Hello and welcome to the quartley newsletter of Bella Bee. It's not just about creating art that's close to my heart. It's seeing others' work, meeting new creatives and getting inspired. |
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People of Bath and ceramics fans might have already visited Peter Hayes' studios, siutated on a just off London Road Bridge in Bath. The studio itself has a showroom on pavement level; a workshop midway down and another workshop area and outside which reaches to a decked section overlooking the river Avon. I had the happy occasion to visit at the end of September during an open studio session, but Peter is happy to have people knock on the door at any time. |
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The ethos behind some of this stunning work looks to the ancient Japanese method of 'kintsugi', repairing broken ceramic ware, often using gold leaf. Peter says in Japan, the repaired pieces were often a fraction of the cost of the original 'perfect' versions, but ultimately they have greater value in materials and man hours. |
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An example of this (right) courtesy of another site, shows the quite intricate natural franctures which are so carefully placed back together. | | |
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I told Peter some of his pieces reminded me very much of the stones at Avebury and Stonehenge. He agreed, saying a source of his inspiration comes from the ancient world; axe heads and stone-age artefacts which are artistically and expertly done and have sometimes weathered. He said he wanted to create pieces which were timeless and could appear to be made either thousands of years ago, or yesterday. |
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The raku ware is broken, or sometimes actually made with a fissure which is plugged with clay and sand, before breaking for re-assemble. Sometimes leaving the pieces outside to weather, or dropping them in the river, they are left to the elements. Justin, Peter's son who works alongside his father told me some pottery had been dropped in the Carribean sea and was last seen by divers, semi-covered in coral. It has been left as part of the reef. |
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Once the pieces are ready, resin is then used to re-assemble and create the lines of colour. Glass was orignally tried but this failed to work successfully. The red lines in the repair sections are made using powder paint and resin glue, but my favourite colour is the blue. The entire piece then goes through a series of graduated sandings until smooth. Justin says he plugs himself into an audio book and works away at the circular sander for hours. |
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So did I buy something? Of course I did. Unfortunately not one of the larger pieces, but a beautiful sculpture none-the-less. |
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44AD Gallery in Bath is always worth dropping into as they have a high turnover or exhibitors and new artists. It is Council-funded and has been threatended with closure so hopefully an online campaign started to save the venue will be successful. When I was last in the city, I wandered in to find many seascapes painted by Jan Jeffcoate. Jan works in acrylics and paints from within, not specific parts of the coastline. It is obvious she is a popular choice, judging from the number of red sales dots she had throughout the studios. Jan and I talked about painting in oils as she paints in acrylics only. I prefer oils for their ease of movement; acrylics dry out too quickly for me and I like their depth of colour. Jan said she was a instant painter so we thought he chosen medium was possibly better suited to her personality. |
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The looser style is one which appeals so as part of a Twitter challenge, I painted this watercolour at the tail-end of summer. I mentioned to an art friend how it seemed we all loosen our styles as we age. She said it is to do with confidence and I can't but help agree. Below is some autumnal-inspired work using just oil and pastel on paper. |
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_________________________________ It is more like painting in water colour, applying oil paint thinned with white spirit to paper. It soaks in almost immediately so there is little room for play. It does however make strong indelible lines and I enjoy the depth of layering. The quick drying nature of this method also means any 'noise', be it in the form of scratching or layering up, has that sketchy vibrancy. The final layer is done in soft pastels which can also be manipulated. When done, the whole sheet is sprayed with fixative. I ripped the paper along a sharp edge, making strips for each piece rather than a conventional horizontal landscape. _________________________________ |
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A drive to Lyme Regis with Tilly (the dog) on the last day of November was an unexpected gem. Having packed clothes for a cold blustery day at the coast I was instead met with a cloudless, windless sky and flat seas. It was so warm we sat on the soft near-deserted sands and saw the place in a quieter light. The intention was mainly for the drive down as the weather has been pure gold, but we made it to the seaside town. I took plenty of photographs but I often find any resulting artwork from such a trip comes later, and this was no exception. |
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Below is another oil on paper abstract based on The Cobb at Lyme. The scratched and pitted harbour walls can be walked along. It sits between a sandy beach and a pebble / shingle fossil beach which is more open to the elements. |
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The four artists (of whom I am one) that get together for an experimental collaboration now have a name. As three (or 3/4's) live in Beckington, we have decided on the short but sweet name of B4 (a derivative of The Beckington Four). It's easier than listing out individual names each time. We met at Emma's to try our hand at layering and building up abstract images which were loosly based on our previous trip to Hauser & Wirth. French artist Louise Bourgeois; 'Turning Inwards', which finishes in January 2017; references her relationship with her parents, namely her mother for this aspect of the exhibition, which manifests itself through the life her mother had of weaving and thread. Louise's line print etchings with abstract pods and depictions of leaf growth caught the attention of Hayley, Sarah and Emma who made sketches. We all made further sketches in the garden along similar lines which were alluded to later in our session. |
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Large pieces of paper were layered up with acrylic colour before adding pastels and then either drawing on this again or removing in section with electric erasers. Whenever we work on a piece, we stand around a table and then swap places so no one section of the paper is done by a sole person. I believe we are getting better at working together and seem to faster at getting into the mindset. Of course, we always run out of time. |
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This autumn has been one of the most long-lived and spectacular I think I've seen. Uncommonly mild and with just one storm threatening to shake the trees bare, we were surrounded by colour well into December. The misty start to the mornings and damper feel to the air led to some oil paintings (shown below). Echoing the soft light at this time of year, they were a joy to paint and I hope to add more. |
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You might remember an update about some ceramic work done to support the stone series of dry point etchings and collagraph prints. These are the results (above). Three stand-alone 'stones', the shapes mirroring those at Avebury. All three have artistic liscense when it comes to what's inside. It remains to be seen whether they are shown alongside the original print series, but that is part of the fun. The unknown keeps life interesting for us all and it seems fitting as we look to the end of what has been a turbulent year and plan for the new. |
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May you all have an enjoyable season, whatever you are doing. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this and letting me share with you. If you enjoyed this, please feel free to comment, otherwise I look forward to saying hello again in the Spring next year. |
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