February 15th, 2012
The other week I wrote about the ice crystals that formed on my studio windows. This week I ventured out into the subzero temperatures to see the people frolicking on the ice of the frozen canal nearby. It is a world away from the balmy Summer evenings I spent there with friends and a bottle of wine watching the sunset and people paddling about in their canoes, who were also intent on enjoying the atmosphere with friends and an alcoholic beverage.
So, some six months later, where there were once small water craft were people cavorting on the ice. Some dusted off their ice skates, others took to walking, I took my bicycle. There was adequate snow cover on the ice that I could get traction. It is an interesting to be standing where you normally can’t and to look at everything from a new perspective. It is also interesting to see how people use this new found public space.
There were small ice hockey areas, along with a few strips where you run and then take a slide. However, perhaps strangest of all was the sounds of Summer that had returned to this spot. Someone had hired a small truck and driven it into the park that borders the canal and set up a sound system, a grill with sausages and hot mulled wine. All of this was then completed with a disco ball and people gathered for the beats. However, to my observation, I think most of the movement was more to keep warm than any real form of dancing.
February 4th, 2012
Last Witner was hard. For three weeks Berlin suffered through -20C, and I also. The old building that is our artist project house, Atelierhaus Mengerzeile, is not in good shape. It has has been through much more and now with time it is need of some repairs. Such repairs being the windows in my studio. So after discovering last Winter that my windows were the culprit of my ever chilly studio and the subsequent very large heating bill, this Autumn just past, I set about to ensure that I would not be shivering and pining for warmer climates.
So, here I am now, with our first snow for this Winter and some biting subzero temperatures. I can happily announce that the repairs have succeeded in keeping my warmer and happy.
To amuse me a little more, Mr. Frost has paid me a visit and shown me his own artistic abilities on my studio windows in the form of some very intricate ice crystal patterns, more often referred to as “Eisblumen” (ice flowers). So when you wonder at these images, wonder at how cold it is outside.
And yes, for those of you who live further east in Europe, or up there in Canada, the temperatures here in Berlin are a walk in the park.
January 19th, 2012
Tomorrow morning I am travelling from Berlin to Hamburg to attend the opening of the H.R. Giger Retrospective exhibition. I will be there to photograph and video the event for Fantastic Visions. I am rather hoping I can get some good footage of Giger, and perhaps, if I am lucky get him to say a few words on camera.
Hamburg artist, Dennis Konstantin will be joining me at the opening. Many thanks must go to Cornelia Mensdorff-Pouilly for getting us into this exclusive event.
More information about the exhibition and its opening times can be found on Fantastic Visions.
November 24th, 2011
GENSO exhibition
I am in Paris to attend two exhibitions. The first is the GENSO exhibition organised by Shoji Tanaka and Hugues Gillet. It is two years ago since I was last in Paris when I exhibited with Shoji’s group, the IFAA from Japan. This time however, I will be a visitor instead. I look forward to seeing Shoji again and to also enjoying the quality exhibition that he has organised. He and Hugues, a Paris native, have assembled an impressive array of artists, including the likes of Claude Verlinde, HR Giger and Gérard Di-Maccio.
The other exhibition I will be visiting is the “Phoenix and Dragons” exhibition organised by artist Lukáš Kándl and his wife Françoise. Lukáš’ exhibition projects involve a select number of artists. The invited artists then work to a specific theme.
Through an number of email exchanges I organised for Shoji to meet with Lukáš and Françoise as their exhibitions are happening in very close time frames. I felt they all have similar aims and would benefit from meeting each other, and if they take a liking to each other, then perhaps more opportunities will be opened to the each other’s projects. I am very much looking forward to seeing how this meeting works out.
I am also very much looking forward to visiting Paris again.
November 19th, 2011
I had to recently send some artwork off to an exhibition. However, I decided that the small canvases would much better with frames. So off I trooped to the local hardware (super) store. Eeek! Basic wood materials are expensive. I have my ever growing wood pile in the corner of my studio. Where possible, I always like to use recycled materials, for two reasons.
- It reduces some of the waste in the world.
- Its usually free.
My friend Pierre came through with some materials for me, others I found lying around in forgotten corners of the building and yes, ultimately, I did also purchase some wood materials. I bought several cans of spray paint to coat the frames and give them a finished look.
Back in the studio I set to work. Part of the trick is working out your workflow with your materials and reducing production time, otherwise the time you devote to building the frames is not recompensed once you sell the final framed artwork. It took a little refinement, but now I have my production line.
The frames are basically a box like arrangement with space between the canvas and the frame which results in the canvas being inset. I cut a sheet of ply or particle board slightly larger than the canvas. That becomes the back. I cut strips of thin wood that then are glued to the backing and each other. I don’t bother with 45° diagonal cuts for the corners as that results in too much work. I simply butt the wood at 90°. Then with some wood filler and sandpaper, I smooth the joins over and any rough wood grain on the cuts.
Then comes the fun (but toxic) part of spray painting the frames. I spray the outside of the frames first. It is easier then with masking tape to cover the outer painted sides and spray the inside. I choose a colour for the inside that will offset that of the outside and emphasise the effect of the canvas being inset.
Once all is dry, it is time to mount the canvas inside. To do this I screw the backing of the frame onto the wooden stretcher frame of the canvas. I can also optimise this by using the same screw to attach the hanging fittings to the back of the frame. The fittings I use are a hinge like arrangement that allow me to tie a wire between two of them. I can then hang the painting on nail in the wall. But the hinges also have metal loops which then allow the painting to hung on a professional gallery hooked hanging system; the best of both worlds.
With the frames the paintings look complete and worth the price I put on them.
