Stroppy cow to the dogs bollocks

I love going to the different art workshops I attend regularly. I always go with a happy upbeat feeling, one of knowing that I shall be spending the time doing something I really love doing, being with my artist friends, and shall learn something useful along the way too. I arrived at the one at the weekend with that feeling. There weren't many of us there, only eight, and I knew all of them well from being in the same local art group. The male tutor didn't know any of us.

So, it was somewhat strange that within ten minutes of me walking through the door that I was spitting mad, in a stroppy mood, and marked down as a trouble maker as far as the tutor was concerned.

It happened innocently, as far as he was concerned, and ominously, as far as I was concerned.

We had all set up our places within the room, and since there were only eight of us there, and not the usual 20 or so, there was loads of place for us to work in and we could all have a double table, rather than one small one, which is sometimes the case, and which I always struggle with, as I like space around me, and enough workspace to work from.

Then, he wanted us to move to the front of the room, to two small semi circles of tables shoved up together, so that it would be easier for him to see what we were doing.  I think it was at that point that I got stroppy, not helped by the fact that two other women there started muttering under their breaths, too. I started to move my desk, then I thought "Sod it!" and moved back again. He didn't say anything, but I noticed he didn't make any eye contact with me for the next hour or so, and when I asked a question, he ignored me totally, much to the amusement of myself, and one other woman there who also noticed, who twinkled her eyes at me with a knowing grin. I continued with the session, and then the annoyance was compounded by the fact that he asked us all if we knew how to sharpen a pencil. I think I do, yesssssss. I said out loud at that point to someone else, out of hearing of the tutor "I think I'm in the wrong class". But I stuck with it, and knew the importance of getting a sharp point on a pencil, because otherwise how can you draw properly with it. But I didn't need to be shown it, which was the next step he went to as it was passed around the room for us to wonder and wow at. Oh dear, this is going to be hard going.....

I'm not sure at which point things started to change. Maybe it was when he asked the group what mediums we paint in, and I said with complete confidence "Oils, acrylics and watercolours", maybe it was when I told him about the large and important commission I'm doing of an oil painting, maybe it was the fact he realised I could draw when he saw what I did when he got us doing three ten minute drawings of  each other. He certainly stood behind me as I was drawing, and said "Perfect!" before moving on. Maybe it was when he saw how I could use watercolours too, to fill out one of the drawings into bright colour. Maybe it was when he said to me when he watched me painting "I've never met an oil painter who could understand how to paint wet-in-wet in watercolours before!" and I said ""Well you have now"" and one of the other women there said to him about me "Well, she's clever!!!!". 

By the end of the session, he was a big fan of mine. Big! He loved my art, he loved the fact I did erotic art, he liked me as a person, and he was eager to see my website.  I shook his hand, with a smile, and thanked him for an informative and helpful workshop, as I gave him my business card and we said our goodbyes.

I'd really enjoyed it, particularly when he'd got us doing the three ten-minute poses as three of the group volunteered to sit and pose. Two of them sat in the chair when it was their turn, doing nothing more than a normal pose, but one did a pose with her head in her hands, her face looking down, and I loved it, and really enjoyed the drawing part, almost more than filling it with colour afterwards. I've missed it, and missed the way my pencil flew across the paper, making marks, drawing the bare outlines, then filling them out with more and more detail, my eyes following the lines infront of me, and copying them to the paper infront of me. I also liked the fact that with the other artwork he got us doing, after that, it was the expression and body language we were to draw as much as the person depicted. It was all most helpful and interesting to me as an artist and a person who likes people.

........

And the reason I wouldn't move? Not just because of the tightness of us all bunched up together, its because I'm too much of an artist to want to leave the light of a large sunlit window overlooking sun filled blossom trees, to move to a place in the room where the light was far dimmer. I'm like a moth, I need to be by the light.

Tits and all

The art workshop being the first one of the calendar year tends to be a little more off beat than the others. I think the organisers think that we need something stimulating (and messy!) to get our creative juices running. And I tend to agree, as it certainly helps me get my mind and art back on track after the excesses and  lethargy of the Christmas period.

This months workshop was "murals on board" which sounded a bit vague to me. But I knew the "board" would be provided at the workshop, at extra expense, depending on the size we each chose. And I knew I had to take along acrylic inks, ordinary inks, and acrylic paints, and pastels as well. Ok, then, a mixed media workshop... but the sizes of the boards are an unknown, and may be six foot across for all I know.....they are murals after all......

I arrived just as the tutor was explaining her working process. She gave us the option to use the white painted side of the boards on offer, or the plain wood untreated side, complete with all the imperfections that that side offered for use. For we were painting on thick chipboard. She encouraged us to see into the patterns and shapes within the wood and see what inspired us to paint. I've done this sort of art before, and can "see" things within the random shapes, but they tend to be two most definite types of things...... I wondered if I would see anything else ...this time.......

I chose a piece of wood that looked interesting to me - a long thin piece, about eight inches wide by a yard long. And had decided that I would opt for a horizontal picture rather than a vertical. I stood looking at it quizzically at arms length. It was just a piece of wood....what would be within it - what image was calling out to me, what image could I feel......

The tutor joined me, and stood looking at it as well. She pointed out shapes that I couldn't particularly respond to - but I agreed, that there was indeed part of a cat, and part of a few other animals within it. But not enough to call out to me.  But there was ONE creature there that I could see clearly. Surprisingly! A blue whale.... MMm.... what on earth could I do with a whale......!!!?

"Well, that's decided it then!" I said. She looked at me, enquiringly. And asked if I could see any abstract shapes within it, and whether I was happy about making it more abstract? I smiled, and said that doing abstracts was easy for me, and I know that some people struggle "seeing" abstract, both as artists creating them, and the spectator viewing them. But, that wasn't the case for me. Infact, I do a lot of abstracts. She asked politely "What subject matter?" and I smiled and said "Erotic abstracts!" Which caused the usual opening of the eyes as the eyebrows shot up, from her. "In that case, I'm really looking forward to seeing what YOU do!" she said. I nodded, and said I'd see what I could do........

I returned to looking at the board, as she continued around the class with constructive advice and practical help. And nodded to myself, as the familiar images came to me..... yep, the usual two......as I'd suspected, and expected.....

..... figures and faces.........
but the figures are female, and nude.......

That means only one thing then. If there's a whale there, then they must be mermaids......

I looked further at my board, and easily and effortlessly found a couple of mermaids, complete with tails, for me to paint within the surface markings. But, to balance the picture, it needed another one. But, would that be male or female? I stood considering the concept......

.....MMMmmm........If, they were all female, then that made the concept of the picture "Erotic but playful". If there were two males and one female, it made the picture "Erotic but with male dominance overtones possibly suggesting aggressive tendencies". But, if there were two females, and one male then it made it "Erotic with interesting overtones of what two females and one male were going to get up to!" - Ok, then, that's decided that then!

I started work on it - with inks at first to see how they reacted to the bare untreated wood - but wasn't happy with the results as the inks soaked in too much and lost some of their vibrant colour. Ok, on to the acrylic paints then as they are stronger and will sit on the wood.....

....the tutor came to see what I was doing, intrigued with my subject matter. She asked if the three partly marked out mermaids were all going to be women? I said no, one was going to be male, I felt. And she made me laugh out loud when she announced robustly "Well, it depends if you paint tits on them!" And I smiled in agreement, yep it certainly did!

I carried on painting, and did indeed paint "tits" on two, and not on the third, he had "pecs" and a six pack (very nice!) instead..... !

The painting wasn't finished during that workshop. It needs further work doing on it, and will certainly need a lot more paint on it than there currently is. But, I received a couple of emails in the week after the workshop from the tutor, and we had a bit of a chat through it - and I was delighted when she commented

"Your mermaids had rather a compelling attraction I thought, one is obliged to seek out what is going on..... Always a good thing, the longer someone stares the better."

Good, she sees the story that I could see within the basis of the painting, an interesting idea that will form in peoples heads, and which will add more depth to the subject matter. And I told her that I consider that mermaids are "acceptable erotic" by most people - even little old ladies who like chintz, and children find them "nice" and not aggressively sexual. I will certainly work on the picture some more, but not for a while. I still have other work to finish......

But, in the meantime, have a mermaid or two to show you from previous paintings I've done.....  The one on the left is called "Dance of the deep" and is in watercolour. The one on the right is called "Out of the blue" and is also in watercolour but has gold gouache paint in the mermaids tail which gives it far more interest I think, as there's that flash of gold as she flicks her tail and the light catches it. Hope you like......