30 minute read
WHY - Kathy Jones
WHYBy Kathy Jones
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WHY
This submission was my final piece for Assignment 1, (Understanding Painting Media). I had to work from found images to produce twenty small paintings that were going to be put together in the end. Although some of those images were more identifiable than others I liked the mix of the representational along with the ab stract.
This submission was my final piece for Assignment 1, (Understanding Painting Media). I had to work from found images to produce twenty small paintings that were going to be put together in the end. Although some of those images were more identifiable than others I liked the mix of the representational along with the ab-
While looking at my found images, (that had come from various sources), I realized that when placed together they told the story of how we are all connected. But also when looking at each of the images individually, one could still make their own, more subjective connections with them. This opposing mix of styles highlighted their obvious differences but also made me want to connect them together as a part of a bigger narrative. During the creative process I had to consider the mediums that would best help me describe each of my ideas relating to those images. Following my experiments from previous exercises, I mixed and matched gloss and matt paints or combined gouache with nail varnish in others. The painting results were wide and varied and the whole process made me realize the visual connections between the mediums themselves but also of their importance in helping to connect and interpret one's ideas.
External links relating to the submission: https://katjones971.wordpress.com/2019/09/16/assignment-1-the-paintings/
Disc o nnectedC nnection
By Anon.
Into the future with Granddad...
By Paddy Howe
With an interest in digital art and photography, I sketched digitally from a photograph that I took. I was inspired by the juxtaposition of the two subjects and the obviously relaxed connection showing a trusting relationship. The uncertainty of the future caused by the Pandemic inspired the stormy, nebulous background. The pair are leaving solid ground apparently unaware of the drop ahead of them into the unknown. I have been working in black and white for some time now as I find the works of James Ravilious and Don McCullin inspiring, and colour distracting from the tonal values.
keeping up momentum summer 2020 a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magic a little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic: a zine by alison dollery, sarah hibbert, nuala mahon & simon rees
anything will change
will anything change
How we communicate, how look at one another, and how we perceive our everyday surroundings are radically shifting from day to day. While reality is very much an external landscape for our bodies and senses, the imagination can seen as an internal landscape our minds and thoughts. A limitless realm, the imagination is a space for us to think freely about the outside world and create a new reality inside of us.
Whatever is your new reality, the OCA London group and Hayley Lock invite you to be part of a workshop that introduces, elevates and expands on new ways of thinking and working by offering new insights into the imaginative processes sustained artists, by introducing wider reading, as well as support you through introducing imagination into your own making. Come along (in the virtual sense) and join Hayley in bringing together forms of escape with imaginative vigour and perhaps even inject a little magic a way to reflect our current How we communicate, how we look at one another, and how we perceive our everyday surroundings are radically shifting from day to day. While reality is very much an external landscape for our bodies and senses, the imagination can be seen as an internal landscape for our minds and thoughts. A limitless realm, the imagination is a space for us to think freely about the outside world and create a new reality inside of us.
Whatever is your new reality, the OCA London group and Hayley Lock invite you to be part of a workshop that introduces, elevates and expands on new ways of thinking and working by offering new insights into the imaginative processes sustained by artists, by introducing wider reading, as well as support you through introducing imagination into your own making. Come along (in the virtual sense) and join Hayley in bringing together forms of escape with imaginative vigour and perhaps even inject a little magic as a way to reflect on our current How we communicate, how we look at one another, and how we perceive our everyday surroundings are radically shifting from day to day. While reality is very much an external landscape for our bodies and senses, the imagination can be seen as an internal landscape for our minds and thoughts. A limitless realm, the imagination is a space for us to think freely about the outside world and create a new reality inside of us.
How we communicate, how we look at one another, and how we perceive our everyday surroundings are radically shifting from day to day. While reality is very much an external landscape for our bodies and senses, the imagination can be seen as an internal landscape for our minds and thoughts. A limitless realm, the imagination is a space for us to think freely about the outside world and create a new reality inside of us. How communicate, we look at another, and how perceive everyday surroundings radically shifting from day to While reality is much an external landscape for bodies and senses, the imagination be seen as internal landscape for our minds thoughts. A limitless realm, imagination is space for us to think freely about outside world create a new reality inside of us.
Whatever is your Whatever is your Whatever is new reality, the OCA new reality, the OCA new reality, the London group and London group and London group Hayley Lock invite Hayley Lock invite Hayley Lock invite you to be part of a you to be part of a you to be part workshop that workshop that workshop introduces, elevates and expands on new ways of thinking and working by offering new introduces, elevates and expands on new ways of thinking and working by offering new introduces, elevates and expands on ways of thinking and working offering with thanks to hayley lock, dharma thanigaspapathy, and the london oca regional group. insights into the insights into the insights into imaginative imaginative imaginative processes sustained processes sustained processes sustained by artists, by by artists, by by artists, introducing wider introducing wider introducing wider reading, as well as reading, as well as reading, as well support you through support you through support you through introducing introducing introducing imagination into imagination into imagination your own making. your own making. your own making Come along (in the Come along (in the Come along (in virtual sense) and virtual sense) and virtual sense) join Hayley in join Hayley in join Hayley bringing together bringing together bringing together forms of escape with forms of escape with forms of escape imaginative vigour imaginative vigour imaginative vigour and perhaps even and perhaps even and perhaps even inject a little magic inject a little magic inject a little magic as a way to reflect as a way to reflect as www.edge-zine.com a way | 63 to reflect on our current on our current on our current
The OCA Lisbon Group Collaborative
Martine Elliott divided the image into six sections and we all chose a part of the grid making individual work 42cm x 42 cm. All students are on different pathways (Illustration, Fine Art, Textiles, Painting) so this meant working in different mediums that all coherently worked as a whole.
Archive of a stretch of river
Imade a three minute film as my final submission
piece for the Parallel Project in Studio Practice on the subject of the river which runs close to my house. I began by soaking large canvases in the river for several months. Meanwhile I looked at the ecology of the river, making a series of pieces around flooding, aquatic plants, and river processes. I used some of the canvases which had been altered and semi-destroyed by the river to attach some of the pieces of work to as well as using them to make etchings. It was important to me to make the film in order to present the pieces in situ. The project evolved into a musing on the passing of time, what we remember and what we forget.
Process
I had a picture in my head of how the film might look: my images hung from branches over the river, swaying slightly in the wind. I felt that all my pieces, which had been made through such close physical contact with the river, needed to be displayed in that particular location in a moment of coming together.
For the filming, timing was essential. I wanted a particular window of spring when the wild garlic is in bloom and the overhead canopy still letting in enough light before closing over with too much leaf cover. I wanted the low sun, around 7p.m., which would filter horizontally through the leaves and through my hanging pieces, some of which were mounted on thin cloth and canvas. I needed a cloudless sky.
Lock down was fortuitous. A smattering of useful children, now homebound, provided additional help. I needed tall people to stand on wobbling ladders in the middle of the river to hang the pieces. I needed a drone for aerial moving shots as well as a high resolution camera for filming closeupsfrom standing within the river.
It was the icing on the cake to have a huge profusion of mayflies rising off the river on the evening of filming. The conditions were perfect. The first record of this ancient insect - the beautifully named Ephemera - was written on clay tablets in around 2,000 BC in an epic on the brief life of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian mythical hero: "Ever the river has risen and brought us the flood, the mayfly floating on the water. On the face of the sun its countenance gazes, then all of a sudden nothing is there". The passage compares the short life of the adult mayfly with Gilgamesh's and of course our own. Living less than a day, mayflies have long symbolised the brevity of existence.
One of my pieces in particular resonates with the shortness of lived lives. It is a canvas soaked in the river to which I have sewn old family photographs, many of the places and people now forgotten, their context lost. In just one or two generations, those particular lived lives have disappeared.
Archive of a stretch of river
By Alessandra Alexandroff
Soundtrack
I wanted to use a piece of medieval choral music because of its timelessness. When I researched Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis, I read it had originally been conceived - possibly on the occasion of the 40th birthday of Queen Elizabeth I - to be sung in eight choirs arranged in a horseshoe shape, the sound being thrown back and forth across the space between them. The piece features individual voices which sing and then are silent in a calling and answering. I felt this was perfect for reflecting the links between my pieces of work - disparate but connected - and initially was hoping to arrange my selection in a horseshoe curve over the river. In the end I had to work with the position of the trees on my chosen section of river. I wanted the pieces hung quite closely in order to present them as a cohesive group. Throughout the piece of music there is constant change with new ideas being presented and then subsumed into polyphonic sound. I added another polyphonic sound created by the noise of water rushing over stones and the constant evening bird song. I used a recording of this, taken during the filming, initially fading into the Tallis piece and then using it again at the end when we are left with only an image of the river. The river and memory
The river represents both the onward rush of life and the passage of time. What I have done within my investigation is to extract from that life, creating a series of images through etchings, imprints, relics, remnants, stains and mud. Through filming them hanging above the river I am able to show the relationship between the pieces and the body of water that created them, showing the contrast between the airiness of moments in time compared with the weight of water on its ineluctable journey to the sea. The making of the film was the final full stop to my project.
One can stand in the river and feel life rushing past. The river is in constant flux in time and space, entirely permanent and entirely changing. The extractions I have made are the opposite of this. They are the collected remains from living by and in the river, an archive of plants, physical processes, and mud. They are taken from something in a state of flux to something fixed in time, creating a record of a moment that has already passed. From the heaviness of water they have assumed the lightness of air. They are the memories we extract from this life, suspended above it, not moving but for the wind, hooked to branches which sway but contain them. The river they archive has long gone. Like memory, they are what is left.
missions...”
Irecently read an article in Emergence Magazine by the eco-philosopher and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy. She introduces the reader to the bardo which is the Tibetan Buddhist concept of a gap between worlds where transition is possible. At present the continuing coronavirus pandemic has placed all of us in a confusing world where nothing seems the same. This feeling of being on shifting ground can be frightening, but Joanna Macy encourages us to see this bardo as a place of potential transformation.
OCA Students, Tutors and Graduates are now invited to submit contributions for our next Issue where the theme for Issue 10 will spark into further life as ‘Catalyst’ for Issue 11 which will be published towards the end of March 2021
A catalyst is an agent that stimulates or precipitates a reaction, development, or change. It is something that causes an important event to happen. We invite you to engage with this theme and submit contributions, ideas, sketches, works in progress, writings, images, music etc.
Remember that media using sound and moving image can also be submitted (.mp3 & .mp4 preferable) to be embedded in the digital zine and throughout our website and social media platforms. We also ask you for a max 100 word bio and a min 200/max 2000 word reflective account of your creative process.
Use the submission form, of which the link is also available via our website or on Facebook, which allows you to submit up to 10 files with max 100 Mb. Please note, though, that not all images submitted may be used and incomplete submissions will not be accepted. The submission form itself also contains full information on file types and image sizes. We try to include as many as possible of the wonderful submissions we receive but 80 pages are surprisingly limiting so please don’t feel disheartened if your submission hasn’t made it this time. Where possible you will be given priority in the next edition.
The submission deadline is: Midnight, 28 February 2021
We look forward to seeing, watching and/or hearing your submissions.
You can submit your work by using the form here
Your edge-zine team.
Hayley Lock
I am a practicing artist and lecturer based in East Anglia. I graduated in 1989 from Goldsmiths College, University of London having studied Fine Art Textiles and hold an MA from Colchester Institute in Contemporary Art and Professional Practice OCA profile: https://www.oca.ac.uk/our-tutors/hayley-lock/
Website www.hayleylock.org
The OCA Lisbon Group Collaborative
Penelope Day, Alison Dollery, Annette Holtkamp, Martine Elliot, Ashley Mclaughlin and Nicky Eastaugh
The OCA Lisbon Group Collaborative is a group of students who make work from their connections formed and experiences on the OCA Lisbon study trip. The Grid Collaborative used for this image is the stunning architecture of the Casa das Historias in Cascais, Lisbon, home to the work of Paula Rego. The study trip allowed students from different pathways to reflect on different artistic disciplines and pathways as a multidisciplinary approach. This grid was made by Penelope Day (Textiles), Alison Dollery (Fine Art), Annette Holtkamp (Textiles), Martine Elliot(Painting), Ashley Mclaughlin (Illustration) and Nicky Eastaugh (Textiles). Bryn Edward Davies
I’m an international design consultant and award-winning Fine Art photographer. I was born in Canada and raised in Liverpool, UK. Having worked across four continents and more than a dozen countries - cultural exchange is a leading factor in both my artistic and commercial work. http://www.indigenousimages.com
https://www.instagram.com/ashleysart/
https://www.instagram.com/nickyeastaugh/
https://www.instagram.com/m.art.ine/
https://www.instagram.com/pennyearthbound/
https://www.instagram.com/holtkampannette/
https://www.instagram.com/alisondolleryartist/
a little magic keeping up momentum summer 2020 a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magic a little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magica little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic a little magic:A multidisciplinary collaborative between: Alison Dollery, Sarah Hibbert, Nuala Mahon & Simon Rees When in lockdown we faced challenging times. How we communicate, look at one another and perceive our everyday surroundings are radically shifting day today. While the reality is very much an external landscape for our bodies and senses, the imagination can be seen as an external landscape for our minds and thoughts. A limitless realm, the imagination is a space for us to think freely about the outside world and create a new reality inside of us’ (Hayley Lock). Working as a multidisciplinary collaborative Simon Rees(Illustration) curated the images and provided text to worked produced on the A little Magic workshop by Sarah Hibbert (Photography), Nuala Mahon (Photography) and Alison Dollery (Fine Art). a zine by alison dollery, sarah hibbert, nuala mahon & simon rees
Paddy Howe I have always wanted to create art but, like many of my generation, was directed into academic studies at school leading to professional careers that left no time for the sort of creative expression I wanted and needed. Although three children and a busy husband gave the opportunity for creativity, it was not quite the same, though I was able to fit in some painting. So it was at retirement that I was finally able to think about it. I chose photography as a means of informing the painting I had been doing, but after a while found it too limiting and changed to Creative Arts where I could include printmaking. The digital age changed my approach and I am now exploring digital art. Processes fascinate me, and I look forward to more experimenting.
Alessandra Alexandroff I am interested in archiving and collecting as a way of remembering. My recent project within my OCA Painting degree has been archiving a stretch of river through a combination of processes. I soaked, pressed, imprinted, got muddy, and, above all, waited. The river wouldn’t be hurried. Having just started on Drawing 2 I find myself in a kind of limbo where I shall stay until my next project gets going. Blog: https://artalessandra.wordpress.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alessandraalexandroff_art.
Sarah Gallear The edge Working with both digital and analogue techniques, I like to explore the unusual, forgotten and unloved from aeroplanes through to architecture. Collective Visually I like striking shapes and textures in my work, with the smaller details that I find can be overlooked. I enjoy experimenting with image making and home processing, working on cyanoptypes and instant film. http://www.tracesofexistence.co.uk Blog in Progress: https://sarahgallearsyp.design.blog/ Helen Rosemier I am a multi-media artist, currently studying photography at Level 3. My work was mostly about human groups, interactions - the urban micro-environments we create and the traces we leave. But that was before the pandemic and I am still finding my feet with the new realities we now face. My practice has always had a strong focus on temporality, so I have been mainly photographing micro-landscapes in the garden and making abstract images during quarantine. https://www.helenrosemier.com/366-project-2020 https://helenrosemier.blog/ Arlene Sharp The heart of my practice is about painting. I like to explore objects in space through mark making and relationships of colour, shape, form and line. I am interested in the materiality of paint and how exploiting different paint qualities drives a process to an unexpected result. I explore through drawing, sculpture, photography and video usually returning to making paintings as a final outcome. https://www.instagram.com/arlenesharp.art/ https://arlene509550.wordpress.com/
Sarah Davis
My day job is being a reader development librarian I am inspired creatively by recording my relationship and responses to the changing world Sue Gedda
Raised in English suburbia, Sue gained a Bachelor of Education (Hons) and taught Physical Education for 6 years before travelling overseas in 1988 and settling in Central Queensland, Australia in 1991. Already possessing a strong affinity with the natu ral environment, Sue found herself immersed in the expanse of rural Australia, living on the family beef property and absorbing the patterns of local ecol ogy and the complex relationship between human and Nature.
Wendy Ward
I am a mature student returning to a love of Textiles after a career with the NHS. I enjoy using the medium of thread and cloth to narrate emotions. At the moment I am specializing in using water soluble techniques which involves removing the base fabric, leaving only the stitching remaining. I find this technique resonates well with the current world as we have lost so much but our thread of life continues and will build again.
https://www.facebook.com/Wendy-Joy-Textiles-384449552148949/ Kathy Jones
I have been studying with the OCA for four years now and I am currently on the Understanding Painting Media course, (Painting Pathway). My passion lies in painting portraits and exploring the human form and I have always loved drawing and painting. I am in total love with my current course as it is very experimental and is showing me the limitless boundaries of creating art! I live in Hampshire.
https://katjones971.wordpress.com https://www.instagram.com/kaatjonz
Sharon Mulberry-Rookes This painting is a response to the interiors exercise from POP1. Having spent the last three months going nowhere but the supermarket in this image I have unwittingly expressed my desire to get out and about and to regain the autonomy and agency that is so valuable to me in everyday life. I’m looking forward to walking down the garden path and back into the world again and find out what that cat is looking at. At this time so many of our connections to the outside world have been broken, like everyone I’m just waiting to restore them.
Samantha Sharp I am studying to gain a degree to help me move into a career as an artist. Art is my absolute passion
https://www.instagram.com/Samanthasharpeartist
Sue Parr My first degree was in English literature and I had a career in Human Resources for many years. My journey with the OCA began as a result of a change in life circumstances, however. I’ve found the return to a creative practice to be a very healing experience. The work for my level 2 painting studies has explored: materiality, agency, the edges and connections between; at the fluid spaces beyond painting, human, non-human, viewer, artwork etc.; which allows for greater freedom and creativity. https://www.Instagram.com/sueparr000
Stefan J Schaffeld
My practice responds to social and cultural expectations that result in a destabilized Self. My current body of work raises questions about the superficiality of beauty and the desire to seek meaning in relation to our body and skin. Through physical processes of material transformation, I explore how vulnerability and fragmentation are deliberately censored from our images, and how folds and invisible marks are flattened out. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stefanschaffeldart
Website https://www.stefanschaffeld.com
Vicky Williamson My first ambition as a small child was to be writer. I loved books so much I wanted to be inside them making them. My life led me in a different direction and now, after many years of dabbling and reading, I am giving my aspiration more of myself, and climbing into stories to find a new me. I am interested in tales of loss and survival.
Veronica M Worrall
Project Connection. I have aimed to explore the camera to find ways to evoke an ecological dialogue with myself and viewers. I took photographs of my pond during Social Isolation and left them there for a couple of weeks. As an environmental artist I was demoting human technology and forcing a re-evaluation of human’s supposed power over nature. This project was made to emphasis our threatened environment and the importance of our reconnection with the unseen, yet essential, elemental world in our back yards.
Get Social...
There are many groups and forums to be found involving the OCA (if it involves canoes, you are probably in the wrong place). A great starting place is the Student discussion forums available on the student website, you must be logged in. Here you will find plenty of different categories to browse through and a lot of support, whatever your query or news you have to share.
@opencollegearts ...and find us here: @edgezine
#edgezine #ocaillustration #ocacreativearts #weareoca #ocafriends #ocagraphicdesign #ocatextiles
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OCA: The Open College of the Arts The Open College of the Arts Support Group
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Course: OCA Photography Students OCA Photography level 1 OCA Textiles OCA Fine Art Students Group OCA Drawing skills OCA Illustration OCA Graphic Design Students OCA Printmaking OCA Creative Arts (CAT)
Your Team...
#stayconnected
Stefan J Schaffeld
Exploring vulnerability, ambiguity through material transformation and space in-between. Study FineArt with UCA/OCA as my passion. Artist and art therapist
Web:www.stefanschaffeld.com Instagram:www.instagram.com/stefanschaffeldart Facebook:www.facebook.com/stefan. schaffeld.artist
Your Team...
Michael Green
I am proud to be part of the team producing edge zine I love all aspects of photography.
I am enjoying Landscape level 2 of my degree. Having just returned from South Georgia with 6000 images I am getting familiar with Pho-
I look forward to sharing some of the images in future editions of the
Thanks to all for the effort put into into another fabulous edition.
Blog: www.michaelgreenlevel2landscapeblog.photo.blog
Catherine Banks
I was born and brought up in Sheffield but gradually wended my way south to end up here in leafy Surrey.
Having left school early, I returned to learning as a mature student after my children were born, including an Open University Degree. Before retirement I worked as probation officer then mental health social worker, becoming involved in post-qualification training plus NVQ qualifications for social care managers.
I’ve always thought I wasn’t an artist but am slowly realising that it’s possible if I let my intuition guide me and don’t try too hard!
www.instagram.com/cbankssurrey/
Amy-Sarah Opitz
I had to write....
......for a Bio, will this do?
insta: @byamysarah @myvwbullimatilda twitter: @byamysarah Web: www.byamysarah.com
