It is strange which images (paintings) people like to buy of mine. I always thought I was operating on the edge of the creative spectrum but it appears my realistic(ish) daubs are more successful.
‘Another Pheasant Bites The Dust’ – oil paint on paper 2014
Oil sketch on board 2012 (smaller than A4)
We were given a potted pepper plant and I have loved watching the peppers grow, changing colour from green to red. I took loads of photos of it but decided to see if I could paint it in oils. I have done three versions of the same plant, two on board and one on canvas – the image above is the first sketch.
An oil sketch or oil study is an artwork made using oil paints, abbreviated in handling and looser than a ‘finished painting’. Originally these were created as preparatory studies or modelli, to gain approval for the design of a larger commissioned painting. They were also used as designs (working drawings) for specialists in other media, such as printmaking or textiles. The concept of a free-flowing painting became acceptable as an independent (finished) work, with no thought of it needing to be ‘finished’.
Sometimes you just have to get back to basics and do a simple still life – returning back to the basic skills of painting a real subject is an interesting exercise – even if not very rewarding.
Sketching: Other common tools for making marks include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses…
The photograph above was taken with my Pentax K1000 35mm camera.
Mail art is a worldwide art and music movement that began in the early 1960s. the principle is simple you send visual art (but also music, sound art, poetry, etc.) through the international postal system. Mail Art is sometimes known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art. Mail Art is a network, based on the principles of barter and equal one-to-one collaboration.
After a peak in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Mail Art phenomenon has gradually migrated to the Internet, whose “social networks” were largely anticipated and predicted by the interactive processes of postal collaborations. Nevertheless, Mail Art is still practiced by a loose planetary community involving thousands of mailartists from the most varied backgrounds.
I will mail you a postcard of an image that was exhibited recently in an exhibition of mine. I have always loved the idea of Mail Art – the forerunner of the Internet! Mail art is a worldwide network… Continue reading ?
Below is the original blurb and finished piece that was sent to a mailart exhibition in the USA in 2003. This was posted and accepted and an email was recieved confirming arrival on Sept 4th 2003.
“I just thought I’d let you know that your piece arrived today, completely in tact. Not even bent! I love the postal service!Thank you so much for your contribution.“
Melissa Muller
Capitalism = Terrorism
exhibited @ “Gallery Night & Day, October 24th & 25th, 2003 – Kunzelmann-Esser Lofts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin“Capitalism = TerrorismWho decides who is righteous? God? The populous? The global economy?Does the minority of the population, who hold the majority of the world’s wealth, make the ultimate decisions, hold the moral high ground and decide who or what constitutes terrorism?…….Or is this all just ‘old hat’ and an old debate?Capitalism is fighting the ‘Axis of Evil’…The battle has too many fronts and too many invisible enemies. Is this the end of capitalism? Are the sands of time running out?Capitalism = Terrorism.Mon Aug 25 19:38:30 2003 |
In the eyes of the ones who have nothing….Capitalism = Terrorism Materials: Acrylic and Oil Paint with commercial vinyl.This image was created on a computer running Windows 98, manipulated and edited using Signlab. The finished version was cut out in vinyl with a Camm-1 Plotter and stuck onto board.‘Mass Production and The New Jesus and Mary’ Memorial design is now almost completely originated on the computer. Standard designs can be purchased from catalogs. My work as a memorial designer has involved producing bespoke designs for commercial clients who reproduce images over and over again.Tue Apr 8 01:31:30 2003 ‘Christ the Capitalist‘ The corruption within the ‘established church‘ has been exposed. Has Jesus cast out the money lenders from the temple or is he charging rent? Jesus Christ, a symbol of capitalism.Sun July 27 11:18:46 2003 | ||||
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North Devon business hosting Ilfracombe From the blog of Veronica Henry Now is the time when I go into M and S and buy at least ten pairs of 60 deniers, in various colours and…
Painting: 55″ x 55″ oil on canvas
by Peter BrightInspired by a cliff walk with one of Robert Rauschenberg’s assistants in 1979 and painted in 2010 and is one of a pair. This painting is now in a private collection. The image of the man holding the fish was taken in Cuba in 1999. We were staying in a beach complex. The canteen that feed us all ran out of food. A handful of us hired … Continue reading ?
View From a Train Window
(now in private collection)
Oil paint on canvas
…the experience of the landscape viewed in shorthand, the trick is to imply with the minimum of effort…
Unfortunately the majority of landscape art fails miserably. However, ‘Lake Lucerne: the Bay of Uri from above Brunnen‘ circa 1844 (by Turner) is the ultimate painting of landscape and nature – it tells a massive story with very little content. This has been an important painting for me since the early 1970’s. I have always admired the New York Abstract Expressionists of the mid 20th century but when I first saw this painting by Turner…… my sock were blown off. It is without doubt a clever (maybe unfinished) conceptual landscape painting.
Landscapes that are seen at speed, blurred, undefined, with a static, pinpoint horizon are better than watching TV. In many respects transferring theses visual clues into (in my case) paint gives a prompt, a reminder of the general feel of the landscape… an estimate, a representation/illusion takes on more realness than the actual physical object, the object then becomes a metaphor for the created illusion. This in turn creates an additional reference for the object, an extra visual adjective eg. ‘The sky was very Turneresque.’ Turner’s illusion becomes a metaphor for the real thing, which vividly describes [in words] the actual sky. The concrete object cannot say everything about itself – it has a limited vocabulary and is unable to say what is required of it. It is on many levels mute.
