Painting as a holding place for moments of and stages of consciousness
An opportunity to slow down, observe, balance, use what is
A place to rejuvenate, re-use, add, make gentle decisions.
Well the lockdown is lifting and we are not sure what the future holds. Many people in shops and pub gardens enjoying themselves but I am wary. Not anxious, but more practising being in the field of the unknown and working on being OK with that.
Fortunately I have a happy hermit mentality for the most part and making art, writing in notebooks and growing plants and veg keep me fairly isolated. What I am looking forward to is a few visitors to the studio and chats in person about art and meaningful stuff. Meaningless babble welcome sometimes. 3D people would be a bonus. In moderation. Introverts unite (well, the unite bit can be tricky!).
So I have enjoyed working on the PhD – very in the head with that but I also need to get out in the air, move my body, practice yoga and sitting in total silence as a contrast. I am working on the balance.
Pieces like this run daily at the moment alongside written thoughts.
I am working on some larger oil paintings and small pieces for a solo exhibition in July in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Some are inspired by new myths created for changed times for we are sorely in need of new narrative.
The exhibition is part of the ‘Word In Edgeways’ storytelling festival which covers July in the town. The paintings can be viewed at The Guildhall, Much Wenlock. More details when I know them.
I am still running Wolf Town Art Club online once a month on a Sunday lunchtime – if you fancy a bit of art fun do join us for the cheaper than chips price of £5.80.
Next session is Sunday April 18th 11am-1pm – no experience necessary – the theme is birds this time – read all about it and book here:
Something else I love to do – the practice is my total foundation. I am qualified and overjoyed to share. Please find sessions on the Boundary Way Project events pages and also Gatis Community Centre’s Eventbrite listings. These sessions are competitively priced or free.
If you are visiting and would like to visit the studio please drop me an email clare.wassermann@gmail.com or call 07976 350062 to see if I am in and covered in paint!
Stay well and safe
Best wishes
Clare Wassermann
So I think it is week 7 of Lockdown – although truly, after Boris’ unclear and blurred message to the nation last night it is hard to say if it is still to be classed as such. You are supposed to go to work if you can. Well I think it is very premature myself. The traffic hum is more this morning – a big increase – those felt impelled to go to the workplace out of need or pressure from employers
.
The world laughs at the UK, at our incompetence, and the government attempts to PR itself into a what is a self congratulatory flag-waving mess.
Anyway – I have found it hard to create or find meaning in creativity. Maybe it iscreeping in more now. I have no income but it seems wrong to try to create art to sell when there is so much loss and sacrifice around. It seems trite.
I have more recently gone back to making art to think instead. Occupying the hands. Taking the chatter away by doing and creating space for more important questions. Mostly my sketchbooks are the place for that. My thinking spaces contained within a holding place for a doing thing.
I have a couple of small paintings on the go, a large piece of creative stitching and the increasing volume of sketchbook work.
I wonder how it is for everyone else who makes art?
Otherwise I do big physical things in the garden, small detailed things in the garden, walk and practice yoga. I try to shop for others, more needy once a week and participate in some family cooking and attempts at positive thinking.
My preference would have been for the government to look at making it safe to cycle here – semi closing roads and allowing us to commute, exercise and shop safely by bike. Wishful thinking.
Meditation is the perfect balance between alertness and relaxation. It doesn’t matter if you practice in a chair or sitting cross-legged on the floor; it’s all about quieting the mind and stilling the body. It is about finding a still point from which you can look at the world in a different way and discover a fresh new perspective on your life. I am teaching a session to introduce people to meditation on Sunday March 15th. It will involve gentle relaxation and movements all designed to still the mind and to give you the chance to take some of these skills away with you. If you are interested it will be at my studio at 10:30. We will be finished by lunchtime and the link is HERE Please book in advance if you’d like a place.
A workshop to help you open up your creative soul and find a voice with paint in sketchbooks and on paper. This would be ideal if you have never painted before or you have plenty of art experience but suffer creative block and don’t know where to start.
It’s also a great way to learn to get into the zone – almost like meditation – and out of the chatter in your head!
A relaxed and introspective day to fire up your creative mojo. This is on Wednesday May 13th from 10.30 – 4pm. Investment £37 – tickets and lots more information HERE
Please do come back and look again as I do update regularly – there will be another Travel Journals Workshop posted soon.
Since the beginning of the year I have been working in almost monochrome – it seems to suit the time and simplifies for value and composition.
Some of this work will probably emerge in future paintings I have no doubt.
I have also gone back, after quite a break to working in stitch which I have been enjoying since the weather is so dire and I can happily mix using the sewing machine and hand stitch.
As if I’m not already a busy person, I have embarked on a PhD where my focus is the field of “art and meditation”. It’s a massive challenge, undertaken part time, with all my other work and commitments but I’m giving it my best shot and stepping into another world.
So far I like all the academic help available at Wolverhampton University and I have two great supervisors in Professor Ross Prior and Dr. Louise Fenton. I look forward to working with them and others over the next few years! #PhD
You can find more on my Facebook Page HERE
and on instagram HERE
Well here it is – the blog post that is there because I haven’t yet written all my Christmas cards – who else uses displacement activities?
I’m keeping it brief but just to say it has been a busy year. The first part was taken up with the Japan Exhibition in Ironbridge which then ran from August to November and was really successful.
In between I have had a lot of illustration projects, some commissions and some lovely workshop teaching as well as pursuing development of my own painting techniques and ideas.
Apart from this I have very much enjoyed completing a two year meditation teacher training course which has in itself furthered a meditation practice which I have had for over thirty years.
So, on to 2020… In relation to the above, I am teaching a morning workshop on January 8th called “A Practical Introduction to Effective Meditation” which will be a lovely taster session to some ongoing sessions throughout the year. Several techniques for meditation will be used plus some easy movement and deep relaxation. These will be held in my beautiful studio in Wolverhampton. Details and booking here: on Eventbrite
Looking ahead to 2020 I am pleased to announce that I am undertaking a PhD starting at the beginning of the year and work is already hotting up for that. I am really excited to be joining a research environment in an art context to develop ideas related to art and meditation.
Other workshops so far planned are my popular “Clare Wassermann’s Journaling and Travel Sketchbook Workshop” – back by request on February 1st – information here and it’s again in Wolverhampton at Newhampton Arts Centre.
Ongoing will be Wayne Attwood’s oil painting workshops every 8 weeks or so according to his availability. He’s a busy man as he is now President of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and his painting career is burgeoning. Our next session is on January 23rd and you can find out ore here – beginners and experienced folk all welcome – he’s a great teacher.
Finally I would like to draw your attention to an exhibition. It is in Wolverhampton at the Art Gallery. It is the Centenary Year of the Wolverhampton Society of Artists and this year’s exhibition is very special.
It runs from now until February 16th and has three sections – one for work by very highly regarded alumni, which has been gathered from around the country and national collections, one is a collection of work loaned by the Courtauld Gallery in London (Courtauld was an avid collector of fine art and of course had a rayon factory here in Wolverhampton before taking it further as an internationally strong textile industry).
The third room is this year’s entry for the exhibition which is carefully selected and beautifully curated by the Art Gallery. I am very honoured to have two large pieces in this especially as it is my first time of entering. Here is novelist and Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera with my work when he was guest of honour to open the exhibition last Saturday. Do pop in. Our Art Gallery is one of the finest in the country and is internationally known for it’s collection of Pop Art.
So here’s to a very Happy Christmas to all of you and to more art and developments in 2020. Thank you to all who have supported and believed in me – you know who you are and it is very much appreciated.
Stay creative in whatever you do!
Comments and suggestions welcomed below.
Clare Wassermann Art 