Exhibitions and inspiration

We went to see the Da Vinci Drawings Exhibition and the "lost in Lace" exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.   The queue for the Da Vinci was quite long so we decided to leave it until another day. On the way back we came across an exhibition called "A Life in Prints"  -the Tessa Sidley bequest. Tessa Sidley was the curator for prints and drawings for almost 30 years and died in 2011. She left her collection of prints to the Museum.  A lovely surprise to find so many displayed. 

I was particularly taken by a Lucien Freud etching - " Woman with an arm tattoo".There is also a copy in the Tate and the image can be viewed on their website at www.tate.org.uk. This is the same model as the very controversial painting that was sold for several million a couple of years ago - she was a very large lady and several critics seemed offended by her size, that she was not an appropriate model. I wasn't a fan of the painting which was nothing to do with the size of the lady.  However, the etching is a different story.  The marks Lucien Freud made were wonderful and truly inspiring as I have realised recently that I need to expand my "alphabet" of mark making for both my prints and my paintings/drawings. 

 Another wonderful image was a woodcut by Elaine Kowalsky  called "Woman catching a dream".  The movement in the hair really gives energy to the piece.  It wasn't until I got home and looked at my photos (yes you are allowed to photograph most of the work in the museum - we checked) that I realised that there was a profile in the left hand bottom corner.  I spent so much time with my nose pressed up against the glass of the prints looking at the technique and marks that I forgot to step back and get the bigger picture.

 If you get the chance to visit the museum to see the collection they will repay your interest.  Have also discovered that you can arrange a special visit to see prints in the BMAG collection of over 3000 items, that are not usually on display - so that is another date for the calendar.

Next to the "Lost on Lace" exhibition.  After passing through a small exhibition of very traditional lace and in the main gallery also showing the various tools of the trade, we went over to the Gas Hall. This is a truly stupendous building inside, made marvellous by the exhibits. Not sure what to call them - sculptures spring to mind. They are incredible - I will never think of lace in the same way again!  Difficult to describe as each was so different. Each artist had interpreted the work "lace" in a different way. I was also fascinated with the shadows that the pieces throw on the floor - an incredible event. www.bmag.org.uk/events

One thing I did notice that the lace was accompanied by tools and explanation of how lace is made but the prints were not. The labels just said etchings, woodcut, lino cut etc.  I think it would be a useful addition to have a short explanation of the various methods that are used to produce the prints.  I have found in the past that when I have been explaining to my husband the different methods used I get a small audience listening. Quite disconcerting, but showing that people are interested in knowing more about the techniques involved. Some plates would be good to see as well as the inks and tools.

After the exhibitions we went on to spend an enjoyable 3 hours at Dr Sketchy's  Anti-Art School Birmingham.  A lovely mixture of burlesque show and life drawing. The artistes entertain the audience and then spend between 10 and 20 minutes posing. The artiste then chooses their favourite picture and the artist wins a prize. Quite nerve racking - far more so than the regular life drawing session I attend.  I finally relaxed and concentrated on a portrait of the final model - Miss Tiffany Beau.   www.drsketchybirmingham.co.uk

All in all a fascinating, quite tiring and long day.