ink and watercolour on paper
2016
Currently cleaning up this site.
Working on Footy paintings for group shows later this year and Still Life works in the studio.
Follow me on Facebook @KateBirrellPaintings for some in progress pics.
And Instagram @lookatmelbourne for sketches
Tram Life
2016 Art Town entry
oil on canvas
90cm W x 120cm H
and an article in the Stonnington leader
An interview by Dugald Jellie regarding my art and my footy fan history for the Richmond Football Club website here
More of Dugalds' Tiger writings can be found here on www.tigertigerburningbright.com.au
Go Tiges.
Thanks to Justine for the picture Sunday 3/4/2016
It is 7:30 am and I am lying in bed with a cup of tea, thinking about how best to bring my artwork to some sort of resolution.
Today is the last day of Art Town's two live art weekends. I will be back in Maddock Street, near Windsor station.
(Background: Art Town is an open call to artists by the people at Chapel Street Precinct to create a work that encapsulates the life, spirit, history....of the area. As artists we are given two Live Art Weekends in which we are required to work out in public, along Chapel Street, Greville Street, or any other hub pertinent to our work. Art Town invites the public to watch the process of creating; thereby creating an audience that can engage with an artist, their working space and at times, the work itself. The works are then installed at the Chapel Off Chapel Gallery for an exhibition from the 26/4/2016. It is a unique project in Melbourne. Here is a link to my interview and background in last weeks Stonnington Leader here)
After mucking around with my painting yesterday for the first hour or so, I finally gained some traction when I went back into the portrait. It takes a little time to settle into a working 'zone'.
My goal with this painting was to capture the spirit of Chapel Street life within the public space of the no. 78 tram.
The painting subject and composition is set to reflect an image on a digital device. Hence, yesterday morning I had set out to place icons within the white space below the cropped painting in the middle.
After laying out or blocking in shapes and colours to represent social media icons, I decided the piece had become unnecessarily detailed, busy and somewhat too "lollly" in its look.
I rubbed out theses icons (the beauty of oils) and left three simpler icons instead. Happier, I then decided to work up the central image and portrait itself. I had been procrastinating and obfuscating my way around the canvas.
As I am not working from any one image in particular, rather a collective memory, from experience and, of course, the ink sketches, I photographed my daughter to use as reference for the face. ( I spent last Saturday on the 78 tram between Chapel Street and North Richmond doing some ink works on paper, a terrific day)
It can be awkward enough when you are noticed drawing in the public sphere, more so on a tram as people are so close and watch your progress. When I work in a small sketchbook, it much easier to be discreet, in fact, people are generally so engrossed on their phones, iPods, iPads and laptops, that most often the public are oblivious.... So taking photos of people on trams was not something I could do. (There is quite possibly a law against it too, but I'm not sure).
I am much happier painting this way as it forces me to be more creative and imaginative. Using memory and feeling helps me to condense and simplify forms and focus on expression.
Yesterdays weather was perfect. Hopefully today, Sunday, will be similar.
Before heading out though, I need to attack the kitchen. I have been neglectful of some housekeeping in the last few days. The dishwasher smells, as no one, myself included, thought to turn it on....and so the benches are littered with dirty dishes. The small saucepan has the remnants of last nights SPC alphaghetti, the larger saucepan, pumpkin soup. Both have dried crusts around the edges and the insides, so they badly need scraping.
Toast crumbs dot the timber bench surface.
Being busy with Art Town yesterday, Saturday 9/4/2016, meant that I could not watch or listen to the footy. I missed the Coodabeens, my favourite radio show and wasn't really in a position to don my headphones whilst painting in public. People come up and like to chat, which I love.
Richmond's game against the Adelaide Crows seems to have been a good game to have missed. I will do catch up footy with Gerard (Whately) on 774 on Monday.
Time to get moving.
(I also rubbed out the last remaining icons on the bottom section of painting. Back to a white space, for now)
Exhibition will be at the Chapel Off Chapel Gallery from 26/4/2016 - 14/5/2016
@ 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran
P.S. Thinking later about the tin of alphaghetti ..... unless I bought it accidentally, it could well have been quite a few years old, the youngest is 10....anyway, bottulism doesn't seem to have taken hold in the days since. All is good.
And....
Beds are made.
The kitchen is clean.
Yesterday was fairly productive. Finished off the portrait, worked a little bit on the hands... they still need a little bit of tidying up and definition.
There are probably figurative anomalies. I will consider which to fix and which to leave alone. I'm not keen to lose imperfections at a cost to overall expressionistic feeling.
As a whole I am reasonably satisfied that the work is coming to a conclusion... for now.
This painting will be the first in which I have painted a portrait in public. Usually, I prefer to focus on portraits without any distraction in the safety of the studio. Anyway, good, bad or otherwise, it captures the mood that I wished to create.
From a painting point of view, it was interesting to consider the effect that the outdoor light may have had. When I got the painting back into my studio on Saturday, I had planned to finish off the face there. However, the indoor lighting was too difficult to work with...I couldn't see the face the way I could see it outside. I'm wondering if the outdoor light creates a softer image?...or is my eyesight failing me?@?
I finished the day off with GB, a beer and a burrito at Fonda in Chapel Street.
I will post the finished image after the exhibition.
And, many thanks to all the people who stopped by to talk, compliment, critique, discuss, photograph and to just give their two bobs worth; to the yr 7 boy curious about my use of one point perspective, the lady with red lipstick and chihuahua who said she 'can't even draw a stick figure" and the islander man with the bomber scarf who barracks for Essendon because he likes their colours and knows '"nothing about football"!@ it was great to meet and talk with you all. Without you, there would be no inspiration to create. Thanks.
Dead Maiden Hair March 2016
I was away for a little while last month and came home to find my maiden hair ferns dead. I forgot to ask the boys upstairs to water them.
Over the last two weeks I have removed all the brown, dried up foliage and pepped them up with plant food from Safeway in the hope they will resurrect. I had all but given up on them until yesterday morning when I finally spotted one tiny piece of verdant foliage beginning to unfurl. Yay.
This morning I checked again. There are now two new shoots making an appearance..in one pot only. None in the other yet. They have been sprinkled generously with water and are sitting under the eaves of the falling down veranda out the back of the studio.
new growth March 2016
It has also been quite a while since I have either written anything, either here or on my Drawing Life blog www.drawinglife.me. Writing feels clunky when you don't do it regularly.
It has also been ages since I have gotten into a painting. I had tidied up my commissions before Christmas, had a big Christmas Day and a beach holiday up north, then got the youngest two back to school and then away again to catch my husband and son in America. It was my first trip to the United States.
Bryant Park 2016 KB
So, I am finally back putting paint on canvas and thinking about the sort of paintings I want to do this year. With Art Town 2016 coming up, I have given some thought and done a few preparatory sketches. The rest can now wait until April 2, 3, 9 & 10 when the live art weekends will take place. Following that the plan is to continue with still life work and the urban portraits.
One of the commissions I did last year was for a book cover. The brief was that it had to encompass sport in the form of footy, cricket, golf and horse racing. The artwork was oil on canvas and 100cm high by 76cm wide.
Let me know if you would like a copy of the book.
I am still posting some sketches and watercolours on Instagram...@ Look at Melbourne
And on Facebook you will find some in progress pics from the studio.
Got to go...Easter liturgy at school followed by a cake stall.
May there be abundant blessings for peace among all, new growth for the maiden hair and that the tigers remain strong and bold for 2016.
#GOTIGES
Here is a screen shot of a recent commission for a client who required an image to promote an event in Sydney.
Pen, ink and watercolour on paper 2015
Melbourne Morning
oil on canvas
245cmW x 125cmH including frame
A recent work for the entry foyer of a Melbourne apartment building. The piece was developed from sketches of Melbournes skyline from the Ormon Point hill in Elwood; previously known as Little Red Buff. It is the location into which sailed the ship Glen Huntly in the 1840's. Read here for more details.
The Anthony Breslin Community Garden Art project is at Koornang Uniting Church, Murrumbeena.
Yard Duty at Playtime (sold)
pen & ink, watercolorwash on 300gsm Arches paper
Recently, I did some work at the Essendon primary School sketching the schoolyard.
I have done alot of location work in the form of pen and ink sketches over recent years; beaches, cityscapes and suburban life have been my focus. This is the first time I have ventured into a space that is a little less public than usual.
Interesting stuff happens when you work under the gaze of those around you. The sheilding walls of the studio are suddenly opened and a degree of vulnerability creeps in, which at times, can wind its way into the work itself.
As an artist, you are used to looking at others. But as an artist working out in public, the tables turn, and it then becomes you, the artist, that is being looked at. Sometimes it feels more like a performance.
One of the reasons I like working outdoors, amongst people is that it forces you to commit; to commit to a time and place, to commit to the line that is made on the surface, be it paper or canvas or whatever. It forces you to commit to those around you, you are being watched, there is an interest in what you produce and what you see. People want to see you follow through, they want to know what you think of them and their world.
I like being able to take something that I can see moving and happening before my eyes and being able to take note of it, the fleetingness of a certain moment, punch it out and capture it into a static thing on a flat surface.
Given the rapidity, speed and pace of daily life there is a perverse sense of satisfaction that I can in some way capture and hold onto these lost moments through the simplest of means in the use of mediums such as basic writing tools, ink and paper.
Several community artists will have their works available and on display alongside the works of the E.P.S. school children.
Where: Essendon Primary School, Raleigh Street, Essendon
Friday November 6th 3;30pm til 7pm & Saturday 7th November 2pm til 5pm
Having contributed to the Footy Almanac sports writing website over the last two or three years, I have now also contributed to their first magazine which has just been published.
The Spring 2015 edition is OUT NOW.
Long Bombs to Snake is the title and it is available as either an e-edition or as a hard copy that can be delivered via Australia post. Read here for more info.