lockdown life

Springtime in suburbia..... I once made a book about it.

Endless days of sunshine in April.

Unusual. Enjoyable. Surreal.

For last time we had weather like this in April I was studyimg at Central St Martins for a PG cert in photography.

This time I am locked down. Day after day. Week after week.

My other half (OH) and I confined to quarters, together in a way that we have not been together for many years.

Normally OH is travelling for work, and I am travelling for photography or to visit family in Canada, or both.

I am not going to go into details of the pandemic..... you know about that.

I am going to share some good things that have come out of this time instead.

Firstly, we have gone mad in the garden. Ripping up lawn to plant vegetables.

Digging for sanity.


The kitchen floor a mass of dodgy looking seedlings.

Secondly, OH has tidied 20 years worth of papers from his study.

You have no idea how happy that makes me.

OH has also become bread maker and soup maker extraordinaire. When I enquired of his plans for today he advised that he was going to be 'very busy'. He has bread and soup to make, and dinner to cook.

I will have to amuse myself writing, and watching my seedlings grow.

messages in the woods

The house is a lot cleaner than it ever has been.  The only items in my once busy diary are a daily instruction for which room to clean today ( somehow I can only make myself do housework if it is in my diary).

Later today my phone will beep to remind me to put the garden waste bin out for collection. Who would have dreamed that we could all be so excited by a waste and recycling collection. Some of our neighbours have had boxes out for days......

Secrets of a lockdown life revealed.....

recycling

There are no secrets when the recycling doesn't get collected.

And duck for a dog?

Then there is the simple pleasure of  'drying socks on the garden table'..... so much time saved by just throwing them all down in the sunshine.

It would be fair to say that we have had our moments.....

but we have overcome these with vigorous amounts of walking and cycling. OH disappears off on his bicycle while I walk to the woods, or dance in my front room gymnasium.

Youtube exercise videos have kept me sane. My favourite is a short burst of total exhaustion with Train like a ballerina.

Here is my gymn.

But what of creativity I hear you ask.

It has been a time of feeling unsettled and that has impacted on my making.

So I have been incredibly grateful to join a zoom painting class with Nick Archer of @artclassesinrye

I find it a welcome distraction and a way to connect with friends at Rye Creative Centre.

I have never painted with acrylics, and it is a love / hate relationship, but I have so enjoyed learning about colour, how to mix colours, and the discipline of not being satisfied with a colour that isn't right.

I started painting a piece of white paper on a white background.

It turns out to be all about greys and shadows, and I got so frustrated with it in the end that I painted it all over in black with a view to starting again.

I have rediscovered how much I hate getting charcoal all over everything, and how it is hard to know when 'enough is enough'. 

Next week we are looking at mark making. A chance to go a bit wild....



After watching the Royal Academy film "Painting the modern garden; Monet to Matisse" I am raring to go.

This documentary is an absolute delight, and I now see the pond in my local woods as akin to Monet's waterlily garden; a bit of an obsession. Monet became obsessed with the reflections in the water, just as I do.

pavement selfie

Every day I walk, and mostly I go to the woods.

There have been some lovely surprises...

another good thing that has come from this time.

When the sun shines, the spring leaves are vibrant and fresh.

the stream

But to capture the wild garlic requires softer light.

wild garlic, hawkwood

And the highlight of this week has been the rain; so welcome after all those endless dry sunny days. 

The woodland refreshed, and watery ripples on the pond.

rain drops on the pond

pond reflections

rain

 So we have settled into a fairly content routine.


And I am beginning to be able to get back my creative mojo.

Here is one from the pond, inspired by Monet.

Rain dance 7 © Caroline Fraser 2020

What sort of artist are you? On influences and style.

Take me to nature with Monet

Two weeks ago I attended an artist development workshop with Matthew Burrows at ABC Projects Atelier. I felt that I needed a bit of a kick to recharge my self confidence and creative juices.

All people who make art have ups and downs of creativity. I was in a dip, but the workshop has well and truly kicked me back to life.

Since then I have been turbo-charged into activity, with a list of tasks as long as my arm. I have so much to do, and project number one is to prepare for my show 'Conversations with Nature' in Rye Art gallery this August. Planning some time for creativity and experimentation is also high on the list..... but as usual my indecision is making it hard to decide where or what I wish to do.

One of the preparatory tasks for the weekend was to come with images of artist that have influenced my practice. I was asked to find classical, contemporary and modern artists, which reminded me that I am really not a big fan of old paintings and elaborate sculptures.

This was confirmed when I made my first visit to the Wallace Collection recently.

Wallace collection

I don't do ornate.

or gilded

or velvet

or flock.

chair not for sitting

I am definately not a fan of chairs that can't be sat on.

Or of men in wigs.

wigged gentleman sculpture

The cavalier may be laughing, but I was not.

Something is wrong with my appreciation of art.

I remember developing stomach pains every time my mother dragged me around the National Gallery as a child.


I fail to appreciate the talent on show.

Maybe ignorance is to blame.

So who did I find amongst my influences?

Well Monet for sure.

It must be because he loves the great outdoors, as do I.

Calming greens and waterlilies.  I have always loved these.

Next came Turner.

Now you see where I get my out of focus style....

Norham Sunrise, Turner

Lying in cool water under a tree. More water and greenery. I loved this as a child, and still do.
Wild swimming done with style.

Ophelia by Millais

More lillies and a profusion of roses from John Singer Sargent. I had this hanging in my bedroom as a very unrebellious teenager.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

I think it is fair to say that these paintings explore the outdoors, just as I do.

Moving forward in time I found plenty to enjoy, and was spoilt for choice.


Rothko was an easy choice.

Norman Ackroyd another.

His prints of sea and coast, birds and waves are full of movement.

Also in monochrome, the photographer Masao Yamamoto

Smaller details, exquisitely presented. And books that I aspire to emulate.

And then, for sheer playfulness, land artist Andy Goldsworthy.

Throwing sticks to the wind.....

And for abstract forms, it is hard to beat Victor Pasmore

 and Agnes Martin, who I have written about before.

It was pointed out to me that I like strongly contrasting darks and lights....  something I was not conscious of previously.


But where did all this get me?

I guess it validates my choice of outdoor subject matter, and my preference for minimalism and abstraction over red velvet and gilt frames. Also my preference for the small details of landscape over the wider view. I haven't mentioned many of my photographic influences; Sally Mann, Jackie Ranken, Paul Kenny and Ansel Adams would  be a good start, but there are too many to mention.

This was only a tiny part of the whole workshop, and more important was a statement of what I believe in, and what my dream for the future would be.

Spending time working out what I want to achieve was a really positive exercise.

As a result, I am turning the house upside down to make a workspace for making things at weekends and when I do not have access to my studio in Rye.

Then I will be able to play every day, and even try some collage like these by Katrien de Blauwer, which I find totally alluring.

 More dark and light.....

And so much fun.

What sort of artist are you?