Artists Blog – Joe Hendry

After a mad week when I have not been able to get to the studio, I have spent the weekend painting away.

I have noticed that after a break from painting, I am almost itching to get back and often paint with renewed energy and style changes tend to happen also.
This weekend I have been working on various paintings which have been on the go for a while and also some new artwork.

The most fun over the weekend was attacking a big 3 foot square canvas with a palette knife and no brushes. I have no idea where this large scale face painting is going but as always, time will tell.

I dropped by ArtDeCaf in Glasgow yesterday for a Pear Cider which I am starting to get quite into. I thenk because the glass is filled with ice it lasts so much longer and keeps drunkenness at bay.

The first lady of art in Glasgow was doing a painting demonstration. Alexandra Gardner was busy painting a rather large landscape. Sandyhas taught in various schools including Glasgow School of Art. She tells it like it is and is known for not mincing her words. I dared to ask her for a crit of one of my paintings which was hanging on a wall nearby. Very interesting it was too. Lots of helpful suggestions but the best bit was when she compared my painting to a Leonardo Da Vinci……one with nothing happening at the focal point! Wrapped knuckled for me then.

Other than that it’s been a weekend when I have a dreaded 18 monthly event. Yes, time for mobile phone renewal. I was definately a bit of a tech geek in my younger years and I was up to date with most things but I have to admit to being left behind in more recent years. I am now the owner of a Nokia 5800 which is one of these touch screen jobs. I swear that it must have been designed for people with nails filed to that of a pen nib. If you phone me and I teke a while to answer you’ll know why. I give it a week and I will be swapping the sim card back into my trusty old N95.

Today I thought i would join the life drawing art class at the studios where I am based. If you have read the earlier posts this week you will have seen that it has been a pretty busy time and this was a deliberate attempt to remove myself from all the busy-ness.

Drawing, for me is very different from painting. Dali said, “Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.”

There is certainly some “exposure” in that you cannot hide behind layers of paint. There was the added element today of the model being an expectant lady. I think everyone in the room must have had the thought that they were drawing one person and not two.

Afterwards, I felt much more relaxed but utterly exhausted. This is common when life drawing because of the concentration required.

A good sleep tonight then….

What a mad week it’s been.

There has been a lot happening but I won’t bore you with all the details. At one point this week I was standing on the banks of the Clyde in th middle of rush hour traffic. Noise, people everywhere and the usual City centre hustle and bustle.

I turned round at this point and there was a bird sitting on a post at the quay side.  It really was one of those moments that slows you down and makes you realise that you don’t need to be a part of it all sometimes and can have a quiet moment all to yourself.

Today was one of thos “2 days rolled into one days” which I  don’t mind but I am convince contribute to that feeling of your life passing by too fast (Aldous Huxley was apparently the first to notice this).

Running around trying to get things done and meanwhile painting a portrait which I am being very perfectionistic over possibly is not a good mix. Add to that we had an artist’s meeting today. All very nice people but sometimes I think I prefered it in my previous career when people just said it like it is! It’s fine being sensitive but it really can be a pain in the ass when it comes to making decisions, or moving a meeting along for that matter.

After all this I just had to grab some paint and make a mess! It is so theraputic and a complete stress reliever. So, no portrait which I have been working on for quite a while to show you but here instead is my stress relif artwork.

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh, that’s better.

Sometimes life just bobs along and sometimes you are aware that you are in a period of change. That’s where I seem to be at the moment as there seem to be quite a lot of “big things” happening.

I am getting ready to move home and started the tidy up and put things in boxes excercise. I came across two old portfolios and just couldn’t resist having a rummage through one of them.

I have to say, it was quite a pleasant experience to travel down an artistic memory lane. There were old pieces of art from college and from school days. I thought I would share this “Stevie Wonder” which I painted in oil pastel when I was 14 years old. I have to say that I am quite impressed by it! I remember doing it at the time. I know that I drew it in pencil first but I also know that I didn’t measure it – just went for it without a care in the world as you do at that age. I am a perfectionist for measuring things these days but the freedom to fail seems quite appealing.

Tomorrow in the studio could be interesting….

I have received several comments from art buyers recently along the lines of “oh I didn’t realise how big it was”. They are of course, referring to their recently purchased paintings.

I have had great support from art collectors over the years and have never had a painting returned from a sale via this website but I understand how difficult it may be to understand scale, especially in light of the recent comments.

I know other online art galleries have photoshopped images of art hanging on a wall but thats not really me.

So here is a shot of yours truly, uncharacteristically not smiling in front of  a 3 ft x 3 ft “Madonna Artwork (Bad Girl) to give an idea of scale. Do I do this with every piece of artwork?

Possibly not!

Last night fellow artistGillian Orr and I attended an exhibition at the “Tall Ship” on the River Clyde in Glasgow.

It was one of those nights when you don’t know what to expect but it was a great hoot: but then, most nights out with Gil are.

Sometimes I am not keen on these things because I detest art snobbery, although I love a good argument with an art snob! I wanted to go to this because I knew one of the organisers and he is a fab chap. I also felt guilty that I had never visited the Tall Ship.

We were a tiny bit disappointed that the event was not hosted on the ship.

This was all turned around though when the head of the trust who was an septegenarian sea expert invited whoever wanted for a guided tour of the “Glenlee”. It really was amazing walking around this ship which had been built around 150 years ago. Well worth a visit, especially to the “poop deck” (yes it did raise a titter) and there was even some nautical art hanging from the walls.

I feel that I might be building up to some water related art.

Working in studios with other artists as well as photographers and framers has exposed me to things which I would never have seen otherwise.

Last week when I was in the framers, the art restorer from the studio next to me was in looking for a frame for a painting which he was working on. The painting was a Joan Eardley original worth over 150k. It was painted on hardboard and I just loved being able to look at it. I remember a teacher at school talking about Joan Eardley and her paintings of Glasgow “weans” but I never really paid that much attention to her landscapes for some reason. The internet is at it’s best when it does that whole “library in your home” thing and I have had a great time being blown away by some of her landscapes. They are some of the most emotive I have seen and there is that tinge of sadness when you look at them as she died young.

Today I passed Brian the restorer as I went to clean my brushes. He was working on a huge canvas of an unknown fishing village on the east coast of Scotland painted at the turn of the last century. The figures in the painting were incredible, I absolutely loved it and Brian was pointing out the Pentimento to me. I had not noticed this until it had been pointed out and then it was very obvious. There are many terms in painting which people don’t know and if you do, you sometimes forget: unless that is you studied the Italian language. Pentimento is when an artist paints over his work and this can later be seen on inspection, sometimes only with x-ray.

When he used this word though, he followed it up with another,sfumato and I was immediately transported back to my art lecturer, George Devlin, who used these words but with a broad Glasgow accent. His best, which reduced most of us to tears (not that anyone was brave enough to get caught by George !) was “Chiarascuro”.

Jeely Piece anyone?

I know a few artists who repeatedly paint over artwork which they have created and it really annoys me! To think that someone took the time to create something and then destroys it in a couple of minutes with a large brush and a pot of black paint just seems wrong.

I have done it myself a couple of times and no more. I have painted a couple of paices in the past few months which have not sold. This is no big deal in the art world and especially not in a recession. I am grateful that I have not really had much of a recesion but I know some other artists have had a really tough time. It’s not necesarily a measure of the artwork. I know some painters whose work is outstanding but they may just not be so great at getting it “out there”

I have been quite harsh with myself but I think it’s because I have painted a couple of pieces which i was very happy with and 3 months on, I still have them. So, today, my painting “Cocktails”, rather than being whitewashed or turned into a blackboard got some additional work on top.

I have some meandering ideas in my head but we will see where she heads….