The confessions of my new art project

The confessions of my new art project

       It has been so long since I have updated this blog. It almost feels like going into the confessional box and telling the priest "bless me father for I have sinned. it has been 9 years since my last confession". I think any one that has a catholic upbringing will know what that is like LOL.

        By the way I am not at all religious, but I would be spiritual (if that makes since). But for anyone that is not of the catholic faith, which by the way includes me, the confession is a very sacred sacrament and it is when you go in and confess your sins and cleanse your sole. In a way its the psychiatrist of the catholic world, but instead of getting a pill to heal your wows, you have to say penance and mend your ways. I remember as a young boy , the priest started laughing at the innocence of my sins and it was kind of nice the he showed such a human side. Now I still had to say a few prayers, but it was clear I wasn't a bad kid at the time.

       So it has been over a year since this blog was updated. Still haven't got a job although I have to say, things are starting to look brighter on the job front and I am sure I will get a new job this year.

       SO what have I been doing for the last year?  Well I did a 9 month computer course and got a few qualifications on becoming a computer technician. I learned a lot about how to fix, build, maintain, set up and service computers and small servers. However, I have not been able to get a job as I just do not have experience. Its kind of a catch 22 situation. But the one thing I learned more than any thing else, while doing the computer technician course, was that I really don't think it is a job for me. Don't get me wrong, if I was offered a job in computers, I would snap it up straight away and as with all jobs I did in the past, I would throw myself into the work and do my very best. The only thing about being a computer technician is I feel it is not a creative job and my artistic side would suffer. But earning money, paying taxes and making a contribution to society instead of being on the dole, is something that a normal citizen should do and I feel bad that I'm not.

       As for art? to be honest I haven't done that much over the last year, although I do get the craving and my head is full of projects and ideas. I so want to do a few projects, but the life just seems to get in the way.

       I have however completed one prototype project this year, when I carved a Celtic cross in stone. I used my Record engraver for the first time, that I purchased 3 years ago, and have to say it turned out very well. I made it to look like it is very old and weathered looking. Allot of work went into it and I am very happy how it turned out.

       The stone I used came from a beech down in Co. Kerry and I have had this stone for over ten years as it was I kept it as a memento from when my friend got married in Glennbay in 1998. I always knew I would use the stone in an art project, even though I was still doing cabinetmaking at the time.

       Anyway, here is my stone Celtic cross. I decided not to put any real detail or Celtic knot work in this cross, as I wanted it to look primitive and also, I just think the stone is way to small and would just crumble if the detail was to fine. I am happy as it looks very old and weathered. I hope you all like it. I'd just like to point out that all the lines are straight and angels are correct(although the photo makes it look off) however the stone isnt. 

The reason I say this is a prototype, is because I want to carve a stone, with the names of family that are buried in KillyDonnell, back home in Ramelton Co.Donegal. We have a family grave that holds 12 of my ancestors and I would like there names to be on the grave. There is a large stone Celtic cross, but I don't think it would look good to have the names carved on it. I was thinking of taking a stone from the old family home and carve the names on it. I think this would be a nice tribute to everyone who is buried in the grave.

I will update you, when I start the project. However I am not sure when I will be back home in Donegal as I was only home once last year.

So until next time, thank you for reading my blog and any feed back is always welcome. Good or bad.

 

Evidence Sculpture

 

Evidence Sculpture

A few years ago I was lucky enough to go back to education and was accepted into BCFE www.bcfe.ie  to do year of learning Art, Mixed media & Design. This to me was a fantastic opportunity as I hoped it would bring me into the world of art or maybe back to cabinetmaking. The one thing I have missed when I had a job, was being allowed to be creative. This was the reason I wanted to become a cabinetmaker in the first place, BUT THAT’S ANOTHER STORY and not a very nice one either.

Anyway, as I was saying, I spent a year learning art, mixed media & design (well it was really 6 months) which I thoroughly enjoyed and to say I learned a huge amount would be an understatement. Apart from learning to draw, paint, do sculpture and make handmade prints, we also had to write essays, art reviews and also document all our artwork. In a way I have to say, I enjoyed doing the written work more than the art itself which I know might sound strange, but I think the reason for this is because I was never happy with my art work as I didn’t at the time, have the skill. My painting was very amateurish and my drawing showed a very uneducated hand. Well over the few months in college, my drawing and painting started to improve with practice and learning and even though I haven’t done anything for all most a year, anything I do, now has a very evident progression. When it came to sculpture, I think I was happy with most of my work as I had my cabinetmaking skill to fall back on.  

So for no other reason, other than putting my first post for this year (sorry about that) this is a photo collage of my sculpture entitled SELF SEATED HISTORY which was part of a project we had to do called EVIDENCE.

The idea behind this sculpture was to show my personal history as a piece of furniture which represents some of my history as a cabinetmaker (furniture maker). 

There are 15 pins on the seat of the chair, that represent the years I spent as an apprentice and fully qualified cabinetmaker. The four outside pins are the four years of my apprenticeship and the middle tallest pin is the year I finally left cabinetmaking.  Originally the pins were going to be pikes, but I felt this would have been too great a danger as it was going to be shown and handled in public.  

The seat itself is covered with printed paper that tells about the job of a cabinetmaker and along the legs and on the chair body itself, shows all the addresses I have lived at during my life and also all my personal modes of transport I have owned, such as the makes of cars and bikes as I felt this was an important part of my personal history.

 

The finish I used on the wood of this sculptural chair is wax that has been painted over and the idea behind this finish is that the more the sculpture is handled, the more the paint will come off showing the original waxed wood. This represents the fact that nothing is really permanent and the painted lettering may eventually disappear as my own history will, over time.

  

Finally, there is a plaster cast of my face that seems trapped, to me represents how we are all governed by our own thoughts and experiences. 

All in all, I was very happy with my sculpture and also my original design of the chair, which came as a big surprise to me as I never thought of designing a chair before.  If I had my own workshop, I would like to further this chair design and make a few for myself using better wood and materials.  

Thank you for reading my blog and sorry that this really is filler that I am posting as I have found it really hard to write anything this year. 

If you have any suggestions, please let me know