The Nude as self portrait.

"Every artist is a narcissist returning to work continually on his own self portrait, even when he is painting the nude.  The gestalt of the creator is woven into the formal elements of painting, every graphic work, every sculpture"

France Borel observes "The artwork feeds on the artists longing, on his passion for the other for the model, the nude before him and on his narcissistic passion for himself.  The creative act is profoundly erotic in nature."

"They are a kind of fetish operating simultaneously for as sexual substitutes and as a vehicle for erotic projection"

Taken from "erotic art" by angelika muthesius and giles neret

A journey...or something. pt4

The piece has lost that sketchy quality and is starting to look more finished. I want to keep the expressive dashes of colour but i feel as i've added more shadow its becoming too dark and also a little flat.  When i continue to work in it, it should be lighter. With a bolder contrast.  I'm starting to miss the fleshy quality that it had earlier with a dodgy face (see previous pics).

A journey...or something. pt3

With a fresh pair of eyes (not the next day, because it took getting some courage up) i returned to the FACE. I got some feedback off a few people and all they were really seeing was the nude. So i redrew the model larger, redrew the reflection and redrew the painter larger. Then scribbled the painter out cuz it was pants. Also painted over the original artwork of someone else resting against the mirror with my work. The piece becomes increasigly narcissistic

A journey...or something. pt2

Painting in oils takes time. There's no way around it. I like working wet on wet paint. But there comes a point where your just moving the same thing around. Pics above of the process of the painting.  It got to the point where the face was just a nightmare.  I kept moving the paint, and moving. Felt determined that i couldnt leave the studio until it was right....made it worse. went nuts. draw a smiley & went home.  Lesson one learn when to call it a day.

A journey...or something.

I was feeling quite ambitious and brave, so I decided to paint a large canvas. The Canvas is 3x4ft. Which is pretty big as far as i'm concerned.  I had been sitting on the image i wanted to use for some time.  It was just about finding the right thing to do with it.  Usually my work focuses on a single figure, so I wanted to develop more aspects in a piece with more of a narrative.

I had also been wanting to do the traditional things that painters do. Nudes and self portraits. So this one kills two birds with one stone.  I was a bit apprehensive to start because its quite a private and sordid little moment.  But private and sordid little moments is what I paint so....

Halloween

So this is what piss poor painters do on halloween....more painting. My good friend camila let me do her up like a dia de los muertos inspired sugar skull. Completed with roses and some dead flowers (dont ask) for that goth touch.  It would be cool to paint a portrait with a bit more detail. Its trickier painting on faces than canvas. It's something i wish i was better at.

A Hero

A quick blog post about a hero and constant source of inspiration over artschool and now.

Marlene Dumas
Born in Capetown, South Africa, 1953
Lives and works in Amsterdam


I paint because I am a woman.
(It's a logical necessity.)
If painting is female and insanity is a female malady, then all women painters are mad and all male painters are women.
I paint because I am an artificial blonde woman.
(Brunettes have no excuse.)
If all good painting is about color then bad
painting is about having the wrong color.
But bad things can be good excuses. As Sharon Stone said, "Being blonde is a great excuse. When you're having a bad day you can say, I can't help it, I'm just feeling very blonde today."
I paint because I am a country girl.
(Clever, talented big-city girls don't paint.)
I grew up on a wine farm in Southern Africa.
When I was a child I drew bikini girls for male guests
on the back of their cigarette packs.
Now I am a mother and I live in another place that reminds me a lot of a farm—Amsterdam. (It's a good place for painters.) Come to think about it, I'm still busy with those types
of images and imagination.
I paint because I am a religious woman.
(I believe in eternity.)
Painting doesn't freeze time. It circulates and recycles time like a wheel that turns. Those who were first might well be last. Painting is a very slow art. It doesn't travel with the speed of light. That's why dead painters shine so bright.
It's okay to be the second sex.
It's okay to be second best.
Painting is not a progressive activity.

--Marlene Dumas

Experimenting

Started painting by numbers again. Bad. So I decided to free things up by doing some experiments on paper. The piece is mixed media, some graphite, some emulsion, some oil paint. I used a thick lining paper which was primed and left to dry before work started. Planning a series of studies of my excellent model and friend Yasmin. Pretty pleased with the results, You can also have a peek into my studio.

Commission

I was commissioned to paint the above picture. Painting florals is something that i really enjoy. I am very pleased with the results as is the customer. Very happy indeed.

Collaboration/ Trade piece.

A long overdue piece of work finally completed this week. It's my collaboration and trade with ceramicist Denise O Sullivan. You can visit her online shop and links to her other websites about her practice via this link http://www.deniseosullivanceramics.com/

We had agreed on doing a Trade of each others work way back at the start of this year, as we both became increasingly involved in the Exchange project and struck up a good professional connection and friendship.

so long story short i fell in love with her ceramics and wanted some!!! We agreed upon a trade, a tea set for a painting. I let Denise set the brief, which i don't usually do as i wanted the piece to work like a commission.

I have to say the piece took several attempts and canvas going the way of the bin. It should have been really simple on paper. I admire her designs, style, subject matter etc but it was hard to translate that into paint. We both work in two very different medias. Eventually i settled on something which involved a figure, which relates to my work. Because of her love of vintage and Kitch I went for a 50's style pin up. I decided to keep it simple and base it on her rose collection which is my personal favorite. I used a very muted palette of varying shades of white and pastel colours for the roses. After all her canvas (the ceramics) are white china.

I really enjoyed using so much white and dealing with the subtleties of the different tones of grey etc. Which don't really show up to well in the photo

If you have two minutes.

Have a look at my art work by taking a walk around an exhibition. There's a painting of an S&M guy with an over sized erect penis. If you'd find that offensive I wouldn't watch. Then there's some flowers, it's a mixed bag.

The sculpture is by an artist called Andrew Whyte and not by me.

Surface Exhibition Preview 8/7/11

Well its been a bit of a delay since the 8th of July now, but the Surface Preview and exhibition were excellent. Everything came together pretty nicely if i do say so. Sold a painting "Deaths Head Moth" pictured above which was wonderful. We all got some great feedback. Personally I got some vital feedback and comments on my work. Highlights included the music by Charlotte lawton and an unkown violinist. Plus electronic awesomeness from Bitjam. What a great turnout and response from everybody. "Surface" ran for a week at Artwaves gallery Burslem Stoke-on-Trent. Looking forward to the next exhibition.....

Take a card.

So i went and got me some business cards from moo.com. They have my contact details on the front (obviously) and examples of my work on the back in 7 different designs.

Facebook page for my Art

Hello. I made a brand new Facebook Page just for my Art work. Please visit and Like.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marcus-Wemyss-Artist/137551276327209

Facebook is such a fantastic tool for social networking and marketing. However it can blur the lines between work and play. Having a page just for art work is brilliant and a lot more professional.

SK!N. the truth and a few thoughts

SO. If you have been reading my recent bloggings. I had gone and gotten myself tattooed in The Exchange and Called it Art. The iconic image of the Snake and Rose. Beauty concealing danger. I am my art. Decoration and pain. The body as canvas....

Lies,lies,lies.

It was a transfer from a Staffordshire based company Roood Boogie Temporary Tattoos. Visit their online shop @ http://www.stallholder.net/index.php?option=com_community&view=profile&userid=423&Itemid=378

The idea itself was "borrowed" from a Birmingham based performance Artist. Seeing the Roood boogie folks on facebook and knowing that a colleague and fellow artist at The Exchange had all the equipment meant that the idea was practical.

The aim of this piece was essentially to drum up interest around myself as an artist and also the upcoming Surface exhibition on the 8th of July. A publicity stunt. The local rag would run a piece with photos, it would create a bit of a buzz, people would want to engage a bit more with what were doing as a group.

At no point was it meant to deliberately offend anyone, or make light of Tattooing and the amazing art work that today's tattooists produce. It was essential that it looked real as possible and showed that the conditions were sanitary and safe as it would be had it been real.

In the end, a couple of colleagues text me wishing me luck. One person came and asked me about it at the opening night preview. She had been making a bee line for me to find out more. I felt a bit bad when i explained it was all a hoax. The feedback was good though. She thought i was completely mental and that it was a radical idea and wanted to know more. It was worth it because it was so much fun to do. We all had a laugh sorting it out. A grown woman drawing on a grown mans arm in pen. People pretending to drink wine and be interested. I was as nervous as if it was actually going to be permanently applied. My adrenaline was pumping. That in itself was performance art i reckon.

Why maybe it didn't work

• It happened in Stoke-on-Trent. Nuff said.
• Tattoo culture has exploded over the last few years so maybe it wasn't such a shock
• The end product of photos simply looked too unrealistic
• Sending a really shitty email to the assistant editor of the sentinel a week before, didn't help. HAH.
• It wasn't promoted enough? But it was supposed to be a promotional tool, not an entire project.

In conclusion

• I'm really glad that it happened and thanks so so much to everyone who helped and got involved. You are brill.
• Artists should be tricksters from time to time.
• A BIT* of bullshit never hurts anyone
• It was a different and fun way of marketing a product. Which in this case was the exhibition.

One last thing. Find Roood Boogie on facebook. Their customer service was second to none and they were very very helpful. Cheers.

UP! Disney and Pixars Kids film not for Kids.

First of all let me start by saying that i know this film has been out for about two years now. Secondly is it really appropriate to blog about it on this page? Well it's my blog and i want to talk about everything that inspires me or makes me think. Plus i bloody love Up! Decided for whatever reason that i needed to watch it for the third or possibly fourth time last night.

If you haven't seen it yet then DO. Go on, NOW. In my opinion it's the best and maybe the most overlooked Pixar movie to date. Admittedly a brief cinema write up describes that a man and boy go on an adventure in a floating house quirky heartwarming etc etc. So i didn't see it at the cinema but waited for DVD.

Actually it's a very very clever little piece of cinema.

I wont give a synopsis of the plot because you really should see it if you haven't. After a plot and character set up there's a montage set to music that tells the life story of a child hood sweethearts Ellie and Carl. Quirky yes, heartwarming yes. But whats happening now? After dreaming of raising a child the wife suffers a miscarriage and can no longer bare children. There dream then changes to that of travel and adventure but then she dies prematurely. The dream left unfulfilled. The husband left alone in their empty home with remorse. No words in this sequence, a life story summed up with with moving image and music.This is for kids right? This films got layers. Basically. Lots of them, and a few hard hitting messages about life. The life story sequence basically says that life happens whilst you are busy making other plans, as they say. Carl and Ellie Frederickson's adventure fund was always spent on more pressing needs.

More stuff Happens and the old man decides to escape his current predicament by attaching thousands of helium balloons to his beloved house and makes his way on the adventure he dreamed of with his wife. To posthumously fulfill her dream. Idea the second; at some point most people have been a situation or place that makes them want to tie balloons to our house and get the fuck out of there. A dream of escape. I know i have.

Mr Frederickson (unwillingly) acquires companions on his adventure a young adventure scout named Russell, a flightless giant bird named Kevin, and a talking dog, yes i just said talking dog named Doug. These characters are all undoubtedly the comic relief for the movie and provide genuine laugh out load moments.The villian of the film is Charles Muntz himself now an old man. A man so obsessed with the capture of the bird "Kevin" that his whole life has been dedicated to this task in isolation save a pack of more talking dogs. There are no lengths, including murder that he wont go too. If he could just capture that bird, he would be famous and loved again.

The floating house gradually and cleverly turns from a mode of escape into a metaphor for grief. Third idea; People have baggage. There are things in life we carry around with us. Emotional pain, past traumas, loss, bereavement, guilt etc etc. They weigh us down and change who we are. Consume us, if we let them. We all have something whatever it may be.

Charles muntz's inability to let go lead to his eventual demise. Oh right, fourth point this film is about letting go. See also reconciling with the past and moving on. Yes, still a "kids film" from pixar, you know they did stuff about Toys, Cars and a rat that wants to cook.

SPOILERS*****

Mr Frederickson learns this lesson the hard way and realises he must move on towards the end of a film in a remarkably touching scene where he reads his wife's old scrapbook. Proving that she died happy, content with the life they shared which was itself an adventure. Urging him to seek a new one. I am unashamed to say that this scene makes me weep like a little girl. There. Happy? I even go "a bit off" just thinking about it. I would definitely draw comparisons to the kissing scene in Cinema Paradiso. It's a touching revelation and look back at a persons life.

There is plenty of action and comedy too. It certainly wont leave you on a low. But i really don't think I've seen another animated children's film about death, bereavement etc that questions the human experience. It's worth mentioning that WALL E is definitely in the same league. So go watch that too.

Adios.

Stolen.

NOTHING IS ORIGINAL. STEAL FROM ANYWHERE THAT RESONATES WITH INSPIRATION OR FUELS YOUR IMAGINATION. DEVOUR OLD FILMS, NEW FILMS, MUSIC, BOOKS, PAINTINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, POEMS, DREAMS, RANDOM CONVERSATIONS, ARCHITECTURE, BRIDGES, STREET SIGNS, TREES, CLOUDS, BODIES OF WATER, LIGHT AND SHADOWS. SELECT ONLY THINGS TO STEAL FROM THAT SPEAK DIRECTLY TO YOUR SOUL. IF YOU DO THIS, YOUR WORK (AND THEFT) WILL BE AUTHENTIC. AUTHENTICITY IS INVALUABLE; ORIGINALITY IS NON-EXISTENT. AND DON’T BOTHER CONCEALING YOUR THIEVERY - CELEBRATE IT IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT. IN ANY CASE, ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT JEAN-LUC GODARD SAID: ‘IT’S NOT WHERE YOU TAKE THINGS FROM - IT’S WHERE YOU TAKE THEM TO.’

— JIM JARMUSCH

SK!N.

SK!N is finished. If you think i look like shit, that's because i feel it. Will post some better pics once everything is heeled. A big thank you to my super talented tattooist for realizing my vision and the audience for there participation.

SK!N

Starting to get painful now. Nearly at the end.

Sk!N

Tattooing well under way I interact with the audience as it takes place. They relax and enjoy wine, as i am in pain. What sadists.

SK!N Transfer and start of ink

SK!N The Idea and Prep. Health and Safety

Below Left is the painting from

which the SK!N idea was taken. I have recently made paintings influenced by old school tattooing by Sailor Jerry and Doc Forbes to name a couple. Their tattoo designs are simple but striking and laden with symbolism. I wanted to translate this imagery into abstract and expressionistic oil paintings.

On the 4th of July 2011. Having completely nothing to do with American independence day the Exchange was transformed into a

"Tattoo Shop" to set the stage for a radi

cal performance art piece which involved myself getting

tattooed with an image based on my work and designed by myself. I wanted to push the idea of SURFACE to the very limits. The exhibition opens on the 8th of July at Artwaves, Nile Street, Burslem. All of the artist experiment with different surfaces and medias. For this piece my body would become the canvas.

Everything was set up within Health and Safety and Hygeine guidelines with licensed Tattooist Miss Guided. This was not a decision entered into lightly. As the artwork will be with me all of my life.

SK!N

PORN.

I was waiting for a bus and sat next to me was a builder reading a porno....

My studio is getting pretty busy in preparation for July. It actually looks like there is a painter using it at the moment.

I had found that what little recent work i had done lacked ambition. I had become stifled by "But will someone buy it" and "does this show that i can paint". Overthinking everything and producing nothing, treating canvas and paint like there was no more left in the world. Thinning down oils like a miser.

This of course was bullshit. After losing out on a bursary i decided to stop being such a pussy and invest in myself. The paintings to the left were done on Wallpaper lining paper. Stretched across the studio wall and stapled on, then primed.

This method instantly eliminated the fear/hold that canvas had over me. I also nipped out and bought a big stash of porno mags.

The thing about Porno mags is that they are a real thing, an actual item. Where as online porn isn't. Theres also something decidedly retro about the porn mag. With a world of absolute filth at your fingertips for free on the internet its a pretty obsolete modus operandi for visual pleasure. But maybe I digress.

It's mainly the glossy images and that "sleazy" aspect that i am interested in for my paintings. That dirty little secret, feel. Something to be hidden. I want to take that feeling and splash it across walls, make others feel it too. Figuratively by which i mean "figurative art" Your not going to get better source material or more accurate depictions of the human body than a porno mag.