The Creative Times Edition 4
PAUL JELEN
Paul Jelens work concerns itself with an internal space revealed by the myriad colours of light. This internal space is that remaining when the mind quietens and falls to single contemplation, as in meditation. Indeed, his first light piece was based on the chakra colours of Indian mystical views of body, energy and healing. Light, in its infinite divisibility into individually recognised colours, shows us how its virtually infinite manifestations may derive out of a single primordial essence and, therefore, how all things, all creatures, all of mankind are brothers and sisters in creation – “1000 Names” is the Hindu mantra of the infinite manifestations of God – The “1000” being a cipher for a very large number. The work itself has many different manifestations, which include word pieces on canvas and in public art settings, temporary and permanent public art, sculptural works in painted steel and installations made from found objects in a neo-surrealist vein. A small selection of his large output to date may be seen on his website: www.pauljelen.theartistsweb.co.uk His aim in all his works is to create sacred spaces for rest, reflection, reconnection and re-energisation either by what, to all appearances, are individual artworks, or major or subtle changes to environments. the centre is everywhere everywhere is the centre Pauljelen.theartistsweb.co.uk paj425@aol.co.uk
Robert Haworth I am thirty four years of
Box In My Brain 297x420mm Acrylic on Paper £500
The Face In The Box 297x420mm Acrylic on Paper £500
age and a self-taught artist. I feel that I am a born artist as its the one thing that makes me feel happy. I have always expressed myself creatively, even from a very young age and would make things or draw and didn't really understand why, because I did not know this was my talent as I was young. My motivation comes deep within my heart and soul because art is my life. My art work does not come from any inspiration around me, but from my feeling that I can only describe as a fireball of energy inside me. A fusion of feelings and emotions which come out when I paint. When I paint I see another world which is totally different to the world around me and I feel at one with the paintbrush. I need to have silence around me when I work and no distractions. Whilst painting I feel calm and relaxed and can escape to another more exiting world in my mind and heart. When I see the beauty of what I have created it gives me a great sense of satisfaction and happiness which wells up inside me and makes me feel on top of the world. My paintings allow my imagination to run wild and I imagine worlds and dimensions with strange characters living in them. I believe that painting allows me to express myself fully and I can create the most outrageous paintings without hurting anyone. Some people think that I am strange because they don't understand me. But others say that I am unique and like no one they have ever met before. I cannot change who I am and believe people who don't understand me are still curious. I would love to become a leading figure in the world of art in my own definitive style. I would like to create a buzz in the world of art so that people may experience artwork that is completely different and radical.
Eyes in the back of my head Acrylic on Paper 297x420mm £500
The tower in my mind Acrylic on Paper 297x420mm £500
robert haworth but i think just to show my web site www.iamthebutterflyman.com email robertbutterflyman@hotmail.co.uk mobile 07804598009
Annabel
Welsh
Textile Artist msbellyann@yahoo.co.uk
LUCY BARFOOT Lucy Barfoot, a recent Fine Art graduate has inventive ideas and an enjoyment of the basic sensations of things. Her labour-rich pieces are created through her manipulations of process and experimentation. Her Inherently quiet and momentary creations have stillness and generosity; she encourages touch. Her artist’s statement sums up her working practice: “My colours are sickly and my matter is sweet. I want to satisfy. I want to fulfil the materiality of objects. The connotations of any object are rich, but I want to release this: can it be seen as a chance material? What is it to sense the texture, shape, and the smell of it? The letting go and holding onto control has a powerful effect on my work. The process of gathering objects is something I ‘have to do’, similar to my compulsion to repeat actions. My practice is obsessive and process-led. I am physically absorbed into a daze of making. This meditative state has great significance - I become a factory worker. My objects are mostly ephemeral, and I mix the natural with the manmade. I am placing nature in synthetic order and dealing with a volatile mix of contingency and control. The momentary, fragile structures united with the lightness of my touch leads to a vulnerable presence, an economy.”
My motivation is sleepy sometimes. I ask it to wake up, but asking does not get me anywhere. It’s the same with inspiration. These two crucial things, critical to everything and everyone – especially artists, comes and goes. It seems karmic. I am constantly asking myself if I have control over it or not. This is what I deal with most. So how do I wake it up? I’m trying. I go on dates with myself. The museum is giving me something, I’m not sure what. Drawing burly men in the pub is also doing something. Especially the ones with white skin, black hair and awful clothes.
Sense. 10ft X 10ft. apples, lacquer. (Prints available)
The more I see, the more I get. My inspiration is sticky. All these notes and scraps of drawings don’t do much left like that, tidied away. The big step is making these little bits become something, because they are important. And for most, the weighty things are the tiny things that become the biggest things. I am a believer of experiencing the current state of my mind, as being whole and complete.
Born 1987, Poole 2005-2008, BA (Hons) Fine Art , University for the Creative Arts, Surrey Sewing Drawing. A2. paper, thread, pastel
Selected group exhibitons: June 2008: Free Range, Truman Brewery, London May 2008: Barcode, University College for the Creative Arts, Surrey Experience: Artist in residence at a 6th-form college Creative mentor to children from 11-16 Illustrator creating hand-drawn illustrations for themed play cottages Currently living in Bristol, working towards setting up exhibitions and collaborations. Looking to move into the direction of drawing and screen printing. Lucy is available for commissions.
hello@lucybarfoot.co.uk www.lucybarfoot.com 07734 658 086 Golden. 5ft X 3ft. Golden Syrup, Varnish, sequins, PVA glue.
CharlieDAY
My current practice revolves around memory, melancholia and music. The skewed perspectives and the materiality of the paint reference process painting juxtaposed with direct figuration. The “aggressively slack� (Martin Herbert, Time Out) paintings I am making now are coming from a life shaped through the sights and sounds of 70s & 80s Britain and the uneasy melancholy of my journey through a life of mental illness. I am interested in the multiplicity of mark making and the surreal situations in which the paintings find themselves. Here are memories of my childhood and my heroes: Morrissey, Tommy Cooper, Ian Dury, Shelagh Delaney, Morecambe and Wise, John Lennon, Peter Blake, Max Wall, David Hockney, The Two Ronnies, Derek Jarman, Michael Caine, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and the rest. Recent exhibitions: Caravan Show, Empire Gallery, Vyner Street, London Christies Fine Art Auction in aid of The Red Cross, Framers Gallery, London Group Show, Galeria Miquel Alzueta, Barcelona, Spain Changing Rooms, 38 Shakespeare Road, London Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
From top: Rule Britannia Is Out Of Bounds, oil on canvas and flag, dimensions variable; Oh Smother Me Mother, oil on board, 23 x 31cm
www.charliedayart.co.uk
MARTIN IRELAND When you think of Martin’s paintings the immediate image that springs to mind is of long hot days by the pool, similar to the paintings by David Hockney during his stay in Los Angeles of the 1960’s. Themes of swimming have been a subject that he has been consistently working with since he moved to south London about 12 years ago and is something that he enjoys as well as painting. Many of Martin’s pool paintings were done during a residency at Tooting Bec Lido in 2005. “When I first came across this hidden rectangle of cobalt blue I couldn’t believe it. Looking at it from the deep end, it seemed more like a liquid runway,” explains Ireland. “Gradually, I began to experience this corner of south London as a large stage on which to construct my scenes of people enjoying themselves. Recently I’ve invested in a wetsuit to cope with the cold when standing waist deep in the unheated pool taking down visual notes of colour and liquid shapes. I get an appreciative nod from the regulars, but I do sometimes get a look of curiosity from younger visitors.”
“I paint figures because each one is different and in water they seem to defy gravity. I came across the figurative artists Thomas Eatkins and Andrew Weyeth for their connection with painting the figure in or around water.” Ireland feels that life drawing is very important to developing looking skills. “Drawing is about training ourselves to look at things properly, not just to see things and forget. You don’t have to be any good at drawing to enjoy it, but you use part of something that you may have forgotten and buried years ago.” Dismayed at the lack of life drawing in colleges, he studied anatomy at Morley College and runs regular life drawing workshops at home in Battersea. “It helps me with the process of thinking about colour and composition and sorting out what to remember and process into images. My studio is near Tooting Bec Lido, one of the largest leisure centres in the UK. As a frequent visitor to the pool, I often meet other regular swimmers going for an early morning or
evening dip, regardless of the weather. It’s a very friendly atmosphere and there are many different types of people who swim at lidos, from wet suited tri-athletes in training to elderly regulars who’ve been going for decades. It’s this mix that is so appealing, along with the effects of a large rectangle of water open to the elements which changes colour and mood all the time.” Ireland finds that there is the appeal of painting the unclothed figure in their swimming training or enjoying themselves in water. His work is intimate, as if you had opened a door and glanced in at the scene. Martin has developed his own unique approach to the medium and constructs his images in layers, adding and subtracting details at each stage. He works on several paintings at once, like a production line. Each painting can lead and influence the next. The approach is far from traditional and expresses an ability to change and alter things as the image emerges from the paper. His approach is more like oil painting and the thick textured paper he uses is more like canvas. I prefer using watercolour and gouache as it is a fast medium to use and doesn’t take long to dry between layers. Even so, I work on several pieces at once, going back to paintings when I have come up with compositional solutions on other paintings and frequently return to paintings months later when I have seen a solution to a difficult compositional problem. Martin graduated in printmaking at Camberwell School of Art in 1989 after a degree in Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art. He currently teaches & demonstrates drawing and painting techniques for art groups & societies in the UK. Martin has exhibited in ‘Open House’ events for several years and finds that exhibiting in domestic settings helps potential buyers relate to paintings in a ‘lived in’ environment that is more appropriate than the intimidating white box of the gallery.
martinireland65@yahoo.co.uk www.martinireland.co.uk