Alasdair Thomson- The identity collection

 As a follow up to the On Form stone exhibition at Asthall Manor, I have researched the stone sculptor Alasdair Thomson who lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland. Through his current series of sculptures, Alasdair is exploring the way fabric hangs and folds, and is attempting to capture this lightness and gracefulness in stone. It has been named 'The identity collection' because his recent sculptures are carved copies of garments donated by his friends and family. He seeks to capture the characters of those he invited to donate. The results are timeless and nostalgic.

This sculptor appealed to me due to his portrayal of memories and the meaning behind his sculptures. I loved the idea of preserving a garment which will last for hundreds of years to come. I see this as a technique of true reflectivity and a way to capture personal objects. I like the idea of seeing how the fabrics hangs and folds which must be an incredibly tricky and time-consuming process. Alasdair has used Carrara marble to create these pieces. It is pure white with slight flecks which contrasts with the surroundings and gives the garments a special, weightless feel. I have decided to use this artist to link with the direction which I want to take in this project which is personal reflectivity. I have created an A1 page linking to this artist. There are other pictures of his work on here too, including a wedding dress and a pair of trainers, all made of stone. To reflect Alasdair's intention of seeing how the fabric fold and hangs, I have drawn some fabric in oil pastel on the page by observational drawing. I really enjoyed drawing this as the folds are so delicate to get right. And the shading and shadow has to be in the right place for the fabric to look 3D and this is what I feel Alasdair has done so well and a technique which I shall take foreword. 

I would firstly like to create a response from this artist, by perhaps drawing one of his works in a different media in order to get the feel of drawing fabric and then i may continue practising with drapery in different media. I would also like to develop this idea in the future by preserving my own family garments or objects. To do this I could perhaps use plaster to create a hardened surface. Although plaster is not the same as marble, I feel that this would be an interesting technique to try. 

onform sculpture- looking at a new material

In order to be confident in art and to show ability in different areas, it is important to use a range of materials. Therefore I have looked at 3D sculpture to broaden my materials used in this project but to also show cultural links. As an art class we took the opportunity to visit the 'On Form sculpture in stone' exhibition at Asthall Manor which was once home to the famous Mitford sisters. Here we had the chance to explore the grounds peppered with various sculptures carved my a vast number of sculptors. To express this trip and to show my journey throughout, instead of creating an A1 page I have worked into the exhibition book which we were provided with upon arrival:

I have filled this book with various drawings and interpretations of my own. I have annotated the pages and provided a more in-depth analysis of the exhibition. As you can see I have used the title of 'sculpture' and carved into the front page of the book. I had the chance to take my own pictures and these can be found within the book as well as drawings from these. The first double page shows a picture I have taken of one of my peers at the exhibition underneath one of the stone carvings. This not only shows the scale of these objects but also their beauty. Instead of drawing the whole picture, I have focused on one particular part of the sculpture and drawn this close up in blue Biro. I would like to draw larger pictures from these at a later date. 

I have drawn the whole sculpture from some of the diagrams as can be shown here: This was drawn using soft drawing pastels and worked into using a black Biro. I liked the effect of the pastels as they created a kind of grain which truly reflects the characteristic of the stone which has been used. 

I have recently taken an interest in the human form and consequently life drawing (I am yet to attend a class) and so I was keen to find sculptures of the human form. These were a perfect example and I was intrigued by the colour of the stone and the form of the lady. I found drawing this sculpture interesting as it was difficult to draw all of the folds in the skin and to create the correct proportions. 

In the future I would like to draw these on a larger scale and perhaps of my family to show personal reflectivity as I feel this is the direction which I would like to take my project in at the moment.

At the exhibition I didn't solely concentrate on the drawing, I also used my photography skills to take pictures of my own and not just of the sculptures but also of the surroundings and my peers. These can be shown within the book: 

I have also started to draw from these however with this particular one shown above with my friend sitting on the seat, I would like to take this up to a much larger scale in watercolour as shown in the smaller drawing below: 

I have cut sculptures out of the book and created my own also: This is quite and interesting technique as you have to look quite closely to realise. I think that it is only the white background that gives this one away. 

Overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable exhibition and I really appreciated the sculptures on show. To take this further I would like to draw larger from my photographs and perhaps even try some sculpting of my own. I have taken into account the cultural aspects of the stone and evaluated where each type of stone comes from as well as the people who have carved them. I will look closely at these people and choose a sculptor that I like the most to take forward with me through my journey in this project. 

Reflecting on the values of life.

As a miniature project within the reflection title, my art class was tasked with coming up with a drawing to suit one of the 6 values which are considered important within the Marlborough C of E School. These values included: Friendship, Justice, Forgiveness, Peace, Trust and Respect. Each of us was designated a value which we had to interpret and produce a response for. I was given the value of Friendship.

As a starting point I thought that it would be a good opportunity to do some observational life drawing and so I drew two of my peers embracing a hug. This can be shown in the image below and as you can see I have drawn this in pencil (2B) and worked in to it using a fine liner to add depth and tone. I have tried to bring in light and dark and concentrate on where the shadow can be seen which is mainly under the arms and where the two girls join at the sides. the light mainly hits the back of the girls, however I have faded this image towards the bottom to add the effect of weightlessness.

As you can see I have mounted these images on a purple background as this is the colour which has been given to express my value. 

Once all of the values had been drawn, I devised an A1 page to lay them out. Using the idea of a 'values wheel', I created my own using tissue paper to create a stained-glass window effect. 

The tissue paper creates a kind of film which covers the image. As a result I feel that this idea brings out the beauty and meaning of the drawings as can be seen when the whole wheel is shown. 

The quote: 'faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains' was used to bring together all of the values and to suggest that anything is possible if you have faith and put your mind to it. I created a wet-on-wet water colour background for the colour wheel using all of the colours which have been used to express the values. It is a subtle background, yet it adds emotion to the page and contrasts with the white of the wheel before reaching the colour in the middle. Using the outline of the wheel I have added annotation to reflect my thoughts and feelings on each individual value and I have suggested why each of these is important in a school environment. 

I particularly liked the effect of tissue paper on this page which creates a transparent and stained-glass window effect. Therefore to take this project one step further I decided to hang this page on my washing line to see the effect the sun had on this ordinary sheet of paper. 

And as you can see if you take a closer look at each of the drawings, they suddenly come to life and you can really get a feel of what they are trying to express and how they relate to their individual values. I feel the doves particularly work well when the light hits them as it almost seems as if real birds are suspended in the air, creating the feel of peace and weightlessness. 

To link this miniature project to the idea of reflection, i feel that it is important to reflect on the values which are needed to carry a person through life. Without these people would not make mistakes, learn from them and they would not make memories. Therefore i feel that these values are the fundamentals and the base for reflection to occur.