Open Studio in Manchester, Photos

Here are some photos from the ArtFunkl artist residency’s Open Studio event that I participated in, in Manchester, UK.

The six-week residency took place from June – August, 2013, with an Open Studio reception on Monday, August 5th.

Currents I, II

I took this opportunity to experiment across various different media, including water-soluble oil paint,

Currents II

Currents I

which had pleasant effects on my technique and approach as I became looser and more expressive.

Wake, oil on paper

I got back into drawing, creating sketches in gouache on thick paper, as well as with charcoal and conte and graphite on papers that varied in opacity.

open sketchbook, layered drawings, drawings from observation and imagination

At times I worked with a number of layers to see what would happen when certain things were veiled and others revealed.

Propeller, and Thinly Veiled I, II. Oil on paper and drawing experiments

One particular favourite was this landscape of Lock Duich in the Highlands of Scotland, where I had visited and taken a ton of photographs in the weeks before the start of my residency:

ghost image experiment:
landscape of Loch Duich from the Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Above, I layered two pieces of rice paper and painted the landscape with watercolour on the top layer while the second one was still below, then took the ghost image (what bled through on the bottom layer) and placed it on top, with the original layer underneath it and flipped. I then suspended the pieces, attached, in front of the large open doors. The sunlight shone through the layers that day, adding to the translucency, and the wind gently rocked it.

acrylic skin experiment

Above, I tried to translate some of my images further by layering acrylic skins. I used a non-stick palette, and painted right on it, using a transparent polymer medium to create many layers of acrylic glazes. I took different ‘mini experiments’ of these and overlaid them.

I’ve also included some photos of the other artists – Mayo Koide, Lisa Gingles, James Charlton, and Satheesh Paul – and their work.