My week-end at the Platform

I spent last week-end participating to the Swindon Open Studios 2011 at The Platform in Swindon (Wiltshire - England).

We were a group of 10 artists, showing in different media (painting, textile, etc.) and the display looked professional. There was also a very good and friendly atmosphere.

I also managed to paint an oil painting over the week-end. It’s not finished yet, but I will be able to show it to you soon.

I will be again at the Platform (Faringdon Road, SN1 5ED Swindon – England) next week-end from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Technorati Tags : Swindon Open Studios SOS 2011 Open Studios The Platform Swindon

Let the water do the work

In watercolour, the water plays a greater role than in other water-based media (like gouache or acrylic). The water is not only the solvent but influences the quality of the colour and the final effect and is therefore an integral part of the aesthetics.

With watercolour, you can let the water do the work (or at least some of it).

The following method was shown to me by a watercolour tutor years ago:

1) Draw lightly with a pencil on a dry watercolour paper the form you want to fill with colours;

2) Take a clean brush and load it with water;

3) “Paint” the whole form with the clean water;

4) Take some colour from your palette with a round brush;

5) Touch the centre of the form with the tip of the brush and see the colour spread and fill-in the form.

This technique works better if your watercolour pad is slightly tilted (30 degrees approximately) because it help the pigments go down. This technique is good for intricate forms, in particular if you want to have a smooth wash like in the wet on wet technique.

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Swindon Open Studios 2011

This week-end and the next, I am taking part in the Swindon Open Studios at The Platform. We will be 10 artists in this space. 

Where:

The Platform (Ex railway museum),
Faringdon Road,
SN1 5ED Swindon

When:

• 10th  -11th September 2011, 11am to 5pm and
• 17th - 18th September 2011, 11am to 5pm

Late roses

Late roses - Watercolour by Benoit Philippe

A visit to the Serpentine Gallery

We went to London last week-end and parked the car in Kensington Gardens, almost in front of the Serpentine Gallery, which exhibits modern and contemporary art. The gallery is not far from Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain.

The current exhibition in the main gallery, until 17 September 2011, is an installation titled The Mirror of Judgement by the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. It is a maze made of sheet of cardboards, with a number of world religion symbols placed along the visitor’s path. More details and photographs are available on the page for the exhibition.

The bookshop stocks a fine selection of books on contemporary art, photography, architecture, design, as well as cutting-edge art reviews. I recommend a visit.

Next to the main gallery is the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. The current i(1 July - 16 October 2011) has been designed by Peter Zumthor and is called Hortus Conclusus. The pavilion is totally black with a long garden in the centre. The flowers in the border make a wild arrangement of herbs and flowers. There is a sharp contrast between the pure lines of the black building and the organic and colourful explosion of the garden.

The two things I liked are that quietness of the place, with the table and chairs arranged under the roof, around the garden; and the fact that there is no way to suspect, from the austere outside of the pavilion, the beauty of the inside.

The weather was uncertain and the pavilion was a calm shelter to drink the coffee we bought at the old Renault van parked on the side of the Serpentine Gallery.

The gallery is small and therefore a good way to introduce young children to contemporary art without boring them.

Practical details

Serpentine Gallery

Kensington Gardens

London W2 3XA

T 020 7402 6075

F 020 7402 4103

Open daily, 10am - 6pm (note that the Serpentine Gallery is closed to the public in the period between exhibitions. The Bookshop remains open at all times).

Admission free

Website: http://www.serpentinegallery.org/

   Technorati Tags    :  Serpentine Gallery    Michelangelo Pistoletto    Kensington Gardens    Peter Zumthor