'City of Glass 12' 150 x 120cms

Friday 5pm

 

Janie told me about a thing on TV- 'What do artists do all day?' My 7 hrs today were spent moving the painting from below to above. Forwards? Buildings and figures went in and went out - they complicated and cramped the space.   I enjoyed the freeing-up of Manhattan and the emergence of emptiness. With that came the refinement of proportion and the very special bottom right corner.  But it all seems very familiar- does this piece need more? It still may be the left half of a larger piece - we'll see tomorrow.

 

I still feel there is a painting somewhere that links my last 2 StillmanStillman paintings with the  other paintings in the series, a painting that contains the Manhattan shape and the figure of Stillman.

The obvious problem is that if you put the two side by side, the figure becomes a giant, which I don't want: it is the Tower of Babel that is giant. One solution was to make the Manhattan shape a painting of Manhattan (reference to Matisse's Red Studio) with the figure of Stillman disappearing behind.   Another idea was have the Manhattan shape on the extreme left, and the figure on the extreme right of a very large painting which was why I rushed home for a second canvas on Thursday.  The idea was to have the Manhattan shape and the figure the same size but to make the figure appear smaller by  gradually scaling up the grid of the streets as you move from left to right. 

 

At the end of the day I put one of the Stillman canvases alongside the this painting and saw that the paintings are linked: they both are shapes in colour, connected by the paint handling, composition and the subtle horizontals.  And of course the shape and proportions of the Manhattan shape suggest the human-figure.

 

  

Thursday 5pm

'City of Glass 11-StillmanStillman'

'City of Glass 11-StillmanStillman'

Today, with this piece, I have been reminded  'what painting is, what it can be, the possibilities in painting.......', words I use whenever I teach.  As the two canvases were not working together, I separated them- during the day the gap became wider and wider....... The canvas with the red figure had no New York context- the grid of the streets was imposed time and time again , blatantly and subtly, horizontal, vertical, avenue, cross-street, none right but each contributing and enriching the paint, colour and surface. 

 

As artists, we should never be passive with the world we see - we have to do something with it.  We should be ambitious for our piece, and strive for something new, something we have never done before or seen before: the trick is to recognise that 'different' thing, however you get there, whether by chance or design or hard slog. This is the excitement we crave.

 

Many thanks to Janie M McDonald, my fellow artist in the Shire Hall studio. For a couple of days she had been questioning my 'brown' figure - (I was being too literal, one of the Stillman's in the novel has a brown overcoat). Janie remembered the 'blood-reds', I used in our last two stints together at the Shire Hall. But she was also strongly suggesting reversing the canvases as I did in the last painting but all I could see was rutting stags and dilution of the idea behind the painting.

 

But bloody hell.............

 

The painting is more about the idea and the centre-line more powerful, with this criss-crossing of the figures and glorious ambiguities and tension about who is in front of who. The figures are fighting for the space - but it is not a space 'out there'. It is a painting space, an ambiguous space, so difficult to find with the human-figure......The painting now has the clarity of last Friday, but with much more. The New York context is there, with the horizontal green band of Central Park and Columbus Circle.

 

I'll be starting a new painting tomorrow with the same idea of the two Stillmans, but on a single large canvas so there is no option of switching the canvases. I'll have to find my elusive, ambiguous space within the canvas...figures jammed up against the Manhattan shape, perhaps....

 

 

 

'City of Glass 11- StillmanStillman' Work in progress



Saturday
 

Like 'City of Glass 10-StillmanStillman' this painting explores the idea of the detective Quinn's dilemma about which Stillman to follow: one goes left, one goes right.  The split canvas represents the choice.  The viewer becomes Quinn, flitting from figure to figure, forced to choose......

 

My only niggle about 'City of Glass 10' was the absence of location and its disconnection

to the other paintings in the series. I thought that instead of forcing location onto that painting,  if I did another painting that included the two figures and location, the link would be made. On reflection, the painting was resolved on Friday (see below). Midtown Manhattan,(where Grand Central is located) is suggested, with the Hudson River indicated by the two parallel lines behind the blue figure and the east river by the thick band of grey behind the brown figure.

 

Today, I tried to make the location more explicit and introduced the lime-green horizontal to indicate the bottom of Central Park, with the canvas divide as 5th Ave. I also introduced a grid which confused the painting even more.  Lots of problems with the right -figure: either too graphic or too subtle or too heavy or too brown! It disappeared altogether at one point which confirmed to me it needed to be there. Had a good last half-hour when the right figure was scraped back to near-bare canvas.

 

I agree with Janie's comment today, that the left painting works on its own. Splitting the canvases is an option but may make the idea weaker. Perhaps a small gap might work. While it works in the left canvas, the green band doesn't help the diptych - I'll try a new colour on Monday and extend it into the right side or even take it out. The band weakens the power of the divide.   Need some clean brushes first!! 

 

 

Friday
 

 

 

 

 

'City of Glass 10 - StillmanStillman' Day 4

Hard day- problems with the drawing of the brown figure and its weight. The centre line caused complications.  The breakthrough came when I switched the canvases- the figures now follow each other (and the viewer follows) into an enigmatic space. Is it enough?- to test the painting I'll introduce a subtle grid tomorrow to identify location. Love,love,love the horizontal, the attention drawn to the dividing line by the white canvas,  and the curiosity of the repeated pose.  Strange piece.

 

Earlier version

 

  

Studio shot

 

 

 

 

Painting in progress -'City of Glass 10 - StillmanStillman'



Day 3

In defiance of Matisse's dictum: '.....whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his tongue..' and perhaps because this series is inspired by words, by text, words are flowing irresistibly and helping clarify ideas and understanding of the paintings.

Once again I'm sharing a studio with Janie M Mcdonald at Bodmin's Shire Hall and once again there is a fantastic dialogue and discussion of ideas.

I am fascinated by the idea of twin-paintings/pair of paintings/diptych and the power of the space between them and the central line.  The idea for this painting goes back to the Paul Auster's novel, where the 'detective' has an assignment to follow Stillman, recently released from jail, who is arriving at New York's Grand Central station on the 18.41 from Poughkeepsie.

Quinn has a photo (several years old) and spots Stillman, wearing a shabby brown overcoat, and starts to tail him. But incredibly he sees another man, whose face 'was the exact twin of Stillman's'. Paralysis - Quinn knows he is in the hands of fate, of chance. Forced to choose, he follows the second Stillman but after a few paces has a change of mind and follows the first Stillman.

The idea with this painting is to involve the viewer with Quinn's dilemma- the viewer becomes Quinn- the life-size figures and the split canvas help achieve this.  

Not there yet- I have yet to think about colour- my paints are still not fully unpacked and laid out, In my impatience, I have just been grabbing anything to hand!. The grid of Midtown is beginning to go in- but I'm not yet sure of the scale. The blue strip on the right will stay, representing the East River and I'm happy with the position of my 42nd St (the main horizontal). I'll make a point of Grand Central Station, currently the rose block on the right canvas - but shall try it straddling the dividing-line.  Whatever I decide, this line will be one of the avenues.  The figures need to be locked into the backgrounds more -they are floating about. Blue may spill/flood into the right side or the dirty pink will darken and match the tone of the brown overcoat.

The figures have changed a lot. First, the left hand figure was walking towards the viewer and the right hand figure away. Then they were both coming forwards. Then I had the idea that each figure, each canvas,would be near identical, each including Grand Central station.  This would be like two frames on a film, divided by the centre-line, but the figures lacked movement but I'll try this again in another piece.

Day 2 a.m.

Day 2 p.m.

Janie and me-happy to be back in the Shire Hall!

PV at Margate Gallery, Workshop and Open Studios

It was a great night at the opening of 'Opposites' at Margate Gallery on Friday. Ashley was delighted to see you all and especially honoured to welcome Victoria Pomery, Director of the Turner Contemporary to the show.

 Comments & Tweets About the Exhibition

Great show at @MargateGallery  - @AshleyHansonArt vibrant, colourful and exciting, a feast for the eyes http://bit.ly/19732Es

Just back from @AshleyHansonArt  exhibition @MargateGallery  it is a colour sensation. A MUST SEE!

Ashley's colourful artwork was a great way to brighten up the weekend. I highly recommend a visit to a great gallery and a fabulous art show.



The show continues until 22nd June see link for more details:
http://www.margategallery.co.uk/exhibition/opposites Ashley will be giving an informal talk about the work Saturday 22 June 12pm - 2pm at the gallery.

'Freedom in Painting with the Life - Model', 2 Day Workshop in Canterbury

Coinciding  with the exhibition is a new exciting workshop at Canterbury Christchurch University ‘Freedom in Painting with the Life Model’ Thurs & Fri 20^th- 21^st June,  9.30-5.30pm . Cost £70 for the 2 days. 

‘The Life-room is a special place for artists, and links artists working today with those of the past. Working from the model is a timeless, challenging and essential discipline but is rich in possibilities: the aim of this 2 day workshop is to build on observational skills and gain a greater understanding of painting through our own personal interpretations of the human figure.’

During the workshop we will be exploring colour, mark-making, composition, the physicality of paint and the journey from drawing into painting. The aim of this course is to build on observational skills and gain a greater understanding of painting through our own personal interpretations of the human figure.

 

Book soon as places are filling up fast!!

Email  denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk or call 01208 77656 to book.

 

Open Studios in Bodmin

 

 

Ashley and Janie are teaming up again at Bodmin's Shire Hall welcoming visitors to the studio over a 3 week period, 25th May- 15th June 10am - 5pm, Mon -Sat . Do pop in if you are near by, come see the exhibition and say 'hello'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freedom in Painting with the Life-Model

To coincide with the exhibition Ashley will be running a workshop at Canterbury Christchurch University ‘Freedom in Painting with the Life Model’ Thurs & Fri 20^th- 21^st June,  9.30-5.30pm . Cost £70 for the 2 days. 

Ashley comments ‘The Life-room is a special place for artists, and links artists working today with those of the past. Working from the model is a timeless, challenging and essential discipline but is rich in possibilities'

 

To book or for more details about the workshop please contact denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk  or  call 01208 77656. Limited to 16 places only