Portland Blue

After a recent trip to Portland Bill I decided to use the visit to prompt the creation of a new relief.

The visit was to confirm the details of my first live show of work at an excellent venue - White Stones Cafe Gallery - Easton - Portland. Owned by Sculptor David Nicholls,the cafe gallery is a wonderful place with a great atmosphere for eating,drinking and art.

I am busy preparing new work for the show which starts on May the 4th - which is the exact date that I listed my first piece of artwork on eBay two years ago.

I look forward to updating you with more details regarding the show nearer the time however do click on the link below the images to visit David's website and be sure to stop by the cafe for a drink and something to eat should you find yourself in the area.




Portland Blue II
Relief in plywood - heavy card and mixed paints



http://www.whitestonescafegallery.com/

Relief 23....

I finally found the time to finish a new piece - 'Relief 23'.

I would like to thank many of my customers who either commented on the blog or emailed me to remind me of the work I was producing 12 months ago. This prompted me to revisit the key elements of  inspirations I derived from the St Ives group of artists.

This being so I am looking forward to completing more work which is ongoing and very much influenced by this group of artists - these I look forward to adding to my blog and eBay shop once they are completed.

SOLD

Ben Nicholson reliefs..he started it all!

This week I have started some new pieces and have revisited where it all began for me. I had always wanted to own a Ben Nicholson relief however and for the obvious reasons - or should I say reason singular - money! - this has proven to be an impossible dream to date.

However I decided to create one or two of my own so I could at least have a few 'in the style' of Nicholson pieces hanging on my wall. I apologise to the artist for using his original creativity as the starting point and I admit that some that I created were almost copies. In producing this work I also opened the door to the St Ives group of artists whose work has been an inspiration to me as I try to develop my abilities.

This was in fact how I began my new career and thanks to some of my readers who purchased the pieces not only could I continue to produce new work - I now have no Nicholson type reliefs on my walls!!

Please enjoy the images and I hope to post the new work soon. For more information please contact me via the comments facility below the images.

Jeremy Annear

This week I present an introduction to an artist whose work I discovered two years ago by accident. Since then I have spent quite some time and effort in tracking down and visiting galleries where I can see Jeremy Annear's work.

Their surfaces, textures and shapes are simply excellent and can only be appreciated when viewed in 'real life' - I would recommend to those of you whom his work reasonates with to try and visit a gallery where his work is displayed to fully enjoy the impact.

Below the images are two links - one of which is a short interview from realcornwall.tv the other being his website - please enjoy.

Maritime Blues(Tresco)2008. oil on canvas.120x160cms

Diamond Ledge I(Tresco)2008. oil on canvas. 90x120cms

http://www.realcornwall.tv/arts/artists/jeremy-annear.html

http://www.jeremyannear.com

Waldemar Januszczak - The Sculpture Diaries.

This week I present a Channel 4oD documentary within which Waldemar Januszczak concludes his exploration of sculpture with a road trip across North and South America to see the art form set in the landscape.

Within this he features [as well as other exceptional pieces] one of my favourite pieces of land art - The Sun Tunnels by Nancy Holt.

This artwork completed in 1976, consists of four large concrete tubes, laid out in the desert in an open X configuration. The nine foot diameter, 18 foot long "tunnels" are pierced by holes of varying size, that correspond with the pattern of selected celestial constellations. There is a tunnel for Draco, Perseus, Columba and Capricorn.

Once again I will leave it to a greater source of knowledge, Waldemar, to lead you to this. As always he makes entertaining and inspiring documentaries  - simply click on the link below the image and enjoy.




The Sun Tunnels - Nancy Holt



http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-sculpture-diaries/episode-guide/series-1/episode-3

The big picture....

It was Autumn when I painted my last large canvas so I thought it was time to start again.

 

However what has changed since then is where we live and the car I drive - so when buying the canvas of course it did not fit in the car! Having overcome that then of course it would not go up the stairs to the 3rd floor loft room I use as a studio!! Having overcome that I then realised that our walls and rooms are now smaller so photographing it was a nightmare!! So having overcome that here is the big picture slightly cropped - for further images please visit my ebay shop.



Coastal Point II
55" x 44"



http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Richard-Witham-Art

Wood and Concrete..the Axe and the Chainsaw...

Whilst I work on completing some new paintings and at the conclusion of the excellent BBC Four Sculpture season, I thought that this week I would feature two wonderful Sculptors whose work is created using source materials that are as diverse as one can find.

Some years ago I discovered the work of Serge Bottagisio in a publication of the World of Interiors. Working with his partner Agnes Decoux the pieces they create are large cast concrete shapes that are primarily used as sculptured planters and water features however some are just excellent garden sculpture.

Using cast concrete with coloring in the mix, the surfaces of the pieces are then worked and carved by the use of an axe as a primary tool.

I will let the images below and their website do the talking however I hope you agree that their work is magnificent.

The second of the two Sculptors is David Nash whose work over the past 40 years has been simply sublime. Nash's sculptures, made from unseasoned wood, alter after his intervention, cracking and twisting as they dry. In harnessing not only the element of air, but also fire and water, Nash changes the form and surface of his sculptures by the frequent use of charring the surface.

He not only carves wood, largely from fallen trees, with chain and milling saws - skills that he has perfected over the years - but he also creates sculptures from growing plants, cutting and training them into domes or ladders.

I would leave it to the excellent BBC Documentary available on BBC i player to truly introduce you to an outstanding creative individual and their work.
                                  

For David Nash click below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ymlhp/hd/Force_of_Nature_The_Sculpture_of_David_Nash/

For Serge Bottagisio click below

http://www.lesbotta.com/



This weeks work...

Amidst the back breaking building site work I have been able to complete a new work which I present below.

I have two further pieces on the go and I hope to have these completed soon as well as a feature on two excellent Sculptors.

Thanks again for all the support and feedback - this keeps me going during the long days of wheelbarrow loads and digging!!!

'Storm Coming In'
SOLD



On the wall today

Thank you to all my customers who have made the start to 2011 an excellent one and for the positive feedback regarding my new blogsite.

Some of you are aware that to support my desire to paint full time I have been working on a construction site for a friend to subsidise this desire and due to the elongated muscles - aches and pains I have had a barren 10 days regarding producing new work!!!

However I now have some time to devote to my passion and I present a new piece 'Sea Break'. I continue to try new styles to keep up my development and again I thank those who have sent me positive and encouraging words.

Sea Break - after a trip to Bempton Cliffs - East Yorkshire
Sold

The Six Bells memorial statue

Every now and again you discover something which is exceptional that is the product of a creative genius.

Whilst watching BBC Four a few weeks ago we found ourselves viewing a programme which turned out to be an absolute gem albeit that the background to the documentary was one of profound tragedy.

The programme recorded during the early part of 2010 featured renowned sculptor Sebastian Boyesen who was commissioned to design and build the new Six Bells Miners Memorial to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Six Bells Colliery disaster. It covered the assembly of the final piece both at his workshop studio and at its final resting place at the site of the Arael Griffin pit at the Six Bells Colliery.

The images below are to introduce you to the 12 metre high memorial statue and I suggest you click on the link  below them to learn more about the disaster and the statue which I hope you will agree is a stunningly appropriate memorial to the 45 men killed by an explosion at the mine on the 28th of June 1960

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/six-bells-miners-memorial/



Margaret Mellis...'simply too good to burn'

Margaret Mellis, who died aged 95 in 2009, was a pivotal figure in modernist British art - she led the migration to St Ives in Cornwall from 1939 and was later a mentor to the teenage Damien Hirst.

Since around 1978 she had been making remarkable assemblages from found wood such as parts of boats - beach huts and furniture. She described them as relief constructions and were more often than not the result of long and thoughtful meditation,guided by her preoccupation with colour and form.



Rust & Yellow 1990

Having only discovered her work which includes collage and paintings last year,I was immediately drawn to her abstract constructions and set out to emulate her approach. This fortunately coincided with my Father in Law demolishing his 30 year old timber garage and at once I was presented with a rich source of material.

Not only did it take time to understand the process that Mellis may have followed - one cannot just throw bits together and end up with a convincing piece - one does have to be prompted by the pieces and a notion of how they may interpret an idea.

For instance below is my current pile of found wood pieces which have been sitting in my studio for at least two months - I swear each time I look at them they tell me a different story - each time they either agree with my idea of what I want them to become or as they do at the moment they say nothing and revert back to - well just a pile of wood!



Help me Margaret!



Then suddenly something seems to happen and the pieces make sense and go together quickly. The pieces  I did complete last year were well received and now - well now as a friend of mine said "Richard,I walk past a skip and see firewood - you walk past and see art".

I find myself enjoying the process and also the challenge of bringing together material that as individual pieces would have just disappeared with time and give them a whole new lifespan and meaning which is a million miles away from their original purpose.

SOLD



For Sale - for details please click here

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art

 

 

For those who would like to find out more about Margaret Mellis please go to either of the following links 

 http://www.margaretmellis.com

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/mar/21/obituary-margaret-mellis

Peter Lanyon - Michael Canney and the dream........

When I started painting two years ago a legacy of my years in commerce was that I set myself a goal. This was a simple goal. One day, I said to myself,I would paint like Peter Lanyon and Michael Canney and sell my work through the Austin Desmond Gallery,Bloomsbury,London.



Coastal Evening - Richard Witham - SOLD





My Mother said 'well if you are going to have a dream may as well make it an impossible one'!

So here is my version of 'walking in the footsteps of giants'. Here in my blog I can present work by both Lanyon and Canney and also Richard Witham!

Peter Lanyon www.bookroomartpress.co.uk/biographies/artist/31

Here I bow to superior knowledge and refer you to the site above for more information regarding the artist   For my part it was only when I saw his paintings in real life that the impact of their size - colour -and movement hit me.





Headwind

                                                                                                             

Like most artwork although one can appreciate it via books and other media it will only resonate with you when you are able to stand in front of it. A little like a blind date - no matter how much you communicate on line or by phone - nothing prepares you for the truth that will reveal itself when you physically meet for the first time!

Sarascinesco Series

Unlike Peter Lanyon I have always felt that Michael Canney has perhaps not gained the befitting widespread recognition his work deserves. The work and the importance of the art of the Modern British artists is somewhat of a 'secret garden' affair and is missed by the wider less knowledgeable general public.



Michael Canney

Again I would refer you to a greater source of knowledge that you can find at this website http://www.michaelcanney.co.uk/ should you like to discover more about the man and his artwork.

Dark Coast

Since discovering Michael Canney's work I have found his work inspirational through its diversity which becomes apparent when you view his gallery of artwork on this site.

To view my own artwork please click here

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/richard-witham-art