Book review - Barbara Hepworth Art & Life

 

 

 

 

Barbara Hepworth – Art & Life    

by Eleanor Clayton

ISBN 978 0500 0942 59

 

 A book so good, I thought it needed it's own post...

 

I received this book for my birthday and waited until the holidays to read it as I knew I would not want to put it down once started. It really didn’t disappoint! I have long been a fan of Hepworth and spent many happy visits at the museum (her garden and studio) at St. Ives whilst I studied at Falmouth College of Arts and during later visits to Cornwall. I am reminded of her work with every hagstone that I pick up of the beaches of Dorset and share her attraction to the mystery of holes in things.

 

‘So much depends, in sculpture, on what one wants to see through a hole! Maybe, in a big work I want to see a sun or moon. In a smaller work I may want to lean into the hole.’   Barbara Hepworth

 

I see parallels between her work and Georgia O’Keeffe’s, whom I also enjoy, for the spaces in between and weight of their work. I think she is to sculpture what O’Keeffe is to painting in many ways.

 

This book has been a joy to read, Clayton has done a wonderful job her style is at once warm, accessible and intimately knowledgeable. She is, after all, the curator of The Hepworth Wakefield which I hope to visit in the not too distant future. (For now I am satisfying my interest looking through the gallery via google arts and culture here.) Clayton has also curated Hepworth’s work at the Tate Liverpool and co-founded The Hepworth Research Network, so who really would be better placed to write such a book?

 

Throughout there are illustrations of her work, both the sculptures and also the two-dimensional pieces explored further when materials and money were in shorter supply. The drawings are a large body of work in their own right but they are also presented here in relation to the sculptures they inform.  Most books I have read previously have shown them more in isolation. Also worth noting is that whilst, of course, Hepworth’s husbands are mentioned within the context of her life they don’t get to take over as ‘famous husbands’ can be wont to do in other books and are shown as being equally influential to her work as other friends, acquaintances and contemporaries in different fields.

 

There was so much within the book, reading excerpts from her writing and letters to enjoy and provide further insight to the art; the integrity, determination and professionalism about her work, her empathy, her political outlook in some cases. I think what I enjoyed most was how Clayton’s writing shows the human and likeable qualities of, in my opinion, a truly great sculptor and artist. I felt the balance between writing and illustration, 259 of them, was good and was impressed they were in colour for the most part where possible. Whilst not something I would normally mention, the layout with wide margins toward the spine is most useful for jotting down notes if you are so inclined. I will be exploring further titles mentioned in the bibliography too.

 

One thing that did strike me whilst I read this book was how many parallels I could see between Hepworth’s life during motherhood and the war years and how life has been during the pandemic with, ‘…her increasing frustration with juggling the traditionally feminine domestic labour with her own artistic practise.’  Despite this Hepworth wrote in a letter:

 

‘I’ve always felt that if I renounced my responsibilities, I should lose something. I have always believed in doing everything.’  Hepworth

 

How many parents have felt that pressure within the context of everyday life and then increased tenfold with the added responsibility of home school during lockdowns (In Hepworth’s case the second world war.)? I think, to her credit she managed this wonderfully, bringing up four children (she had triplets after her first child), at times single-handed and furthering her career to international acclaim. The book shows a formidable character, strong willed and with a marvellous energy but also the struggle, sacrifice and frustrations that come with a life well lived.

 

Whether you are already a fan or are new to Hepworth’s work I would highly recommend this book both for its insights into her work, the person behind them and also for the social history context surrounding the making of the work. For me this book is a keeper for my bookshelf and will be returned to in the future, there are many aspects to enjoy and I would rate it as the best book I read in 2021.

 

 To visit the Hepworth - Wakefield website click here.

To visit the Barbara Hepworth St. Ives Museum and Sculpture Garden website click here.

Watery books for Christmas

Shelfie book pile ©2022LisaLeQuelene

 

 

I hope everyone had a lovely break over the holiday season. I was very lucky to receive a lovely pile of watery and blue books for Christmas and I can't wait to get started on them. Before I can tuck in though I have to finish a most wonderful book that I got for my birthday - more on that one later....

ISBN 9781848224766

 

 

First up is Kurt Jackson's Sea - as you may know I have been a fan of his work for years and used to coincide trips to Cornwall with exhibitions of his at the Lemon Street Gallery back in the day. I can't wait to visit the Kurt Jackson Foundation Gallery in St. Just - hopefully in summer. Now I have, of course, had a sneaky peek and it looks like another visual delight of his signature paintings. I was really pleased to see some of the more recent surfer paintings included as well as a couple of my old favourites.

ISBN 9780008294779

 

 

I read Adam Nicolson's 'Sea Room- An island life in the Hebrides some time ago and enjoyed it immensely and am really looking forward to this one. The author is wonderfully descriptive, painting images in the mind. There are also some gorgeous illustrations by Kate Boxer to enjoy. The end papers to this edition are delightful white line drawings of shells - I'm a sucker for beautiful endpapers, they make a book even more special.

ISBN 9780198834571

During the first lockdown and attempting home-schooling my son and I would get through the lessons set, some days doing bits from the next days job list in the hope we could finish the weeks work by Thursday. This meant that we could have 'Fun Friday' woop! I picked a topic that would interest us both and we learnt all about the Vikings. It was good fun and without him realising he learnt quite a bit about history and geography. We made 'Viking bread', built a longship, weapons and jewellery out of cardboard and whatever was to hand and read lots of Norse mythology which for him led to some very creative storytelling. It fascinated the both of us until it was time to return to school.

For me the interest has continued and I am slowly working my way through different books of myths and sagas. The Poetic Edda translated by Carolyne Larrington looks like it will be a great read and very accessible. I'm particularly interested in finding out more about Ran, Aegir's wife a giantess of the sea. If anyone can point me in the direction of information about her, I would be grateful as she has captured my imagination and I can only find a couple of references to her.

ISBN 9781786891211

 

 

 

This book has been on my wish list for quite some time so will look forward to diving deep into it over the coming weeks. It will be interesting to read something from a female perspective. It seems to cover a lot of ground from mythology and folklore to history, art, religion, literature and the natural world.

ISBN 9780375708138

The final book might not be as watery but what a wonderful subject! It is one that I read a quote from on another blog, though for the life of me I can't remember which one. I did make a note of it and popped it straight on my 'to find out more about list'. Intriguing and not an author that I have come across before. As you know I have a thing about books on colour and look forward to finding out more about one of my all time favourites.

So we may be heading towards the lighter days now but as Winter proper is still to get through I am well prepared with reading material to be inspired by and to travel with from somewhere warm, dry and hopefully with a hot cup of coffee. 

 

 

Have you read anything good lately? Is there anything that you would recommend? Maybe something I should add to my 'to find out more about list'? Do tell...

A postcard from Jazz Green!

Drawing Postcard I   acrylic & ink on paper 10.3x14.7cm   ©Jazz Green2012

Just look what the Postie delivered to me! At the same time I was offering a give away of a painting, Jazz Green was running one herself over at her blog. I entered and low and behold I my name was drawn to receive this beautiful artwork. I am over the moon and I can't wait to get it framed and up on the wall. Thank you Jazz so much.

I've been a regular reader of Jazz's journal blog and admirer of her work since I happened across it a couple of years ago. The portrayal of the passing of time, decay and regeneration are explored in her abstract works, capturing the fleeting beauty and sumptuous surface textures of subjects eroded by nature and time . Amongst my favourites are the lichen drawings and the mouldscapes. Pop over to her blog for a visit, there is much to explore as she has a very well presented archive of her work as well as recent work on show.

Jazz will be exhibiting at;

Artworks 2012 Blackthorpe Barn Suffolk
8 - 30 September 2012

and

Ad Libitum Apex Gallery
29 October - 28 November 2012

10 of my favourite books

Today I thought I'd share some details of my favourite painting/print making books in the hope that you will share with me some of yours. Now the colder, darker and wetter months are well on their way there's nothing better than to curl up with a good art book to read up on skills, methods, techniques and to stay inspired. The following ten are some of my favourites, (although there are many more.... I'm a bookaholic) the ones that I keep returning to. I've included the ISBN numbers of the editions that I have. Should you want to look them up at your bookstore of choice keep in mind that there may be newer editions of some of them. I believe only a couple are out of print. In no particular order....

Raw Colour with Pastels by Mark Leach ISBN 9780713489996 (hardback)
Sadly this artist is no longer with us but he has left us with stunning artwork and this marvelous book about his art, thoughts and techniques. The book has a friendly and accessible feel to it much as I imagine his character was. I love his use of colour and his ability to distill the landscape to it's essence.  Click here to stop by his website where there are further links, one of which is a picasa album of his work which is well worth a visit.

Sketchbooks 2003-2004 Kurt Jackson ISBN 9781850221906 (paperback)
There's nothing I like more than a rootle through other peoples sketchbooks, it's always interesting to see where they get their ideas and inspiration from. Kurt Jackson is a favourite artist of mine, his work can be seen here . This book is a selection of sketchbook pages from 25 sketchbooks through a year from one spring to the next. ( I know - how prolific is that!) It is filled with gestural pencil studies as well as mixed media and watercolours. I really like the notes that he makes in his sketches that become an integral piece of his more finished work.

Realistic Abstracts by Kees van Aalst ISBN 9781844485604 (paperback)
This is a book I have returned to a few times over the last year as I explore some of the concepts discussed in it. A full review that I wrote on it in January can be found here .


Plants and Places by Angie Lewin ISBN 9781858945361 (hardback)
This book is a real feast for the eyes if like me you love print making. Completed works, design development drawings, sketches - it has it all. A link to her website is here . One of the things that I like most about Lewin's work is her palette, the sometimes unusual combinations that she uses. At the back of the book is a list of some of her favourite books which I was interested to find, especially as we share some common ground in books and artists that we admire, for example Eric Ravilious and Robert Gillmor.

Cutting Away by Robert Gillmor ISBN 1904078141 (hardback)
A beautifully presented overview of this popular lino cutters work. I first became aware of his prints when I spotted some greetings cards produced by Art Angels a few years or so ago. I didn't know anything more about his work and then I saw this book in a catalogue and ordered it on a whim. To me it was more than worth the gamble as it really is a beautiful book filled with reproductions of his beautiful natural history, mostly birds, lino prints. Whilst writing this post and looking unsuccessfully for a website I have come across a retrospective exhibition that continues until 29th April 2012 here in Reading. A few of  the gorgeous images are on this page.

The Watercolours of John Singer Sargent by Carl Little ISBN 0520219708
Sargent is one of my favourite artists for his watercolours alone. His lightness of touch, expressiveness and the way he captured the colour of light I find uplifting. There seems to me a real sense of the joy of painting in his watercolours, they speak to me of the immense fun he had painting them. I was lucky enough to see the exhibition Sargent and the Sea at the Royal Academy last year, an exhibition that I enjoyed immensely. At the end of the show was a couple of his Venice watercolours that I spent nearly as much time studying as all of the rest of the exhibition. If I could get just a smidgen of his skill in watercolour I would be immensely happy.

Vibrant Watercolours by Shirley Trevena ISBN 0007225237 (hardback)
A full review of this book that I wrote some time ago is here this is a fantastic book for when the creative block hits. It's a well trusted remedy that I keep on hand to be boosted on, propelled by Shirley's energising enthusiasm.

Composition Understanding Line Notan and color by Arthur Wesley Dow ISBN 9780486460079 (paperback)
A classic and a firm favourite of mine. On days lacking in inspiration I often return to this book to pick where I've left off on exercises to improve composition. I think this is one of the many areas I will spend a lifetime trying to improve. I confess to begin with I stumbled a little on the older style of language but once past that this book really is one of the best.

Rowland Hilder Painter of the English Landscape by John Lewis ISBN 1851490507 (hardback)
A gem that I picked up in a charity shop over the summer for a couple of pounds. There is so much about this artists work that I like, most especially the way he captured light. There are lots of illustrations, quite a few that are black and white, which is an asset in the case of this book as it shows off the strong tonal patterns used in Hilder's work. Really meaty darks in contrast to the brightest of bright lights - very exciting, whilst still portraying the calm tranquility and timelessness of the landscape.

Inspired by Light by Ken Howard ISBN 0715308416 (hardback)
This book is packed with illustrations of his sketches, watercolours and oils. The artist shares his thoughts and ideas and how he sees painting as, 'revelation, communication and celebration..' a wonderful place to come to painting from. If someone mentions the term 'contre jour' Ken Howard is the artist who immediately springs to mind, for me he is the master of it.

I know I said this was going to be 10 of my favourite books but I just couldn't leave this one out so lets make it 11...


Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John F. Carlson ISBN 9780486229270 (paperback)
Another very popular classic that I heard about on Loriann's blog some time back. Where had I been not to have heard of this one before? (-maybe it's better known in the US?) In the last twelve months that I've had a copy of this I have read it in full maybe three or four times and have dipped into it countless times. My copy is rarely on the bookshelf, I prefer it to be either on the bedside table or in the studio. There is a lot of information to absorb, it covers a lot of ground and I only wish I'd heard of it sooner. Chapters can be read here on google books, after reading them here myself first I then had to order my own copy as I wanted to read the missing ones.

The crux of this post is that I have a couple of book vouchers to spend and whilst I have a never ending list of books that I 'need' to get (when does want become need anyway? :o) ) I was just wondering what your favourites are and what you would recommend?

A trip to the Smoke

I'm back after a stay in London, 'refilling the creative well' visiting exhibitions and museums.  The initial reason for the trip was to attend a concert at the Royal Albert Hall to see Pink Martini, who describe themselves as a thirteen piece mini orchestra - a fusion of many styles, eras and cultures. Click here to see a recording on YouTube of one of their tracks. I love this band and often have the Cd's playing in the background whilst I paint. The concert was fantastic and I hope I can get to see them play again soon.

The two top of my list exhibitions that I wanted to see were 'Degas and the Ballet - Picturing Movement' at the Royal Academy and The Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries . The Degas exhibition didn't disappoint, I read this in depth review last month and had been really looking forward to it. I am a great admirer of Degas, his use of colour is something that I particularly enjoy. He is also the first name that springs to my mind when someone mentions pastel and I couldn't wait to get up close to examine the marks and methods of application that he used.

There were many drawings on display which I thought made a nice change. Quite often I prefer to look at an artists drawings, sketchbooks and preparatory work than their paintings. I like to see the process behind the end product, which explains just why I do so much blog hopping. Could it be in the future that exhibitions will display blog posts next to paintings? There's a thought.... I guess it's already happening with QR codes on the labels of each picture that take you to a website which I see some places are doing. I wonder what Degas' blog would have looked like...

Also at the Royal Academy is an exhibition by Frank Bowling of works on paper, these are abstract pieces full of sensitive mark making and glorious colour and light.

On the left are some of the colour notes I made. I often make thumbnails of the colours of paintings and their relative proportions to each other. This is something that I picked up after seeing an exhibition of Joesph Albers where I saw lots of studies where he explored not only one colour in relation to another but also the effect proportion played on their relationship. It can be a good exercise to borrow another artist's colours/colour proportions and paint your own subject and style. Making the same image with one done in opposite proportions of the colours can make for interesting comparisons.


The Marine Artists exhibition is also well worth a visit, some of the artists whose work that I particularly liked were Keith Noble, Rowena Wright, Keith Richens and Ian Phillips.  The paintings that attracted me the most were the ones where the artist had painted the light, which might sound odd but a fair few had more of a focus on colour, pattern or composition. It would be hard to pick a favourite out of the show but one that caught my eye was 'Silver Sands, Long Rock' by Keith Noble. The light was delicious and whilst it wasn't a big painting it drew me in with it's sunlight from across the gallery. I spent a long time there looking at all the work (over 300 pieces) and could have spent longer but His Nibbs was in the park waiting. As it turned out I needn't have hurried as he was being entertained by these lovelies...

Realistic Abstracts by Kees van Aalst.... a review

© Search Press

When I buy an art book it's not always the written content that's the clincher for me to part with my pennies. Sometimes it's the amount and quality of the illustrations that it contains. The title and cover of this book were enough for me to know that I needed it. I had it on order from Search Press before it was released and it hasn't disappointed. I confess I hadn't heard of this artist/author/teacher before who is from the Netherlands, after reading this book I would love to attend one of his workshops. To me his paintings portray a sincere love of painting, there is a lot of joy and enthusiastic excitement in the brushstrokes and fluidity of the paint that shines through.


As the book is aimed at more experienced painters to challenge and stretch their working methods, rather than beginners, there is a very short discussion at the beginning about colours and materials that might be needed and some examples of techniques.  It's almost as a reminder rather than one of those long and laborious explanations that take up vast portions of other books, which personally I find frustrating. The book is aimed at those using water based media although in many ways I think it is useful for all mediums.

Rather the majority of the book is used to explain the concepts of seven principles, (unity, contrast, dominance, repetition, variety, balance, and harmony) and seven elements, (line, tone, colour, texture, form, proportion and direction). Each is eloquently explained with lots of illustrations. As a list I would say it is a very useful guideline for analysing and improving your work. The onus of the book is to transform, '...reality by means of elimination and simplification' with reference to these elements and principles.

© Kees van Aalst

The illustration on the right is from page 111 and is the culmination of a step-by-step demonstration showing how using a limited palette and building up the tones leads to a unified painting whilst also re enforcing the other principles and elements.

You are encouraged to, 'Paint what you feel, not what you see.' which is a far cry from the 'paint what you see not what you think you see' often chanted at art school.  It's not a how to paint book as such but more a how to express what you feel, encouraging you to develop you own self expression in a fluid, gestural and impressionistic way. I see this book as an encouraging bridge between the realms of competent amateur and the first steps to becoming an artist.

As well as many examples by van Aalst to illustrate the points made he has also included works by other artists; Xavier Swolfs (one of my favourite watercolourists) Heleen Vriesendorp, Viktoria Prischedko and Cao Bei-An amongst others. I think this makes for an interesting mix of people who use this kind of approach in their painting. The collection of illustrations alone make this book stand out for me and I know it is one I will dip in and out of for inspiration for some time to come.

I'd like to end this post with a big thank you to Search Press especially Mary and Vanessa for allowing me to reproduce the images and a huge thank you to the author Kees Van Aalst for writing such an interesting, inspiring and exciting book.

Vibrant Watercolours by Shirley Trevena and Albert Jackson - A Review

I would like to start this post with a big thank you to Shirley Trevena who has generously allowed me to quote from her book and include images.

This has to be one of my all time favourite books. I don't know how many times I have read  it from cover to cover but it is a lot! It's also a good one to dip in and out of whenever you need a quick jolt of inspiration to get you going.

I've long been a fan of Shirley Trevena's work and with this book it's like being transported into the studio with her. With chapters like 'Making the most of a single colour', 'Maximum impact' and 'Heartstoppers' her infectious enthusiasm for painting and colour spills out onto the page. A self confessed colour obsessive she says, ' ...when I spot a tube of cadmium orange I want it, if only for the pleasure of squeezing it on to the palette.' Haven't we all been seduced by tempting tubes of luscious pigments?

She says of turquoise, ' ...it is one of my sit up and take notice colours. You can't ignore it and that is exactly what I have in mind.' I sense a fun-filled and mischievous side to the artist who encourages you to pick up a brush and play. If you thought that watercolour was just about boring 'wishy washy' subdued techniques I'm sure Shirley can convince you of the exciting colour opportunities that await after reading this book.

In The Pink

watercolour, oil pastel and graphite 45x39cm

© Shirley Trevena

It has only been whilst writing this review that I have realised there are actually five step-by-step demonstration paintings in it. This book is so well written and with such a wealth of information shared that I find myself being taught without realising it. There are lots of examples of her work with really good explanations of the techniques, colour choices and decisions made during the painting process. Shirley is very generous with her knowledge.

As well as being full to the brim with illustrations of her paintings there are also reproductions of work by fifteen other outstanding watercolourists including Ilana Richardson, Moira Huntley and Ronald Jesty.This is something about the Collins Artist Studio Series I really like.

There is a website here that accompanies the book with short extracts being read by Shirley and her main website is here where paintings, prints, books and DVDs can be purchased. I'd recommend taking a look, you are sure to come away feeling inspired.

Although I tend to focus more on acrylic than watercolours these days, I find that this book continues to inspire. It has been a great reminder of different ways of working that keep me from being stuck in a rut, and of course, the colour combinations are transferable to any medium that you use.

So now that I have shared one of my favourites, tell me what yours are. I need to start my winter reading list so that I am well prepared for those cold winter evenings. Which ones do you recommend?