The Dump as art

Sometimes things just happen, so today the Dump came to me instead of me going to my dump. But this time as an art exhibition at Göteborgs Konsthall – Naturum - 2014.06.13-2014.09.21

But how?

Can this be art? Maybe not if art only is there to please the eye. But if art is there to ask questions it definitely can.

This huge pile (3 meters high) consist of leftovers from sales of ornamental flowers that wasn’t sold. The question the artist states is the sense of repeatedly buying new flowers and discard the old one, our planet is not an endless resource. 

My own immediately response to these and other questions is going back in my memory to when I moved in to my recent flat. In the garbage rooms I found a Ficus which had a severe outbreak of lice, and the owner had simply thrown it away. 

I took it up and placed it in the tub and gave it a good shower and an even better cut – both to the foliage and to the roots. This spring, 17 years later, I had to cut it back again since it thrives way to good J

But even if it is a rotting pile of dead flowers, nature is unstoppable. When I looked closed I found these small sprouts.

I’m not saying that we should stop buying flowers. But we can consider our choices and choose the ones we know we most likely will try to keep alive as long as possible. During the SBA diploma course I bought lots of flowers – and two of them are still here and are not going away soon.

Another part of the exhibition looked almost like a laboratory of some crazy scientist.

This artist had started to collect acorns and chestnuts, and then out of a whim she started to put them in water in various glass containers. All of the small plants are also hanging in threads (which is not visible in my pictures) and are in that way all connected to each other. 

There are also coloured glass in between and the artist is going to observe how the different light affects them. The questions this artist ask is for instance the ethics and morality in scientific research. For me this installation mostly brought a desire to sample some acorns myself …!

I also now must by a flower press!

One wall was devoted to pressed flowers, and of course it was again the ornamental flowers we buy for our own pleasure that was is focus.

The descriptive text under the specimen don’t state where the flower was gathered, but instead from which producer it originate, and then which importer and last which supermarket who sold it.

But, they are beautiful. So I am a little confused at this point in the exhibition. What do I really think and feel about this commerce?

There were also some sculptures and other installations that were harder for me to comprehend. 

But the video installation that showed six laptops by a lake that randomly surfed the internet until their battery died - but the nature around them still remained unchanged – made sense to me.

In one room there where a video of one single Streptocarpus going around on a conveyor belt in an otherwise empty greenhouse. It looked like it was searching for friends or relatives, reminded me of the initial scene of the movie Wall-E. One lonely sad flower … 

On the wall there was this collection of family photographs.

One can at least say that we have a complex attitude towards nature. We want to preserve it. To keep it as it is, so we can travel there when we need it. But in the same time we do our best to destroy it, often in the sake of making money.

I really liked being in the exhibition, I felt calm and relaxed. I wanted to go back.

But now I mostly feel sad – why are the human race so eager to make profit out of everything?

An artist block, or am I just lazy

The greatest block for me is my day-work. I am not that fortunate that I can make a living of my art so I have to go to work. I like my job, it is creative in a matter of speaking. But most of the time I’m to tired to do any art-work when I’m home at the evenings. And of course, I need to do some physical exercises to stay satisfied with myself – and that also take time ….

I know, just bad excuses.

So when the weekend comes everything needs to be planned, the grocery shopping is done and all plans are drawn and there should be plenty of time for me to sit down and paint. But first, oh this Saturday is so sunny and nice so we just have to take our bikes and go for a ride. Since they are road bikes the ride tends to span over many kilometers.  We settled for a route about 60 km long, but - that road looks nice, let’s see where it goes. And then we stopped for coffee and cake, and then a bath and an ice cream. We arrived home rather late and the sun had been shining all day so now my head was beating of headache. So for one beautiful day on the road I had to pay with one day of migraine – and of course no painting.

I am a bad planner.

So where did the dump go? Oh, it got to be where I left it. But all the sketching and studying I planned to do this spring and summer has not happened yet. Lucky for me it will stay where it is, and I’m sure that late summer and autumn also are going to be interesting to watch.

I just have to find time to get there.

But am I not doing anything? Yes, a little.

I’m working on a bigger piece where this dried Astrantia is one part. For the moment there are three participants on the paper, but it can most likely change when the Astrantia is done. A painting that is evolving for each part I put on it.

Yesterday I picked these Samaras (Maple fruit) – and I really need to find time to paint them before the colour is gone… They are great for small graphite studies as well.

And after all I manage to do a leaf study today, it’s from a Hibiscus. It was a huge effort, the Tour de France is on TV ….

“If you can paint a leaf, you can paint the world” John Ruskin

Colour theory by K. and my field kit

I started this blog post with the intention of describing my field kit. But ended up with a resume of my whole painting ”career” in order to explain why I use the colours I do.

I have been painting for many years now. I was not the wonder kid who did everything perfect at a young age, but I liked to draw and paint. And eventually I also studied art as a part of my elementary school. But since then I’m self-taught apart from some watercolour courses – so I have formed my art much at my own pace and manner.

This is not the palette of a botanical painter. It has evolved over a long period (>20 years) - starting with rusty machinery.

I painted this part of a pipe system in 1997, 38x53 cm. The colours are mainly Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black and some blue I don’t know – probably the one who came in my first standard watercolour kit. I didn’t know anything about colours back then, and why they behave the way they do. I trashed lots of brushes, I sort of stippled the paint to get the rusty effect I was after. That destroys tips at a good speed.

After many years down that road I switched to insects. One morning I accidently killed a small fly without destroying it, I looked at it and thought “I can paint that…” I enlarged it and painted it in a quite imaginary style. Crane flies and mosquitos was then my companions for some time.

I added Winsor Blue (green shade) and Quinacridone Gold to my palette – colours with character!

After some years I discovered tube paints, and then also that each and every colour has its own temperament and way of behaving. The wings on this mosquito (2006, 12*17 cm) is painted with Quinacridone Gold and lots of water. I love the edges it make!

After a while I wanted to put my insects in an environment and I started on the path towards botanical painting. But in the beginning I only painted withered and dry objects. Now I only used three colours, Burnt Sienna, Sepia and Quinacridone Gold. And I did not paint in a botanical style!

These two Echinacea purpurea, 35x26 cm, was admitted and accepted to the The Nordic Watercolour Society Triennal in 2010.

As I wanted to include a green colour I found out about Perylene Green, and later on also added Perylene Maroon to my palette. Fruits of a lime-tree, the green has a nice weight, 20*20 cm.

And one thing lead to another and later to the SBA. Currently I’m struggling whit blending my old styles with the botanical style, and of course also mix in “my” colours. To let the steam blow of in that fight I periodically do some sketching in the field and also urban sketching, where I can do absolutely whatever I want.

To my surprise I now include colours like Aureolin, Transparent Yellow, Permanent Rose, Cobolt Blue, Prussian Blue and others in “my” colours. Raw Sienna is also a nice new friendship.
Rose for the Assignment 'Greeting card', the rose itself is 10*9 cm.

And now the field kit

So, what do I bring with me out in the field. I have collected 12 colours in my Winsor Newton field box:

Winsor Yellow – one bright yellow seems to be necessary.

Yellow Ochre – in the beginning I learned that this colour was a must, I’m not so sure any more. But it is great to have if you have Ivory Black and want to paint stones with yellow lava on. Anyway the sort that you can find at the West Coast of Sweden.

Burnt Sienna – one of my favourite colours, makes wonderful greens and are excellent when you want to paint rust.

Burnt Umber – hm, this one I’m not so sure about either, haven’t figured it out yet.

Quinacridone Gold – this is the colour that can do everything. Light yellow to rusty brown and together with Sepia, and Perylene Green and many others – just waow. You have to try it if you have not.

Sepia – I like the challenge that it is staining. You must be certain when you use it, once it down – it stays there. Dark and beautiful.

Perylene Green – I had a period when I only used Q. Gold, B. Sienna and Sepia – but I felt that I needed some more green. I tried this, and was hooked. I like to mix it with T.Yellow.

Payne´s Gray – blue, dark blue.

Scarlet Lake – I read somewhere that this was the most red of them all, I don’t know but mixed with W. Yellow it gives a good orange.

Perylene Maroon – love this, excellent to mix with almost anything.

Winsor Blue (green shade) – I don’t like blue that much. But this one is fabulous to mix on the paper with Q. Gold, then you really got the gold. But it is also a staining colour, can’t remove it. It is somewhat chemical in colour.

French Ultramarine – one neutral blue, ok.

I have two Pentel waterbrush which are ok when it comes to quick field sketches and urban sketching. I can paint for a long period of time without refilling them, if the painting benefits of a messy manner.  But if I want to do more detailed and neat work I have to bring better brushes. 

I have two kinds of sketchbooks. One Moleskin and one Fabriano Venezia Book, the latter is 200 g/m², acid free and can withstand almost everything. When you think you ruined the paper, just let it dry and it is ok again. I have recently acquired the 23*30 cm book, it is just perfect for me, it's the one in the picture above. The only negative thing with the Fabriano is that the paper dries very fast, the Moleskin is a bit slower. And it is also tricky to lift out highlights in the Fabriano. I also bring loose sheets of paper, mostly Fabriano with rough grain (300 or 600 g/m²), if I want to do several paintings at a time. Which don’t happen that often.

I have a tree legged chair, a Walkstool. And a foldable very orange Neverlost sitmat, if I want to sit on the ground or a wet bench.

I’m thinking of making a small tripod easel /table, even if my bike work well if I want to work standing up.

I also bring water, cold and hot, depending on the location I am going to, and instant coffee if I plan to stay out for a longer period. I am always considering my comfort when I’m planning an outing!

Unfortunately I don’t do as many field trips as I want to, I have a slight problem with too much bright light. So I always have sunglasses and a peaked cap on, the ideal is to sit in the shade and don’t look too much up in the sky. Maybe that’s why I never learn to paint trees …. And of course, the sunglasses distort the colour ….
But most if the time I enjoy the experience and the outcome of my effort! 

The incects never landed on my flowers, I have to wait and see if they will return.

Greenery

I haven’t visit my dump for over a month now. First things got in between, and then I got a really bad cold which kept me from both going outside the apartment and also paint or draw. Three long weeks that was. 

But today I finally found time, a quick breakfast and then of on the bike. I soon realized what a bad cold does to your fettle, I had to shove the bike in every ascent …, so it took me a while to reach the dump. It is one of the highest places in the city so it is uphill all the way.

All the gardens and parks in the city flaunts, but this is a barren wasteland – it hadn’t happened so much over the last month as I expected. The hill is greener, but that is pretty much all there is. Well, there are of course Dandelions so the hill is green and yellow.

Most of the green is the leaf of Clovers, just the leaf no buds are visible yet. There are also several kinds of grass. Some, as the Timothy-grass, is in bloom but others is just emerging.

I also found some small blue Veronica chamaedrys, but they were to fragile and didn’t survived the journey back home. I painted two sorts of grass and some clover leaf, the clover really take up lots of space when you place it like this. 

There were no mountain bikers going downhill today, but a small rabbit was going uphill the bike path. It strike a nice pose and did not noticed me before I was just a few meters away.

The yellow standards in the background marks the biggest jumps on the biketrack, the rabbit has taken position on one of the smaller ones. The green shed I painted last time I was here is still there.

All the greenery just behind the rabbit is Giant Hogweed, they are about one meter high now and they look dangerous if you look close.

On my way back home I saw some trees and thought it would be nice to practice my tree painting skills. So I found a good spot in the shade and started with the best intentions. Some tree trunks with light green foliage underneath and a small pond as backdrop. But I don’t know what or when it goes wrong. Is it the color in my field kit or is it the color I bring inside me? Why does it always look as if I painted a marsch?

I like the picture but it is far from how it look at that place! 

The name of the pond is ironic enough The black bog, but it is a really nice pond whith ducks and coots and other nice birds.

The cherry trees are blossoming

But of course not up here, not on my dump.

The feet of the Giant Hogweeds are getting bigger, green leafs spreading out but still very close to the ground, sort of grabbing it. I’ve brought back home some of the dried stems from last year since I want to draw them. They are sturdy but at the same time fragile, a wrong twist and turn and they splinter.

I started today’s excursion with a sketch of a green shed.

The day was absolutely glorious, blue sky and a big sun. But the way I depicted this shed, is how it feels on some parts of the location. Grey and abandoned. Just below the shed in a trench were a population of Butterbur. I brought one back home, and after looking it up in my book I now know that the female flowers are very rare. Lucky me it was not one of them I snatched!

It’s a lonely job to paint sheds, but someone has to do it J

Up on the flat top of the dump there are Common horsetails growing everywhere. In Sweden we call them fox buttocks.

I’m happy with the colours, but not with the flower part. It was difficult to get it right. For the stems I used Raw Sienna and Permanent Rose in different mixes, and for the darker tones I used Perylene Maroon and Burnt Umber mixed with Botanical Grey. For the second one I also mixed in some Prussian Blue to get some variation in the tone. The green is what was on my palette.

I also found what I think is Cuckooflower, but I learned that this one easily mix whit a relative. So – pratensis or paludosa or a mix between them, I can’t tell. I did a rather crappy sketch of the flower.

Around the hill the vegetation is in different stages. Horsetails everywhere, clover is starting to show here and there. At the slope of the west side where several bunches of daffodils. Since it is an old dump they must have been dumped there whit garden disposals at some point and just survived throughout the years.

We had binoculars with us and one of many who passed by wondered if we were birdwatcher. Apparently this hill is a good bird location, the birds is blowing in, as he explained it to us. And later on we actually spotted a falcon, it was hovering for a long time and we had a good look at it. I think I never seen a falcon in the wild before.

The flowers

Butterbur – Petasites hybridus

Common horsetail – Equisetaceae arvense

Cuckooflower – Cardamine pratensis or paludosa

Nearby, there are two big TV pylons. I had to paint them too, in the described greyish manner. When it is windy the wire sings.

Early April

Today I spend some time on my dump in order to start this blogg.

My dump is located a few kilometers away from home and the easiest way to get there is cycling.

It is 2 years since my “Painting in the field” took place here, but the only real difference is that the mountain bike track has evolved to a real downhill mountain bike track with jumps and slopes and standards guiding the path. And brave young people who plunges down the path.

It was a cold day and I started down where the sheds and maintenance area are and did a sketch of the combustion plant. It sounds like it should be big, but the only visible part is a pipe in the ground. A quick pencil sketch and then some colour with the sketchbook resting on the bike seat.  Details where added later at home.

I have a somewhat naïve style when doing pictures like this, and I simply can’t draw trees. The things behind the shed is the Giant Hogweed or what’s left of them at this time of the year.

I took my bike and dragged it along with me my up to the top, it is practical to have the bike so I don’t need to carry all the stuff, like my field chair – a three legged thing.

On the top there is a some big rocks arranged in a funny way, like an old grave from the stone age. And a bench with a trash can beside it. I chose a position so I was looking up on the rocks, it was the picture I wanted to paint this day.

Some day when the weather is warmer I will paint it with the city in the background. The wind was really chilly and after a while my fingers started to go numb, so I did the finishing touches at home. I wasn’t used to paint on this paper either, it is an Arches paper with rough grain and it was a while since I used that kind of paper. My sketchbooks has smooth paper which also dries quickly, this didn’t…

When I had packed up my things I started to look for something growing to take back home for more painting. But, there is no growing going on, yet. The Giant Hogweed is showing something green deep down in the ground, but that was all. I then turned my interest to the few rosebushes that are growing there, and I finally found one well-worn rosehip from last year. Not much colour, but I like it this way. I have a delight in the withered when it comes to rosehips!