I am just back from a four day course with Caroline Bartlett – who was a wonderfully giving and patient tutor who spent time with each of the six students all working in different ways and with very different outcomes. Thank you Caroline! We had been asked to bring in a collection of about six small objects with which to work during the course. Here are mine:
All of these metal items have been collected from the shore around Chichester Harbour and are, from left to right, a baked bean can, an aluminium canister, a shell case from world war 1, a Fanta can, an old paint can, and an aerosol butane gas lighter fuel canister.
To warm up, we were asked to produce a series of continuous line drawings using a variety of media. I chose to overlap my drawings of just one object, the paint can, to start with.
The use of thin paper meant that by turning it over and working on both sides, you could see through from one side to the marks on the other.
Next, I made a template based on the paint can and made a series of cut out’s using some paintings I had already made and brought with me. Here’s one:
Finally, I thought that the row of objects together made for interesting shapes so went back to the continuous line drawing, using the reverse of a piece of paper already drawn onto:
I’ll return to this later when looking at screen printing.
And finally, this one, compiled from three pieces which I did whilst on holiday in Scotland last year. I had quickly dashed off a series of three sketches – I liked the immediacy and vibrancy of the marks but each felt incomplete. Remembering what I had been told by Cas Holmes last year, I threw caution to the wind, tore the pieces up and reassembled them – there they are before and after:
Helen Frost Artist 