lockdown – David Armitage

Monotony

Here in the UK it feels to most of us that the restrictions and lockdowns are going on and on forever. It can seem as though all the days are merging together and a lot of people are getting rather bored and fed up. So here is my artists take on a few suggestions of things to do to break up your day, inspired by some of my paintings.

The Night Garden

We have had some very varied weather recently, to say the least! So going out in the garden – especially at night – might not be top of your list of activities. But there is always something otherworldy about places at night time. Our gardens, so familiar in the daytime can look completely different after dark. Wrap up in a coat and blanket, take a hot drink and a folding chair, and look at the stars, or watch for animals, or just observe the light from a full moon. It’s not exacly a week in the Algarve, but at this point I’ll take what I can get! This link will take you to a list of more night-time inspired art: https://www.darksky.org/7-pieces-of-art-inspired-by-the-night-sky/

Still Life

Interior With Mirror, Dye and acrylic on canvas, 113 x 100 cm

Create a still life scene. Whether you are an artist or not, drawing from a still life can be a very meditative process. As a painter it is important to keep practicing those observational skills, and drawing or painting everyday objects…… It can also help us to see the mundane from a new perspective and appreciate the small things in life. Don’t worry if you’re not an artist, you can give it a go anyway; it doesn’t need to be a great work of art! Or take a photo if that’s more up your street. There are lots of drawing tutorials doing the rounds online at the moment, but I was quite taken with the photographs taken by a travel photographer in lockdown.

Collage

Calypso, Mixed media on canvas, 163 x 154 cm

The painting above was created using sections of other canvases. So if drawing is really not your thing, but you fance doing something creative, collage can be a very accesible medium, and gives great results. You can use unsuccessful paintings or sketches (perhaps from the previous activity!); old fabrics from torn clothing; magazines, old notebooks or any other bits of paper; anything you can find really. Cut them, or tear them up randomly and arrange the pieces before sticking them down. For inspiration I recommend the great Matisse of course, Kurt Switters, and Anne Ryan.

Window With Landscape

With your new found creative skills, you could try creating an observation from your window. One of the lasting impressions of this time is being inside looking out, and a picture of that view could be an interestig record of this time – because as far off as it may feel right now, one day we will be looking back on this time as a memory! It needn’t be a realistic drawing, the painting above is an abstract interpretation of a view from a window, using the basic shapes and colours as a starting point.

Gallery Wall

More of a patron than a painter? Buy some paintings or prints from an artist you like (ahem!). You could spend all the money you saved on that trip to the Algarve supporting the arts. From local artists to National Galleries, all could use a few of your coins right now. Instagram is a great place to find undiscovered artists, or websites such as Saatchi and Rise Art. If your walls already look like the RA Summer Exhibition, maybe have a rehang. Take all of your pictures down , get them dusted and cleaned up, and then try them out in different positions. Channel your inner curator and maybe hang some unusual or juxtaposing pieces together. This may take all day, but when you’re done you can have a large glass of red and admire your handiwork. Now at least you will have something new to look at while you sit indoors twiddling your thumbs!

Listen to music

Catedral Listening to Bruckner, Dye and acrylic on canvas, 180 x 127 cm

After all that hard work you’ll be in need of some rest, so put on your favourite music and put your feet up. But music can be a great inspiration and motivator too. I often listen to music while I paint, and many of my paintings have been influenced by pieces of music, or composers. Abstract art and classical music, for me are the only two mediums that are able to transport the viewer or listener beyond the concrete world. They say things that cannot be expressed in words, and transport you to another space. You can take a look through the blog category titled Music Box to see some examples of my musical inspired paintings. One of my favourite composers Schubert, inspired me to create a series of illustrated books, based around his three song cycles.

I hope that helps somewhat – or at least kept you entertained for the past 5 minutes! Stay safe and good luck!

Lockdown with Schubert

This is how I am occupying myself during the lockdown. For information on my postponed exhibition see this post: Oxford Exhibition June 2020

Having just completed a second book of illustrations for Schubert song cycles, I have now embarked on a third, which in this case is a prequel. I began with Winterreise in 2016. Apart from loving this stuff, I identified strongly with the ‘hero’ of this cycle, possibly stemming from an introverted childhood and spending endless days day dreaming on how things ought to be. In other words, knowing this ‘yearning’ thing which Schubert realises so completely.

The book has been well received, and after the illustrations were featured on https://winterreise.online/ – an online encyclopedia of Winterreise information and rescources – I was spurred on to create a follow on book, Schwanengesang.

These illustrations are set to Schubert’s final song cycle, which was published posthumously and therefore there is considerable fluttering in the Schubert dovecotes regarding the validity of the term ‘song cycle’ in connection with the latter, in that it is more a collection of songs and put together by somebody else. Dr Iain Phillips, author of the websites dedicated to cataloguing the work of Schubert, however has firmly aligned himself with the song cycle having launched his third Schubert website https://schwanengesang.online/
As far as I am concerned, they are right up there, whatever the title, a point re-inforced by the splendid recording by Fassbaender and Riemann. DG 1992.

My third set of illustrations are therefore inspired by Schubert’s first song cycle, Die Schone Mullerin (the beautiful maid of the mill). This is a challenge that will certainly keep me busy in lockdown! But the inspiration provided by the music is as ever a guiding light.

The paintings start out, with a now well practiced technique that relies heavily on accident. Conceived totally in the abstract, the figurative elements come later.

So, armed with a single sized glazed window, a rickety table, loads of acrylic inks , brushes, rags,3 in 1 oil, detergent, 300 gsm Arches watercolour paper and buckets or water, I can produce multiple images by the simple process of mono-prints. The inks are splashed or poured on to the wet glass, oil, detergent can be thrown in for good measure. The paper is then thoroughly doused in water and pressed face down on to the glass. Peel it off, and there it is, or isn’t.

Certainly 2 things happen at once. The tyranny of white paper is strangled at birth and stunning pictorial elements appear which one would never, ever, have consciously thought of. Should the result look like a river flowing upside down, the paper can be hosed down and re-cycled. (This has been demonstrated to year 2 and 3 kids who loved watching this and having a go themselves).

The resulting images contain a huge range of colour/tone relationships and differing moods… some may profit by being turned upside down.
Then, one hears the sound of wedding bells as protracted marriage ceremonies leads to pairing each painting with its counterpart in the verses. Most marriages are made in heaven but a few needed a bit of an academic shove here and there to be true to the text. The alchemy is to convey the spirit of the words and the music but preserve the equally huge disinterested power of abstraction… tricky. But conventional picture making would simply not cope with this exalted subject matter. It is also a good way of avoiding a couple of bete-noirs, technical skill and good taste.

Uncertain Times

Firstly I hope all of my followers are safe and well at this difficult time and I wish you all the best.

It is looking likely that my next exhibition, due to hang at the end of May will be postponed. I hope to have more definite information soon, and will keep you updated. In the meantime, here are a few paintings which I hope will be in the exhibition WHEN it happens!

Also I have a new item in my shop – my latest book Swanengesang. More on that later. Please do keep following my blog and instagram, where I shall try to give you beautiful things to look at. Art can be a great comfort and fulfillment for the soul as well as keeping the brain active, so I shall try to do my part the best way I can.