Concrete Collective

 We are very lucky to live in Bristol, it has a great art and independent community whilst being small enough to get across the city and being surrounded by countryside.

Last week we visited the Centrespace gallery, a small but fantastic art space down the smallest of back passages covered in great graffiti and art (quite a few ceramic wall plaques have been added over the years too,if I remember I will blog about them soon).

The https://www.concretecollective.art/ had a show so we decided to pop in and have a look.  There were some great graphic pieces, some inspired by New York (which we love having been lucky enough to visit in 2017) AND there was an interactive wall you could use their typewriter, stamps and inks to add a piece of art should you wish, well try and stop me!

This is the piece I did with one of my favourite phrases "When one door closes....open it again.  It's a door, that's how they work".  I have painted this phrase on rocks, postcards, cardboard etc so I thought I would use their typewriter to add the phrase (and my details of course).  It only took a few minutes but it was great to take part.

Here it is displayed on the wall.  The one below was from my husband and is a quote from the band "The Clash" (his favourite band) and seems ever more possible in these days of reality 'TV stars' and the such being treated with celebrity status .

If you have local gallery spaces where you live I recommend to visit often they are a mind of creativity and you never know what you may stumble across.

Kyla

Abstract

 With the unexpected time being stuck indoors whilst we had snow I decided to have a "play" with my paints.

I decided to have a go at abstracts.  I had been looking online at my talented cousin (https://aoh.org.uk/house/axios-tattoo/ paintings online and thought I would try.

Well, I have NEVER tried abstract before and boy it is hard-building up layers, waiting for it to dry (yep, used my heat gun-I have NO patience).

I painted a canvass with black gesso then used a rolled and spatula to add colours

I used three different colours and added some blocks of white to add interest.

 I then created a tints of the colours, mixing them on my old Girl Guide camping metal plate!!

Until finally I was reasonably pleased with the result.  

Not sure I like it, it is different and not my usual style but I certainly enjoyed spending the day painting and so I have decided to hang it on the wall at the top of our stairs-not sure it will stay there for long, but it is growing on me!  

Some closeups of the details

I certainly enjoy the process and think I will try again.

Have you tried abstract?  Do you have any tips you'd like to share?

Happy crafting

Kyla

Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition

 For the past few years my husband and I have travelled to London every year to see the Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition.  It is an amazing exhibition that runs every summer.  Anyone can submit a piece to be considered, from a grandmother in wales, a student in Birmingham, a celebrity musician through to a member of the RA-anyone (BBC iplayer usually has a great programme where they follow some of the people through the submission process.  If you ever get a chance to watch them I recommend it).

 There are SO many different mediums from fabric, sculpture, glass, paint, digital etc with styles from classical to modern.  The picture above is a fabric and stitched piece.

  

This one of skaters was one of our favourite in the exhibition.

This Amy Winehouse figure was made from beads and findings.

 

 Some of the artists are instantly recognisable such as this Gilbert and George piece

 Whilst other pieces took you by surprise

 I particularly liked this piece

 This large piece of lace was a great piece to see hanging on the wall

 There was SO many different styles.

 These pieces had money stuffed into their mouths!

 In the architectural section this digital 'blueprint' was stitched onto fabric

 Whilst in another gallery this chair was made from spent ammunition cases

Once again my eyes were drawn to pieces such as this on old book pages.

Inspiration at every turn-a great day out

Kyla

 

Barcelona

 I was lucky enough last week to go on holiday with my extended family.  A a present for my hubby's 50th they organised a holiday in Spain.  

We stayed in Sitges (about 40 mins train ride from Barcelona) and I actually took over 200 photos-but don't worry I wont show them all!  This is just a small random selection.

We had a day in Barcelona and luckily my brother and sister in law are fluent in spanish (and can get by in catalan) which was a boon. Since it was just a day in the city we used the Ho-Ho (hop on, hop off) bus as this enabled us to see several of the sites in a short period of time.

We are quite a short family so sitting upstairs on the bus meant we could see over the crowds-a great way to see the city (and save my legs-one of the downsides of RA is I am often slow and tire easily).

We got off at Park Guell, an amazing park full of art and gorgeous plants and walks.  Whilst you have to pay to go into the monument park I knew from research that brilliant views of the paid area could be seen from a walking route that took you around the top of the park-amazing views all for free!

Everyway we turned there was more art, sculptures and architecture.

As we were staying in Sitges we explored the town, it is an ancient town filled with amazing buildings and stone carvings.  It also has a fabulous promenade and amazing beaches with clear blue water.

Sitges is the Gay capital of Spain (think Brighton) so there is a brilliant vibe and some great eating and drinking venues (we ate a lot of tapas and quite a lot of wine and beer!).

I am happy to admit I fell in love with both places and plan on returning several times as there was SO much to explore.

Kyla

Free art for you and me too

 I often take part in Free Art Friday and the Art Abandonment project.  

My latest piece I set free was a watercolour postcard.  

It is not based on any particular country or province but rather the green was a mop up from an earlier painting and after carrying it around in my sketchbook for a few weeks I suddenly realised it looked a little like a map outline!  

I added some blue for  the sea and used my new Uniball pens to add some outlines and lettering (see my earlier post about the set I was given, they are great fineliners and are waterproof so I can doodle over watercolours without fear of the pen bleeding). 

Following from the whole Brexit debate reminded me that regardless of whether one agrees with other peoples views we are lucky to live in a country that allows free speech and the right to vote and we should respect that.

I am lucky that I work in an organisation with a very diverse workforce made up of many different races, religions and orientations and this means I am regularly exposed to many differing views (and some SERIOUS lunchbox envy at the canteen-boy they look and smell much more appetising than cheese sarnies I can tell you!!) and I believe I am a better person for this.

With this in mind I chose the words to represent different 'Countries/States".

 As I am in hospital regularly there is also diverse workforce there and the words also struck a chord with me as to how patients should also be treated so I decided to abandon it there.

 Imagine my surprise when further up the hospital I came across a box and lots of knitting with a sign saying "Knit with me"....so as I had time to kill, I did.  Now, I am not a great knitter but I was thrilled that I remembered the basic knit (which is what all the little squares were)

 

 Upon closer inspection I realised that the many of the knitted squares had been made into envelopes and had signs on them saying "open here" and "To: You....really you" and  "I'm not lost I'm for you".

So I picked one up and opened it up and found this message!

On the back it said that the words had been collected from patients, visitors and staff to the hospital in the hope that they maybe just what you need to hear today!!

It is the Envlop Project (https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/fresh-arts)

What a fabulous idea.  I love seeing the changing art installations around the hospital.  When you are there it makes it SO much more welcoming and how lovely that whilst I was there abandoning art there was another doing it too!!

If you fancy abandoning art or taking part in Free Art Friday then just search for them on Facebook and the groups should come up.

Happy crafting

Kyla

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

 Thought I would update on our recent visit to the 248th Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

I have not included all the photos I have taken (as that would be a HUGE post) but thought I would share just a few of them.

 This looked like oils on an old metal tray and was titled "Roman 2" by Jock McFadyen RA.

I loved the depth and colour as I felt I was able to transport myself into the picture and could hear the traffic and smell the ozone.

This amazing piece was called "Migration" by Cathy de Monchaux and is made from copper wire, bandages, silk and pigment

 Whilst this was "Silver Hart" by David Mach RA and was made from steel and coat hangers!

  

Sadly I didn't make a note of these two, but I loved them both

 This was a bronze statue of Iggy Pop (full size) by Stephen Haines and in the back ground you can see the shipping container "The Bridge" by Jimmy Cauty (of the band The KLF) with spy holes whereby you can look in and see the 'scene' 

 He produced a HUGE version (an entire room) of this for the Banksy exhibition at Dismaland" in Weston Super Mare last year.

 Sadly I didn't make a note of who created these (though the artist on the right we have seen in previous exhibitions)

 As previous years there was an architecture room and this pencil sharpener caught my eye.

Finally in one room was a large Gilbert and George painting (once again I didn't get the details of who created the skeleton piece).

The exhibition is on until 21 August in London.  

Anyone can submit a piece for consideration and the BBC (usually BBC4) make a programme each year following the story from the point of view of an artist-such an eye opener.  

If you get the opportunity I recommend it, the work is varied and there are over 1000 pieces, some by very famous people, other by unknowns but one thing they have in common is that they all got the opportunity to grace the walls of one of the most famous galleries in the world.

Kyla

 

Malta roundup

One of the reasons I haven't blogged for a while is because we went to Malta for a well earned break.  My parents and grandparents both used to live and work there so it does feel comforting when I walk around.

The weather was lovely and warm (in the 80's) but there were a few days of heavy thunderstorms and downpours (but hey, if you are swimming you are wet anyway).

We were staying in Floriana (just outside the city gates of the capital Valetta) and knew that they had a street art festival (similar to the one we have in Bristol) back in the summer so we headed off walking the streets to see what we could find-and boy did we find some amazing pieces.  This is just a small selection:

These were down by the lido (where we swim if we are there in season but as we were just out of season it was closed, so we swam in the sea off the rocks with the locals instead.

This gent was HUGE and was painted on the roof of fishermen's huts

 

!!This was painted on the walls of a local cafe

 

These were next to the lido on the roof of their bar/changing rooms.  The jelly bears are larger than a person and when you walk amongst them it is difficult to tell what they are....but climb up through the streets and peer over a certain wall and voila, 3D jelly bears!  Several people were there and taking photos of the lovely harbour view but not looking down!  That soon changed when they heard us "oohing and ahhing"!

This large 3D melting icecube complete with trapped blue bottle was next door.  It almost felt you could reach out and touch it.

A short water taxi to Sliema and we came across even more

This one was 3 storeys high

The eyes on the skull cleverly used the drainage holes in the wall

 

So many colourful pieces all hidden under a walkway next to the sea, the only way to view them was to climb down when the tide was out and look back towards the town

I think this was a really old painting looking at the weathering 

 

From the road you wouldn't know any of this was here

Some stunning work and not what I expected to find

Back in Valletta we came across new bars and galleries since our last visit as it gears up to be the 2018 European City of Culture

Tables have been upcycled with handpainted tops

Locals have embraced the anarchic nature with "this is a piece of art!" we found in the street

Whilst we were there it was the 10th Anniversary of the performance and arts festival Notte Bianca where 60,000 people descend on Valletta for one evening.  These were Mdina Glass light shades suspended along one of the streets.  There was so much to see and do, 

such as crafts,

like this weaver

 

ancient and public buildings (including the Prime Ministers private office!!  The queues for that were massive) threw their doors open (free entry)

There were lots and lots of art installations such as this bedsit covered entirely in paper

These were small diarama's made by prisoners depicting what time in cells meant to them

 

We explored the WWII bomb shelters where my nan probably spent some of her time whilst she was on the island.  As you can see it was VERY far down into the depths of the island.

 

We then walked to the far end of the city to Fort St Elmo.  This was only recently re-opened after refurbishment and not somewhere we had been before so we took advantage of it all being open for free, with bands playing and lovely light displays

 

With rows of giant floor lanterns once again made with Mdina Glass

Then there were the fireworks....which carried on,

 

and on for almost 6 hrs!!  There could not have been any gunpowder left on the island!

 

We did some tourist things such as visiting the markets and Mdina (the silent city)

 

The biggest change we noticed were the new city gates in Valletta which are a stunning execution of stone masonry.

 

If you like your street art and are looking for somewhere sunny I thoroughly recommend the capital of Malta.

Kyla