DISCOVER

WINCHESTER DISCOVERY CENTRE

'CITY SPACE'

WINCHESTER ART CLUB

ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2012

SATURDAY 1- SUNDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

Images taken for my blog only and will not be distributed any other way

A lovely variety of artwork covers the walls of this small exhibition and I was pleasantly surprised at the mix of skill and creativity. The show demonstrates a love for all subjects, from nature to portrait, to landscape to abstract, the work was definitely aesthetically pleasing and it would suit all ages and anyone with an eye for art.

This exhibition is a great way to promote artists in the area, school and college students and more. I specifically enjoyed the landscape, water-colour paintings, as the detail and simplicity really pleases the eye. One of the main reasons I enjoyed the work on show was because it reminded me of my own work however now I prefer to make my images by

through photography. 

INTERNATIONAL GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR-

 IMAGES OF A GREEN PLANET
www.igpoty.com

The exhibition space was light and spacious and straight away I was blown away by the beautiful images in front of me. I am a huge fan of garden, flower, nature photography of any kind and I was very pleased to have found out about this exhibition as it was definitely worth seeing. It really must have been hard to decide a winner for all categories as they were all worthy winners in my eyes. The colours of the flowers filled the room and brought the white space to life particularly the strong macro shots.

The were photographs chosen by The Royal Photographic Society which must have been an honor even for second and third place. There are many photography exhibitions of contemporary and conceptual focuses and they give people a mind-boggling experience, going away thinking what was that all about? But going into this one gives you a totally different experience, and one you have to talk about, and clearly.

The first category is: 

Trees

This category focuses on the importance of trees' in our lives and their beauty.

Don Johnston, finalist

'Birch Trees and foliage in spring'

Greater Sudbury, Canada

Nikon D3, Nikkor 80-200mm, 1/80 sec, f/6.3

The white birch is a common tree in that area, the foliage is from saplings nearer the camera,  he likes to make impressionistic images of common things and he has focused on the tree trunks using a wide aperture and kept the foliage evenly distributed. 

You immediately get a burst of colour in your face and you have to look more closely to find your way through the green in the foreground. This image is interesting in terms of the abstract focus and is a different way of making something simple so much more exciting.

 Category:
Wildlife in the Garden

Kin Corning

'Robin in the Forest' (top right)

Nikon D300 200-400mm, 1.4x teleconverter

1/200 sec at f/5.6, slightly cropped

Taken from his home garden in Surrey, this image stood out most out of the four, just because of the crispness of the branches and the snow. The Robin really is the favourite of the garden and his pretty red breast stills the show here.

Category: 

Plant Portraits

Mandy Disher 1st Place

'Choca Mocha'

Canon 450D, 60mm Macro lens

1/125 secs at f/3.2

In this image the focus clearly was to accentuate the amazing rich colour of the flowers and the textured petals. This was one of my favourites because of the contrast of the foreground and background and how equally important it is to get the balance right. Mandy Disher has complimented the flowers well  and deserves the place she got.

Category:

Garden Views

Charles Needle

Morning Splendour

Georgia, USA, Callaway Gardens

Nikon F4

Situated in a 12 year old, 40 acre public garden, the beautiful pink explosion emphasizes this garden and it's flowers and the mist surrounding the area just highlights the beauty even more. Needle has made a lovely composition and was a real pleasure to look at.

Plant Portraits

John Grant, 1st Place

Fairytale and Reveries, Studio

Canon 5D Mark 11

These creative, expressionistic and abstract prints were unusual but very intricate and pretty. There were six images in total but these were my favourite and although they were taken by a top of the range digital camera they looked very traditional, like they had been taken on film. I think thats what gave these images the edge over the others in their category. A Stunning set of photographs, with subtle, de-saturated colours that catch your eye.

Same as above

Category:

People in the garden

Jason Ingram, 3rd place

The hands that pick the food that I eat, 

Bristol

The black and white photographs on their own separate wall portray a great message and  they are really expressive and detailed. The close up of the hands and the food is simple but conveys and makes the story more understandable. 

This exhibition was well worth the journey!

DAVE MCKEAN: A RETROSPECTIVE

DAVE MCKEAN: A RETROSPECTIVE

THE WILLIS MUSEUM

BASINGSTOKE

Dave Mckean is an award winning artist of Illustration, photography, graphic design, film-making and music. He has many Illustrations that feature in graphic novels and books and in 2005 he co-wrote and directed the film, "Mirror Mask", with Neil Galman. (below)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366780/

Mckean was a conceptual artist in two of the Harry Potter films and he designed album covers for Alice Cooper, John Cale and Michael Nyman.

Harry Potter, Dementor

The exhibition includes framed works of his book Illustrations, Original comic book art, photographs, Album covers and personal projects. My first impressions of the work was that it seemed and felt quite dark and troublesome, it demonstrates a high level of creativity and imagination and I did grow quite fond of it after viewing it all. I particularly became drawn to the mixed media pieces rather than the illustrations, as they seemed to have a bit more life and colour. His traditional techniques and materials really emphasize his style and give an element of personality to the work. 

Dave Mckean has an Award for World Fantasy and Best Artist 

Apart, and yet a part

Bill Bruford's, Earthworks, 1998

Acrylic, photography, collage, digital image

From Taplow, Slough, Berkshire, featuring his work, here in Basingstoke makes you feel a little more fond of Mckean and his work because of his roots and the idea that someone with this amazing career in the art industry has been so successful.  I think the interesting and quirky drawings and graphics make you think about your childhood and all the fantasies you once had or still have and I think it makes art extremely pleasing to view like this.

Dave Mckean: The Particle Tarot: The major Arcana

His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art and sculpture. Being so versatile and skillful in so many areas must have made his mind clearer in how he would use his artistic ability, his work has attracted people from all industries including the film and music industry which makes him really versatile.

Illustration: Tap, frog and flower

Black Orchid #1, 1998, Acrylic

Mckean has published four books of photography: 

• A small book of black and white lies, 1995
• Option: click, 1998
• The particle Tarot: The Major Arcana
• The particle Tarot: The Minor Arcana

Cover Design, Hell Blazer

Collage, acrylic, pencil, ink and stones

In some of Mckean's work there were random materials applied, for example a fish in one piece, and the image above demonstrates use of stones. This may appear very different to some people viewing the art but others, maybe more familiar with fine art may think this as experimental. For me I felt it added another quality to the work to make it that bit more exciting and interesting. I can relate to this work in a way because it's how I worked at college when I studied in Fine Art, I was very much a mixed media artist and I would still work that way being it's definitely more expressive.

Heart Strings and Watch Stops

Mister X, 1989, Ink

The exhibition has finished now but if you're interested in seeing more work visit this website:

http://www.davemckean-collector.co.uk/page_855311.html

Thank you for reading, feel free to comment!

Summer Antics

Summer Photography

I finished my first year at Uni in May, so I have had 4 and a half months to keep thinking and making photography. I will be honest and say I haven't always had my digital or film camera with me, however what does go everywhere with me is my iphone and I have to say it does deliver reasonable results. I don't have this idea of what makes an amazing photographer is expensive equipment, I just think camera, creativity and "having a good eye", and to be honest, thats all you need in my opinion.

As you may have seen in my Instagram post I have been using this application to share my recent and past photography that I know people will appreciate and if it means I'm still making photography and keeping the subject in mind than that's what I'll continue to do. 

I have always been a lover of nature and landscape photography because these two things never fail in their beauty and aesthetics department. Other than relying on the weather you are not regularly disappointed, and even this can be a positive. I have particularly grown fond of cloud formations, as this can create very dramatic and interesting compositions.

The Garden

The first few photos you will see have come from an obvious place for nature and that's the garden. Although it's very cliche I always think you can't disregard what's closest to home.

These images have been taken from instagram, hence the square composition, the first two have been made with my Canon 600d and the others with my iphone. Some have had filters applied and others haven't, I don't always feel the need to use them.

These Roses were taken with my iphone and it just shows that you can still get sharp images, if you just take the time and patience.

Egypt

In July I had my beach holiday in Egypt, Sharm, and it was great! I didn't take many photographs here as we didn't go out of the complex very often so I thought there isn't a lot of art in people sitting round the pool, (well depends how you look at it I guess). These were shot on my phone.

The hotel gardens, Coral Sea Resort, Sharm

The Private Beach

Soho Square fountain show, Sharm

The West Country

A few times a year I go with my boyfriend to see his Dad in Somerset and this year we went to a place called Wimbleball Lake in Exmoor where his Dad has a sailing boat and sails regularly. I thought the lake and its' surroundings were beautiful. We also drive past Stonehenge and as it was such a moody day outside I had to get a shot of this ever popular monument.

A View of the hills through shrubbery.

Stonehenge and its' visitors.

Hayling Island

The beach is not just a stoney beach but is littered with cockle shells ,and this fascinated me most.

Newtown

 I like to go for "mystery" drives where we end up somewhere different, normally with my boyfriend as he has the car! Newtown is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, located just south of Newbury. We found this common which has several different walks and directions you could go.

Avington and Easton

Easton is a village in Hampshire, England, situated on the River Itchen, 2¾ miles north east of Winchester. Avington is another village nearby and it's landmark is Avington Park which dates back to the 16th Century, but has been considerably altered since then. You are able to take a tour round the house, I plan to go back and do this.

http://www.avingtonpark.co.uk/ 

Easton village church

A few more flowers...

There may be more to come...

INSTAGRAM LOVE

Instagrammers!

There has been a debate about the successful smart phone application, Instagram. Uploading and sharing photographs you have or haven't taken with your phone and then changing the filters (or not) to create something new and interesting whether it took them 1 minute to a whole day. The debate here is that aspiring photographer's and professionals alike have been concerned to whether the app adds value to the photograph or even classifies as "photography". Another debate is to whether people who don't study the subject have become or are oblivious to the skill, creativity and technical aspect to any kind of photography.

I am discussing this because I am a fan of Instagram, and I believe that any photo, belongs to the subject, "Photography" because when isn't a photograph a photograph? There are people people who believe that it isn't good enough to make you a pro, but then why are there so many people who use it? 

I have been using Instagram for quite a while now and it has never really occurred to me whether it changes the value of photography or not. I use it to share my photos with other people, experiment with the filters it gives you and really for a bit of fun and to pass the time! I also enjoy seeing what other people have made and there really is some amazing work. 

Instagram has expanded its reputation rapidly in such a short space of time and I don't think people should regard it as competition at all. People can share what ever they like, there are no restrictions and no expectations, some people even share their dinner with us!

I have never thought that anyone was judging me and that's why I have always liked the application itself and to be honest it's quite a buzz when people "like" you photo or even follow you. I agree that there is some amazing photography on there and that's one of the reasons why I use it, however there are many people with 1000's of followers with pictures purely of food, or images uploaded from the internet, so I don't consider the app as a gateway to photography as not everyone is there for that, it's just what ever floats your boat at the time and sharing your experiences with the world.

Another point I will raise is that It encourages the use of mobile photography, and for me this does not effect whether you are good or bad at photography it's "how you use it" that counts. We as students in photography are always encouraged to experiment and explore the different ways and techniques of other equipment other than DSLRs, and I totally agree that you can make some equally as good images.

I have shared some of my images from Instagram. Visit my  Instacanvas gallery at:

instacanv.as/rosieknightley

Please share your thoughts and opinions too.

Have some fun with Instagram now!