Reda Grigaraviciute
12.07.21 - 18.07.21
MONDAY 12TH
During this week, my plan is to create a few draft compositions for my painting, sketch out some ideas for the installation and formulate new designs for ceramic components.
Today, I worked on some sketches for the paintings. Inspired by artists such as Peter Doig, Jamima Murphy, Lisa Brice, Shara Hughes, Christian Quarles, Auguste Rodin etc… I aim to find the composition for a painting that evokes stillness and a sense of movement at the same time.
As my previous painting was overworked, to avoid the same mistakes, I need to try to pre-plan. That said, ‘mistakes' are inevitable and sometimes, by chance, might lead to intriguing, unforeseen directions for a composition, but in light of my ambitions for this work, a level of preliminary deliberation felt necessary.
At the moment, to create a composition, I begin by combining fragments of my images of herbariums, details of Augustine’s Rodin sculptures and a fraction of details derived from my imagination, to bring these abstract elements together.
TUESDAY 13TH
Today I spent some time studying Kristina Riska’s ceramic works and read more about Auguste Rodin. I admire the way that Rodin constructed his sculptures: sensitively balancing smooth and rough textures, leaving traces of his process, and compositionally rendering his figures with power, yet delicacy within their sculptural context.
Today was the day that, for the first time, I moved to work at the new university’s studios. Here, I intended to work on my final installation, experiment with the space and elements within it.
Later that evening, I reclaimed the second stool and vase from the ceramic workshop, which I had made the previous month. At this moment, I was still unsure as to how my painting(s) and ceramic pieces would work together in the space, so I decided to leave finalising details such as the colour glazing process to the last month before the exhibition. However, when I investigated the surfaces of the new stool, in certain places it had been cracked. These cracks were the result of my attempts to reform clay which was already too dry and brittle. Such mistakes were a learning curve, however, and I was glad that it didn’t affect the practicality of the stool as an artwork.
With my friends’ help (professional florists) I need to test what stools would actually look like with arrangements of real plants. In this case, I intend to take the smallest stool with me in order to test out a variety of floral compositions at home.
WEDNESDAY 14TH
Today I worked from my studio and was fortunate to have a guest – painter Francesca de Fontenelle. We discussed our works and I had a chance to quickly sketch her while she was relaxing.
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Later, when she had left, I felt inspired to paint a few of these sketches with acrylics. Usually, I don’t work with acrylics and today I was particularly struggling with the medium. The main issue is that acrylics dry very quickly, especially during the summertime.
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However, I’m not yet convinced that I have established precisely the right compositions which I would like to transfer into larger oil paintings. The creative process at this point is very much a process of trial, error, refinement and reconfiguration.
FRIDAY 16TH
Today I worked from the studios again. Initially, I didn’t feel like painting or drawing. During these kinds of days, I usually use my time to formulate new oil paints or stretch some canvases. So, I decided to stretch a canvas and prime it.
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For stretching, I use the heavy cotton canvas. I personally enjoy the thickness of it and the texture. The process of stretching my own canvas by hand, in the same way as making my own colours of oil paint, motivates me to appreciate and value the materials I am working with.
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Later, on the way home, I made a few quick sketches in my small notebook. I was feeling a bit stuck creatively, even though, somehow, I felt I knew what I was looking for. During the next week, I ought to go to see some exhibitions for more inspiration.
WEEKEND 17-18TH
During this weekend I worked from home (given the oppressive summer heat and suspended District line). As per usual, making artfrom home necessitated working on a smaller scale: using brush markers, pencils, watercolours, inks and sometimes using an iPad as the ground (or canvas) for trying out compositions.
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I sketched and painted with watercolours, and experimented with certain elements taken from my photo album. Within these loose, sketchy strokes I try to convey a sense of my emotional state, illustrate the process of contemplation, and occasionally manipulate the form of an object, as though by way of psychological inflection. In the absence of the sketchy line allows the objects along with other elements to merge into each other or with the background.
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This is my typical approach when drawing and painting with watercolour. In oil painting for example, a sketchy stroke becomes a brushstroke, so this gestural mark rarely recurs in the same form in mediums other than watercolour.
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After listening to Shara Hughes’s talk at the Phoenix Art Gallery, while I was drawing I found myself reconsidering the notion of attempting to bring these marks into an oil painting. However, I would need to be extremely cautious with the thickness of the paint applied and the accuracy of mark making with oils.
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In summary, this week has illustrated the labour involved in processes of making, researching, and the frustrations inherent to struggling with different ideas and materials. These reflective practices will of course assist in the seeding of new ideas to test during the next upcoming weeks. It is a relief to consider that I have now gained clarity as to what exactly I want to make with ceramics, and can discern what the next steps in my painting should be. I am faithful that in the end, the hard work, moments of exasperation, and patience, continue to lead to new progressions and resolutions, and will, ultimately, pay off.
