garage at the Xplore bus depot in Dundee, and have had great fun taking photographs around the place. I went in this evening and as one of my colleagues suggested, the depot is 'different world at night'. The buses are brought in for re-fuelling, washing outside and cleaning inside, and it is a completely different team. Saying that, a number of drivers were on duty, as was the Output team (control room). Also the Engineers work shifts, so a number of them were working away, stripping down breaks and working on engines. I managed to take a number of really good photos. I might use some as inspiration for my graded unit, but as I've been collecting photos, I have been enjoying taking images of people as much as the buses, engines and machinery - I'd probably say, even more so. So for my photography module, I think I've decided to produce a number of photographs of people, going about their work, across all the teams at the bus depot. Here are a few of my favourite images from this evening. |