I bought a painting!

Posting this early since I’m covering an extra morning shift tomorrow. That's going to confuse my brain.

My art collection of...two ha ha

I visited the Corner Gallery to collect my wonderful painting by Rachel Maritz. I’m thrilled to bits with it and often stop to see how many colours and variations I can find, how many textures, how the transitions are done, which colours complement or pop out and how the whole thing works together. It has something of a Chinese landscape painting feel to it and I love it. If I had my way, I'd have a house filled with paintings, sculpture and beautiful crafts. Okay, I have two paintings for now so it's a start. I can wait for the house!

I very much want to do abstracts and there’s a ton to be learned from this one piece. I’ve now actually done a few quick colour cards for all my acrylics - I’ve done them with inks and watercolour pencils but never for paint which might explain why my attempts at combinations never turn out as imagined since I don’t have a feel for what the paint does colour-wise once it’s out the tube! It’s a basic thing and I’ve never done it. Amateur.

The gallery itself is a little treasure trove of paintings, prints, textiles, jewellery, glass, ceramics and who knows what that I never spotted. It’s a tiny space but is soon to move to a bigger unit a few doors up which will vastly increase the amount for sale. That means some of Chel’s large canvases will have wall space. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

I’ve offered a pair of hands to scrub and do whatever to get it ready for installation of display space since I love seeing things get tarted up. The owner, Jacqui Khan, told me how she spotted the original site and had a sudden notion to change career and well, how about a gallery and gift shop? Few hours later it was all signed and sealed with friends and family pitching in to provide the first stock. Blimey. Bold and brave. That’s the way to do things.

Cracking on with some mixed media

My three mixed media pieces are coming along. The first two are pretty much done and the third’s shape was just decided in the middle of the night so not much done to it as yet. I’ve named them Spirit of the Heavens, Spirit of the Ocean and Fireflyte. They’re still a bit more ‘finished’ than I planned and again, ended up a bit taller than I wanted but the method is a good bit faster than 100% paper pulp. I'll try to make the next batch a bit looser. I’ve done a bit of acrylic pour technique which worked quite well to match their ‘environment’ though had to put the 'hair' on after the heavens girl was painted cos...I forgot to put it on first. Fool. But it's fine. Committed the cardinal sin in 'proper' art of using glitter. Yes! Glitter! Sometimes it just does the job and I don't care if it's considered naff.

The (de)evolution of dance

Came across a fascinating video about the Cecchetti training method for ballet which contrasted the body friendly technique with the flashy how-far-can-you-extend fireworks that’s now common in both dance and rhythmic gymnastics. The comments suggest that though extreme performance is now the norm, it’s not necessarily appreciated by the audience and there was a regular lament at the loss of expression in favour of clinical competence. Oh, so it's not just me then.

There's a similar trend in skating in favour of huge jumps but artistry and emotional impact aren’t given just rewards. The aesthetic sports were/are loved for their beauty and lines but athleticism has made such things relatively rare and sadly, resulted in career ending injuries and long term disability for many performers. (It's also the reason I turn to gymnastics from way back if I want some ideas - it's just so much nicer to watch.)

Dance competitions seem to be all about the most hyper flexible performers while ex gymnasts take over fitness and aerobic competitions. It's a bit sad when they sweep all the titles, as those fresh to the events just can’t match the strength and flexibility of former world champions. Seems terribly unfair that newcomers to the fitness field are out done before they even start.

I imagine at some point there’ll be a swing back for dance and gymnastics as each field starts to hear the voices of the artistes and athletes who no longer accept suffering and injury as par for the course. It’s time to weed out the coaches, tutors and choreographers who demand students go for broke even when it’s clear they’re not all physically suitable for such extremes and the next generations who take over will hopefully work in a more sympathetic and sensible manner.