How's your day?

[Beekay 5,210]

A Nottinham follow up.....

 

 

[Brew 5,435]

The face, though recognisable, somehow just doesn't look right.

The rest looks as though climate change protesters have had a go at it.

Margie has it right, another portrait would be just that, another one. But this is a publicity stunt and all the pretentious aficionados  dare not say do it again it's rubbish.  There have been some shockers in the past, all garnering praise simply because the artist was famous - Freud, Warhol, Partridge and a few others, but were in actual fact, like this one.... crap.

There are better artists on YouTube.

[philmayfield 6,215]

It’s ‘art’ though isn’t it? Not draftsmanship. Although a skilled draftsman can produce a facsimile, and we can admire their skill, art is an interpretation in the mind of the artist. It invites us to think about and discuss it. We may like it or loathe it but it stimulates a conversation and a reaction. 

[Cliff Ton 10,503]

Same with music.

 

Something which one person likes is just a noise to someone else.

[Jill Sparrow 10,345]

As a friend of mine said, hands and faces are the most difficult parts of the human body to paint well.  Whoever this artist is, he clearly has the ability to master those two areas extremely proficiently. As to the rest of it... one gets the impression that he couldn't be bothered to spend the time on it.  Sorry. Don't like it. I have a lifelong aversion to the colour red.

[philmayfield 6,215]

I took art at ‘O Level’. Some of us, who were going on to study biology at ‘A Level, decided to select, out of the various options, ‘plant drawing and figure drawing’. The third option I studied was ‘history of art’. Whilst not making me an expert on the subject, it did give me an appreciation of the many artists from the Italian masters to the French impressionists. I’ve been fortunate to visit many of the art galleries in the UK and Europe and view the masterpieces at first hand. More locally Nottingham castle art gallery was interesting as was the Usher Galleries in Lincoln and the Harley Galleries at Welbeck.

[Brew 5,435]

A picture should be representative, it should not need an explanation or some 'expert' to   interpret it and tell what to think about, or what the 'artist' is trying to tell us. 

Or is he trying to tell us his face and hair needs a good wash.

 

Then again, I'm just an old Philistine

[benjamin1945 16,245]

I covered the whole of Britain in my 58 years of work.......no sat-navs...only Paper maps and sign posts.......but never got lost and only late once (new years day hangover)..........

          Well today i went to the 'Mcarthur Glen' shopping centre ten minutes down the road....which ive done many times........then coming back i took a wrong turn and finished up heading north on the M1............Don't know how i did it but missed at least 2 junctions thought i'd end up in Sheffield..........Saw lots of signs for Bolsover........nearly went for coffee at Jill's place......but eventually managed to get back on south of the M1............

                  Never have i got so confused when driving......if Bulwell had some decent 'Mens' clothes shops

...i would'nt have had this problem.........

         Anyway made my purchases bit of Lycra and a couple of T shirts and had a nice breakfast........and eventually got home safe.......Odd sort of day so far..........next time i go anywhere near decent shops gonna purchase a road Atlas............

[Jill Sparrow 10,345]

A couple of years ago, the roundabout from which you access McArthur Glen was completely revamped due to the enlargement of the industrial estate opposite McArthur Glen includung an additional access road.  Ever since, the exit from that roundabout to the A38 northbound (Mansfield) seems really awkward and tight. I've been down there several times en route to the vet at Sutton and missed the exit, meaning I've had to go round again. Almost ended up on the A38 southbound  (Derby) a couple of times.  So, I can appreciate Ben's problem.

[benjamin1945 16,245]

Yes Jill.......its a very odd sort of Junction..................

[Jill Sparrow 10,345]

It is now, Ben. Never had any problems with it before it was altered.  One thing I've learned is NEVER come off the A38 at McArthur Glen near to Christmas. The idiots park on the road and even on the traffic island because the car park is full!!  Lunacy with a Santa hat on. They've blocked the road on more than one occasion.

[benjamin1945 16,245]

Yes i came across that last year.......think i got it wrong today because coming out of M G.........There was a lot of traffic and somehow i must have got in the wrong lane........i did a bit of cussing each time i missed a junction going north.........must be me age.....

[LizzieM 9,524]

I’ve been to McArthur Glen many times and once off the M1 I struggle with the road network around there, thinking out loud “Where do I go?!”

[LizzieM 9,524]

4 hours ago, philmayfield said:

it did give me an appreciation of the many artists from the Italian masters to the French impressionists. 

 

We watched Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour (of Italy) on Sunday night. They were in Venice and I was absolutely blown away by a massive painting (9m x 22m) by Tintoretto called ‘Paradise’ that’s in the Doge’s Palace. Fabulous detail and colours and to think artists had to make their own paints, there was no going to Hobbycraft back in the 16th Century.  

The original owner of our present house, Harry Freckleton, was a well regarded artist who exhibited at the Royal Academy (and Nottingham Castle) and sold many of his works around the World.  Some Nottstalgians of a a similar age to me possibly have photos of themselves as babies, taken by Harry at his studio in Nottingham. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,345]

I think there's one of my older sister as a baby, looking gormless!!!  I seem to remember the name Freckleton on the back of it.

There isn't one of me. I broke the camera!

[philmayfield 6,215]

1 hour ago, Brew said:

A picture should be representative, it should not need an explanation or some 'expert' to   interpret it and tell what to think about, or what the 'artist' is trying to tell us. 

Or is he trying to tell us his face and hair needs a good wash.

 

Then again, I'm just an old Philistine

 I disagree there. A diagram should be representative and convey definitive information but art is a creative process and the results are open to interpretation by the observer. They say that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Why does the Mona Lisa have an enigmatic smile?  

I suppose, however, that portraiture should endeavour to capture the likeness of the subject without attempting to be a photographic image.

My favourite artists are the French impressionists plus a bit of Van Gogh!

[Jill Sparrow 10,345]

Our art mistress at The Manning was, to put it mildly, a raving eccentric.  She was built like Hattie Jacques but minus the sense of humour.

 

I have no artistic ability whatsoever. Therefore, art lessons seemed a total waste of time to me.  The standard appraisal of a painting Hattie  didn't like was "an amorphous mass", whether it was something one of her pupils had done or the work of a professional.  

 

We spent a great deal of time trying to imagine, at Hattie's insistence,  the trauma of a paintbrush left overnight in a pot of water so that all our hair fell out. Much of our lessons were spent listening to Hattie's problems in trying to find a solution to keeping her son's spectacles level ... because his ears weren't!  Alongside that, we absorbed the evils of carrier bags bearing the supermarket's name and being used as free, walking advertisements for Tesco et al. A plain, unmarked cardboard box was the unrivalled solution to this problem.

 

I didn't learn much about art at Manning.  My favourite artist is John Atkinson Grimshaw who was self-taught and even made his own paints.  I wonder whether he went shopping with a cardboard box?

[Brew 5,435]

19 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

Why does the Mona Lisa have an enigmatic smile? 

 

I've no idea but having seen it I was thoroughly unimpressed. Why does everyone rate it so much? It's a picture of a rather plain looking woman. Who said she is smiling?

Who said his St John the Baptist is homoerotic? Why is Benci not as good as Lisa...? Everyone plays follow my leader in art. Experts say it's great therefore it must be

 

But having said that at least we don't need a degree in fine art to see what it is and the technical skill it took to paint his portrait, and I'm fairly sure he never thought to throw buckets of paint on his canvas.

One excuse I've just read of why it's famous is da Vinci demonstrating his understanding of her skull structure. Really?

[Brew 5,435]

Grimshaw, though he painted mainly land and cityscapes was very, very good...

[philmayfield 6,215]

Our art master at Mellish, Charlie Evans, was a good guy. He had been a Lancaster pilot during the war. He lived at Attenborough and turned out for the village cricket team. He was also one of the senior CCF officers. A very charming, amiable bloke.

[Brew 5,435]

I really can't remember art classes though I did one term of pottery and my ashtray turned out looking like anything you care to name - except an ashtray.

[philmayfield 6,215]

1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said:

I think there's one of my older sister as a baby, looking gormless!!!  I seem to remember the name Freckleton on the back of it.

There isn't one of me. I broke the camera!

There was another well known local photographer, Edwin Hadley, who used to live  in our village. His house, The Acre, opposite the church, was for sale when we moved here in 1962. It was bought by a director of Boots who used to commute to Beeston by train where a car would collect him from Beeston station. I certainly recall the name ‘Freckelton Studios’ so I must have a photo of myself somewhere.

[Jill Sparrow 10,345]

Grimshaw did paint portraits and conventional landscapes but I'm not keen on those.  I love his nocturnal, moonlit scenes. The almost tangible sense of solitariness appeals to me.  Some of the originals are in Harrogate Art Gallery and Scarborough Art Gallery. They're big canvases and mesmerising, as though you could walk into the picture and leave the modern world behind.

 

Pottery? Huh. We didn't do pottery at The Manning. Didn't have the facilities. I think we ran to a paper press, a few (bald) brushes, some bottles of paint and a couple of rusty tins of varnish.  The art room was on the first floor at the rear of the premises, overlooking the dustbins. There's inspiration for you.

[philmayfield 6,215]

The only time I tried pottery was at Patching’s  Farm Art Centre some years ago. We still have the miserable specimen in a display cabinet.

[Cliff Ton 10,503]

1 hour ago, Brew said:

Grimshaw, though he painted mainly land and cityscapes was very, very good...

 

I'm a big fan of Grimshaw.