A word to the Wise

Since the last entry I have been actively involved with the Glasgow based employment organisation the Wise Group. Since leaving my last conventional full time job in 2010 I have been shocked by the waste of talent who are either out of work, or under employed. Since April I have been volunteering with the Wise Group, who as a third sector organisation are genuinely motivated to help people achieve their full potential. I am currently working with them to develop new and creative sessions that will compliment some of the imaginative work they are doing with the unemployed, whether to develop an alternative positive mindset, or for those on a much longer path to gain confidence to consider the World of Work. I am a passionate believer that everyone is creative, not some select few of artists/photographers/writers. Children are innately creative, and it's only the pressures and complications of life that shuts much of the openness of possibilities. As Picasso said "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Art is just a vehicle to unlock a new way of looking at things, build confidence and improve self esteem and awareness. I have been looking at new ways to create and find that sense of "playfulness" It has been great for me to try new techniques and medias, to work on accessible ideas for those who may never have tried anything "arty" since leaving school. I have been working with clay which an easy medium to try out first, painting and drawing can be quite intimidating. Here is an example of modelling work which is part of some of the environmental art work I am designing for the Wise Group. This is an an example of clay face which was first created out in the open on the side of a tree as part of an outdoor activity and then after drying painted to created a interesting if not a little spooky face mask. Here is an example of another technique using photosensitive paper which allows you to create permanent and interesting effects just be exposing the paper in sunlight and creating images by placing objects onto the paper Both techniques allow someone with little experience to create interesting and rewarding results. On the Home front and my own artistic efforts I have been working on much larger pieces, the challenge always remains to create work which is in keeping with my own style, or an extension of my own style whilst scaling it up. The larger work gives me some freedom to express more abstract ideas which has its own challenges as the natural tendency for me is to start to over work the piece adding unnecessary detail that do doesn't work within the larger format. This piece is 25 x 25 inches, some scaling up to maybe 36 x 36 would be interesting, but since I work on board the difficulty of getting MDF board with a minimum of 36 inches is looking to be a bit of a challenge. I have also started to explore the en-caustic techniques ( the use of wax ) I have been already been asked on twitter about technique, my philosophy has always been experiment and if it works use it , if it doesn't try again. I am currently using molten beeswax with tube oils and stand oil ( I used the stand oil ) in the fear that the wax will become too brittle on drying and break off. It's all a big experiment which half the fun. It is all too easy to become prescriptive in technique, all art is a journey and if you don't like the destination then move onto another place. Keep travelling and enjoy. So back to the painting and more on my endeavours and journeys into art education and tutoring at a later date. Opening up the possibilities of art to others is a real passion as it was never meant to be stuck up there on that ivory tower, Arts is fun and open to all given the opportunity and encouragement. All the best from a hazy day in Glasgow, Scotland. Ian.