The Queen Mosaic
Chris Murphy
Saturday, June 16, 2012
10:00 AM
Jubilee artwork on display in Margate the size of a double-decker bus
A photo mosaic of the Queen that is the size of a double-decker bus is on display this weekend.
The incredible artwork was created by Helen Marshall for BBC South East to celebrate the Jubilee.
It will be on show at Margate’s Turner Contemporary this weekend, which is one of the few galleries in Kent big enough to cope with the sheer size.
It will be les than a year since the Queen herself visited the new gallery.
The artwork is made up of more than 50,000 photos sent in by viewers of the show. Using the basic colour of the snap, Marshall used a special computer programme to map out the pictures to create images of the Queen as she is now, and as she was during the coronation.
The work is called The People’s Monarch. One person who donated a picture is Philippa Wilson from New Romney. She sent in a photograph which captured the moment when she was reunited with her husband, Private Paul Wilson, on his return from six months’ duty in Afghanistan.
She said: “The photo captures the emotion of our first hug. I feel it would be a wonderful addition to your mosaic as he had just returned from fighting for Queen and country and is very patriotic.”
And third generation British Indian Baljit Balrow from Maidstone, sent in a picture of herself wearing traditional Indian jewellery and a Union Jack painted on her face.
Baljit said: “I want this picture to represent our proud multicultural Britain. No matter how much you adapt to another culture, it doesn’t mean you lose your cultural roots.”
Vicki Berry, producer for BBC South East, said: “Thousands of people submitted family portraits, photos of their ancestors, snaps of important occasions in their lives and of times that made them laugh. Many used the opportunity to remember loved ones they had lost, sharing precious memories.
“Stand up close to our portrait and you will see a mass of touching, funny or inspirational photos – step back 20 paces and it transforms to become a double portrait of the Queen.”
The work is on show at Turner Contemporary on Saturday and Sunday.
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
Artists will set up their easels for Plein Air Richmond - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Artists' easels will sprout like mushrooms this week around Richmond.
The first Plein Air Richmond, described by organizers as a "weeklong paint out," gets under way Monday and continues through Saturday. Forty-seven juried artists, including at least seven from the Richmond area, will paint, with proceeds from painting sales benefitting the Richmond Symphony.
The week also includes a preview party and gala, painting demonstrations and a "fast and fresh" event Saturday morning during which juried and non-juried artists are invited to paint side-by-side on Monument Avenue. The public is invited to watch the artists work during the week.
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time," said Loryn Brazier of Richmond's Brazier Gallery, which is hosting the event. "Other places do it all over the country. I just decided this would be a good time to do it."
Plein air painting means painting on location, or, as the French phrase suggests, painting in the "open air." Richmond is an excellent setting for such artists because of the city's historic architecture, picturesque gardens and attractive public spaces, Brazier said. The Fan, Church Hill, Maymont, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and Hollywood Cemetery are just a few of the places beckoning painters.
"People come here and are amazed at how exciting Richmond is," Brazier said.
The artists will fan out across Richmond each morning, searching for that perfect spot where the light is just right. Each day, the public is invited to a designated "location of the day" to see some of the artists at work. Locations include:
- Monday: Pony Pasture and Belle Isle
- Tuesday: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and West Avenue
- Wednesday: Rocketts Landing and Libby Hill Terrace
- Thursday: Shockoe Bottom, Shockoe Slip and the Farmer's Market
In addition, a demonstration will be offered by artist Lori Putnam on Tuesday afternoon at Lewis Ginter and another on Friday at "Lunch and Learn" with artist Anne Blair Brown at Six Burner Restaurant (the event is free, but reservations are required for lunch).
A ticketed preview cocktail party to view the week's paintings will be held Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Brazier Gallery, 1616 W. Main St., then move across the street to Try-me, a gallery in a former bottling company, for a gala with music provided by the Richmond Symphony. The exhibit and sale will be open to the public at Brazier Gallery from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, as well as Saturday and June 24.
On Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon on Monument Avenue between Lombardy and Davis streets, juried and non-juried artists (willing to pay a $10 entry fee) will set up their easels and paint, then have their finished works available for exhibition, judging and sale afterward.
"People can buy the wet paintings right off the easel," said Brazier. Proceeds from those sales also will benefit the symphony.
Plein air painting might appear to be less precise than studio work, but there is an art, so to speak, to sitting or standing before an easel and capturing a scene on canvas in a matter of a few hours or even minutes before the light and the inspiration fade.
Beth Marchant, one of the local artists chosen to participate in the event, has come to plein air painting only in recent years. She has painted professionally for more than 30 years, focusing on architecture, typically painting portraits of homes as she works in a studio with photographs as a guide. She was introduced to plein air painting a few years ago, and it "opened up a whole new world for me," she said.
Plein air painting is like a live performance, while studio painting is more akin to a recorded one, she said. "I had always painted from photographs, and you can just keep looking at the same subject over and over again, day after day, and it's still the same. But when you paint outside, the light changes. The view you start off with is not the same two hours later, so you have to learn to work quickly."
However, there is an advantage to working quickly, Marchant said.
"The colors are truer and fresher, and the contrast that you can achieve between the lights and the darks is somehow more exciting," she said. "I think you have less time to fool around and mess something up. It's almost like a sketch, and sometimes sketches are more creative than a controlled drawing. It's just more exciting and lively."
Making artistic judgments quickly has been a challenge to Marchant, who describes herself as "meticulous" by nature. But with experience she's gaining speed in plein air painting, though she's not up to the output of practiced plein air artists, who can turn out three to five paintings in a day.
Marchant is eager to paint with artists she has admired, and, taking a wider view, she believes the event is "really exciting for the city of Richmond."
"I think this is going to be a really cool event," she said.
Source: www2.timesdispatch.com
Sign in to leave your comment
0 comments