Shop Fronts from Kerala

 

A fortnight return to an old hunting ground ~ Varkala 2007

over under sideways down

 This is basically a new sketchbook
that I started just before Christmas 2020.
Apart from the first few it was geared up
by a conversation I had online with Denise Smith
concerning the direction of travel a doodle can take.

A comfortable project to take on over the festive period.

An introductory figure
who doesn't interfere with information on the right

Turn Turn Turn Turn,
Fitting lyrics for the time we are in.
First page of a new notebook.
12-12-20

12-12-20 previous sketchbook
I didn't realise that I had made this twice!

under pressure
&
as a result
side-step the issue
because the issue is the deal
&
the pressure is the weight
maybe no squiggle room

*

There is nothing like being conscious of the move/method that you are taking, the way that you are going to approach your flat space of reckoning.

This of course is referring to the humble art of the doodle.

Outside ~ In

Denise Smith
Tile patterns do grow by the edges.

Martin
Its funny, I'm not always aware on which practical direction I am travelling in.
This one went slowly but surely into the middle from the outside!

Denise
 Organically grown with whatever movement feels natural and right at the time. It seems to be mixing right to left and left to right and right side up and upside down spirals. What were you exploring with this one?

Martin Humphries
It became right side up in the last third of the process ~ "process" was what I was exploring here I suppose.
Only to find that when I doodle ( compositionally!) I tend not to aim from the centre out.
i.e. base it around one character which is the star of the affair ~ not particularly thinking about "star beings".

Merry Christmas in all its opulence.
I know it was contrived,
but it was stimulated in a "happenstance" kind of way.

I do see them as doodles ~
not the whole plot.

The double
seems I am much looser working left to right
than the other way round.
Maybe this is the big one on which everything else must hang.
So far ~ it certainly is the one which has become the most digital
(although it could be tidied up!)

Upward in stages / layers which turn into different themes.

I have never seen it so wet
on Shipping Hill

All four corners
to the centre.

7/8ths Sun & Ground level
following correspondence & off shoots,
still sticking to a self imposed theme.

I drew it from the middle,
but it looks like
its going in from the out.

Christmas Day 2020
designed on ledges

an individual Christmas tree light

& on a square top
~ directions for continuous usage
(surface for a lap-top)

first the frame
then the picture to fit within

a constant symbolic theme I have used all my art life

Inside Out

This being the previous book which I started just before the spring lockdown but which contains many similarities to my present sketch book. Which I have included, even though they are part of a different large blog from the first lock-down.

entrance to a place to stay
January 2020

reaching out to share 17-3-20

a poppycock escapologist 18-3-20

only a drop
(but complete)







A winter sunrise in two parts

A crown for the spring 25th May

The water divider 28th September 2020

what with drainage, there is a point on our drive where the water simply goes either left or right. 

Whatever, there is a lot of it at the moment.
(as of 14-2-21)

a bunch of the birds was whooping it up

all in a twist
caught by the drill




Shipping Hill, Autumn 2020
your wish is as good as mine

flattened path (what was once impenetrable)

Showing us the elements

 

15-12-20

showing us the elements ~ Ive been looking to pin this down & this is a valuable lead (for me).

Raven Mail: Tlingit Artist Designs Stunning Stamp for U.S. Postal Service.

Carol Jenkins O'Neill

This is the totem my sister embroidered for me 50 years age based on Pacific Northwest tribal designs. I have always love their magical work.

Thanks Carol, I used to have loads of images, but at a click cant seem to find stuff on-line. Its pictures from light and ripples in the water as swirling globular shapes.

I thought it was Innuit stuff, but I have another name to look up - when I get half a minuit!

Edwah O'Neill

It would be a nice tattoo on the right surface

Denise Smith

Love these designs. I purchased a silk screen print of a multiple bear design when I visited a Salish tribal community in Northwest Washington State a number of years back

(to) Denise Smith designs, observations, both practical and not coming from patterns in the water. Forty odd years ago, whilst still at college I realy got into eskimos they were the flavour of the early 70's in London. I was doing mainly landcape work, often looking downward, often into mesmerising patterns in water. They fitted together nicely - and of course there were many examples to choose from. Sadly not so easy to find specific stuff today!

If you can help a bit, it would be much appreciated!

Denise Smith

 Taking a cue from you about patterns in water I'll explain a bit about what I'm understanding and always revising (fine tuning) about my artistic approach. My design sense seems to work out on surface patterns in clay vs. other materials (tho I may try block printing). These ideas become a persons 'voice', what we seem to crave to get out of our heads to connect with the world. I am drawn to the expression of patterns that have areas that are interchangeable between positive and negative that in turn may create movement. They could be either one. The ideas or expressions come about by visual observation seeking intuitive designs--not preconceived. Having the willingness to explore without knowing the outcome. A 'what if I try this or that and see what happens' approach. The word meaning 'tessellation' has been helpful to me (and the artist M.C. Escher). I'm looking more towards geometric but not with a focus on hard edge. Makes me feel like I have a math brain without being impeded by mathematical formulas. Hope this is somewhat clear for what I wish to say to you. Not easy to explain when we are not face to face. You may be looking at water as an influence overlay for your ideas in a similar way.

Martin Humphries
interchangable pos. & neg. can certainly come into the equasion! And this of course fits in with the water patterns.

I'll see if I can find an image of an old maroon & deep cad yellow one from S. India (many moons ago)

I did some tesselation work with groupes of eight year olds but didn't get far down that track.

I'll try and think a bit more on this ~ I just love defining things!

Denise Smith
 Love a dialog. Definition is elusive and explorable. There used to be a computer program on-line helping to create many versions of tessellation created by some Canadian mathematicians. They never updated it for Mac computer upgrades so it doesn't work anymore. Haven't checked recently to see if another version is out there. I like Islamic tile patterns because they use often use complex tessellation. This is one of my porcelain pieces with simple pos/neg design altered to give it life beyond a checkerboard pattern. Another exploration: what if I altered straight lines what would it become. Hope you can find the old image you mentioned. Interesting approach you have with water patterns/reflections. Has that been a life-long quest?

Martin Humphries
not a quest, but its always been there ~ I'll get back.

Martin Humphries
 An afternoon at the zoo, Mysore 93.

Denise Smith
Love it, very interesting shapes. Another one of mine bought by a gallery curator in NYC who was interested in Russian Constructivist art. Guess this reminded him of that period in art history.

Martin Humphries
thats a beauty! I'll see if I can find some tile influenced stuff from Istanbul - - -

more to do with the edges

and matchboxes! - I'm trying to find paintings linked to tiles. but on the Islamic thing I was really influenced in Kashmir by "domestic wood carvers" I drank salt tea with them in the afternoon for about 3 months - my work certainly reflected or was grounded from that craftwork.

Denise Smith
Lucky you to have had first hand experiences to treasure, recall and draw upon. Some of my influences come from the Bauhaus and the Early Arts and Crafts movement in the US, British and Asian potters like Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada and other cutting edge potters, plus DADA, Niki de Saint Phalle, early experimental photography, and so much more...but from books and museums. Not enough years of life to take in all that speaks to us. Again, lucky you.

Denise Smith
Tile patterns do grow by the edges.

Martin Humphries
Denise, Its funny, I'm not always aware on which practical direction I am travelling in.
This one went slowly but surely into the middle from the outside!

Denise Smith
 Organically grown with whatever movement feels natural and right at the time. It seems to be mxing right to left and left to right and right side up and upside down spirals. What were you exploring with this one?

Martin Humphries
It became right side up in the last third of the process ~ "process" was what I was exploring here I suppose.
Only to find that when I doodle ( compositionaly!) I tend not to aim from the centre out.
i.e. base it around one characteur which is the star of the affair ~ not particularly thinking about "star beings".