from worker to student

Undertaking a three year, full time degree, is just like having a full time job. With practical work to be done daily, from drawing to painting to back again, to research, to lectures and then to essays on artists of interest, it is not dull. You are excepted to attend full time, axcepted to be fully researching, exprected to be in your studio space often. Fair enough, and what I want to do, but it is quite a big mouthful to chew., I can see that the course is going to stretch me, stretch my work, make me look at my painting more objectively and with added/ altered interest. The research side is fun, as it is a subject I love, and am excited about. An looking at the workds of Cezanne, Miro and Pollock at the moment, then will move on to more contemporary artists. Loving it, love the challenge, and love feeling satisifed at  the end of every day. A creative blessing to be there!!

an essay in progress.

Article for a magazine on Colin McCahon's painting, entitled Rocks at French Bay.

Painted in 1959   this work is from one of Colin McCahon’s most producitve and creative times as a painter. This pre-dates McCahon’s most infamous paintings, the groundbreaking works that incorporate text. This was a relatively new concept at the time..The subject of the painting, a seascape, is rendered in gorgeous browns, ochre, black and cream. The placement of line and shape is crucial to the overall impact of the work, and the muted hues add to this. The painting has warm tonal values,  adding to the feel of push and pull, which creates tension and  a feeling of illusion and space.

The depiction of both linear lines and geometric shapes produce a glimmer of subtle underlying tension. French Bay, West  Auckland, was where McChaon lived . This work is atypical of McCahon throughout his painting career, in that he rarely used bright colours. A common theme he explored was the abstracted New Zealand landscape. . The loose, expressive brushstrokes render the subject even more atmospheric and strange, as do the muted colours.

McCahon was very influenced by the German Expressionists and Cubists, both of which are evidenced in his entire body of works.. That is also true of this work, with its abstracted shapes and earth-tone colours. Another common  thread  McCahon  looked at was religious motifs, especially that of  Judeo-Christianity. McCahon employed text in his latter paintings as a response to the fact that both the wider public and the academic art world had failed to respond to the religious subtext and motifs of his earlier works. He explored these personal themes,  through paint, of the New Zealand landscape, a landscape acclaimed  for its natural  beauty. The overall impact of McCahon’s paintings are enhanced by this fact, with the painter creating a new vision,  via his finished paintings, to a traditionally beautiful, if somewhat bland, landscape.

Rocks at French Bay could be read in a scroll-like or religious way. The linear work for text, the landscape itself as religious motif,, especially that of the painter’s own background, and personal beliefs. Is McCahon commuinicating The Crucifixion with this work?  Or a similar Christian theme?  Perhaps he is exploring the paint itself. Or is he merely depicting an abstracted view of a traditionally beautiful landscape?  With no direct text on this work to clarify his intent, McCahon has left it for the viewer to decide.

Bibliography:

Rocks At French Bay, Chartwell Collection of Contemporary Art (from the Auckland City Art Gallery

 How the Light Gets In: The Christian Art of Colin McCahon, article in the CS Arts magazine, date unknbown.

this is now my art blog!

for the arts only, and as I am studying visual arts full time, I don't have the time nor inclination anymore, for the annoying world of politics Having lots of essays to write as well as paintings to paint etc, I may just have time, to blog on the arts, and that is my first passion. I will leave the politics for those in the know.

Loving the three year course so far, such satisfaction in studying painting from top to bottom and back again. It's very intensive, with lots of writing assignments as well as practical ones. Much time for self-directed learning though, and a very awesome studio space, so I feel blessed re this. I intend to refine and rebuild my work, almost starting again. Although now in middle age, I feel that I have only just brushed the surface when it comes to my painting, and that formal study will help me enormously: on my own I feel lost. Higher education, in art, can only surely help me to improve me and my art. I hope so. The canon of artists is never-ending and very exciting. I am excited by both modern and traditional painting and am looking forward to exploring both. This will be a life journey, and is something I have always longed to do....heaven!

I am really keen to see where this degree will take me, and what I will learn about myself, and most of all, will I ever sell a painting or actually get to work in the world of art? Who knows? But I will enjoy the passage, and I intend to make the most of every last minute!! The studio is now my second (or first?) home!!

an essay in the very early stages, on the works of Colin McCahon

Student name:           Tanya Stebbing (going to add the image asap)

Unitec ID numher:     

This review is Colin McCahon’s 1959 painting entitled Rocks at French Bay , ink and oil on stretched canvas, 1900 x 840 mm.

I intend to review the above mentioned oil-painting, including, answering all the questions as specified.

This work by McCahon appeals to me, because I like the muted colours, the placement of the lines, curves, shapes in the picture, and also the abstraction of the subject. The subject itself, a seascape/landscape, is very abstracted, and no traditional landscape colours have been included in McCahon’s palette. Instead, the colours rendered are black, ochre, , browsn. The painting has tonal values, and there is linear lineworkd as swell as filling in. Some of the canvas has been left blank, and there is quite a lot of white paint showing through in the paler areas.

The use of both lines and round shapes produce a nice tension, a pushing/pulling feel. French Bay was where McCahon lived, and he was predominately a landscape painter.This painting is atypical of McCahon, in that he rarely used brighter colours. A common trheme he depicted was abstracted landscapes in earth colo9urs, and these often have a social-political aspect to them.  McCahon was interested in the politics of the day, especially those pertaining to Maori land-rights, and he also had a love of the New Zealand landscape, a landscape that he often travelled around the country to view.

A  theme that often cropped up in McCahon’s art was religion motifs, especially that of Judeo-Christianity. McCahon was interested in exploring the connection of humanity and religion through his painting, and through his limited, washed out earthy shades. His painting has a beautifully understated quality to it, and Rocks at French Bayh is bouth subtle yet confident with its paint rendering. Nothing abuot it feels forced. The painting is in oi and inkl in unstretched canvas, painted in 1959. This was very early on in McCahon’s painting life. The work is explorative in that the landscape has been rendered into geometrical shapes and lines. Is there a political statement in this?  The hues are both warm and cold. The application of the paint is light and fluffy yet also textrued

Would you buy a used manifesto promise from this lot? | Melanie Phillips

Would you buy a used manifesto promise from this lot? | Melanie Phillips

really enjoyed this, brilliant. Clear thinking.

so not true, David Attenborough.

Humans are a plague upon the Earth says David Attenborough

What pish. Why do naturalists hate humans, who were 'made in the image of God?'

Let's just give up the entire planet to nature then, and see just how exciting it is. Nuts.