Contacting Artist: Sharon Tiernan

Home is always pleasant and I wish I could visit more, though being at University has meant I cannot come back as often as I'd like. Bridlington, East Yorkshire, is where I call home and there is nothing nicer than being beside the seaside in an English summer. There are also other perks of visiting, and that is the local art scene; this is where I found the beautiful and technically brilliant work of Sharon Tiernan in a gallery in the centre of town.

 

As soon as I saw her work I had a desire to know more! Therefore, this is how Tiernan responded after I contacted her: 

"Hello Carla.

Thank you for your kind words. 
I don't mind you writing about my work in your blog, and don't mind you using my images.
I have included some of my Personal Statement, as follows:


Sharon Tiernan
Born: Scarborough 1979
Trained: (First Class BA Hons) University of York.
(MA Painting) University of Hull.
Currently works as an artist and tutor of art.


I have a solid grounding in the arts and have a First Class BA Honours degree and Master of Arts degree in Painting. I have exhibited previously in London and Leeds; but have mainly spent the last few years concentrating on passing on my knowledge of the arts through teaching others. I currently teach art and photography in a local Secondary School (full time). I have a studio in Scarborough, which tends to get used mainly on Saturdays and during the school holidays, but occasionally if I am feeling energetic then I will do a couple of hours after work.

This body of work comprises of an eclectic mix of images, demonstrating wide and varied interests. I see painting as problem solving; like a challenge and enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone. I am interested in the physical act of painting, particularly Realist painting, Trompe L’Oeil and photorealist painting. I have a love of painting for its own sake.The physical act of painting is a meditative act which enables you to ‘see’ and appreciate the beauty which surrounds us, which we often take for granted. It is essential for me when acquainting myself with a subject, to aim for accuracy and realism within my work. Usually when I am painting, something within the image will have captured my interest and intrigued me, whether it be the texture of fur or feathers, or simply the composition within the image. I tend to work from photographs and have a keen interest in photography, but on occasions I will work from direct observation if the subject permits.

The method I use is to lightly sketch out the image, and then block in the tones using brown under-painting. At this stage the under-painting enables me to correct the shape and look at the composition within the images without getting too involved with the fine detail. I tend to build the colour up within the painting using lots of layers, and gradually use smaller and smaller brushes to work into the image (using cross hatching and hatching techniques). I also glaze into the images with acrylic gloss medium to give a richer depth to the colour.

As for my recent inspiration: I had a brush with cancer in 2013 and consequently had 9 months away from the easle due to chemo treatment etc (it was frustrating not to be able to paint - the worst bit about the experience). Even during treatment when I could venture out; I still thought about my art and took my camera with me to record images for potential paintings... e.g. the squirrels within the exhibition were taken from photos I shot of them at this time. Little things such as feeding the ducks and squirrels became highly important and meaningful, and gave me a lot of upliftment and pleasure. As soon as I was able to get back into the studio, I began to transcribe the source material I had gathered, and recreate the images which had meant so much to me during treatment, in paint. Since getting the 'All Clear', I have been back in the studio with a vengence making up for lost time! It certainly increases your passion and desire to paint when that is taken from you. 

Hope that this helps?

Yours Sincerely
Sharon Tiernan"
I couldn't be happier with Tiernan's response. It is honest and genuine, really expressing the artist's journey as a painter. Her skills in painting are completely perfect, capturing the vivid tones and textures in the subjects of her work. The detail in the pieces is defined and it is clear how much time and passion goes into each one. Tiernan's recent experiences have only enhanced her love of the arts making each piece even more special.

Personally, with my love of animals and nature, the subjects of Tiernan's paintings are what drew me to her work, although I could not ignore the skill and precision in every piece. Her story only gives the paintings more depth and meaning, instantly connecting with the viewer on a more personal level. I certainly will be looking out for more of her work!


Thanks for reading,

Carla

Artist: Rob Conway

Rob Conway, member of the Association of Illustrators, specialises in editorial and reportage illustration, combining drawing, painting, photography and digital media. 

I love the way Conway incorporates photography into his work with such fluidity, using bold strokes to combine the traditional media with the digital.

Hands, Health Service Journal Editorial

Tony Blair, Health Service Journal Editorial

Book Jacket

Conway's unique style brings an interesting twist on editorial illustration. Apart from the book jacket, I love the way the artist makes his illustrations incomplete using mixed media.

Watercolour Artist: Jean Haines

After being told at my formative assessment that I must look at other watercolour artists who inspire me, I came across this lovely illustrative work by Jean Haines.

I am just really inspired by the fluency in her work which makes her artwork look delicate and quite abstract in places. It was definitely hard to pick some images to show you so here is link to her website as well as some pieces which stood out to me:

http://www.jeanhaines.com/

Flying Colours, 98 x 120cm

African Gold, 61 x 79cm

Especially 'Flying Colours' stood out to me as I am looking into the biomimicry of the 'Flex-Foot', a new design of prosthetic leg, which was inspired by the hind leg of a cheetah. Therefore, I love how Haines has captured the dynamics of the jocks which I would love to re-create in my own work to illustrate how the 'Flex-Foot' is being used by about 90% of paralympian athletes today!

Haines also depicts animals beautifully in her work allowing them to emerge subtly through dynamic watercolour marking, creating unique and innovative pieces of illustration.

Art of Nature: Anna Atkins

After researching into art in nature, I stumbled upon this book by Judith Magee, 'Art of Nature: Three Centuries of Natural History Art from Around the World'. 

When I looked through, all of the illustration I found were beautiful but one really stood out at me: a book cover by Anna Atkins, also thought to be the first female photographer and among the first botanists to study and publish on the subject of algae. 

 

British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions completed in 1853, made up of 389 handmade photographic plates replacing traditional methods of illustration.

Having seen this beautiful piece of art, I looked for more of her works and found some amazing imagery.

                     

I love the delicacy of detail in her work which presents nature in an entirely new way. After taking some of my own photography, I applied Atkins' style to my own images to see how they would look:

Primary Source Imagery: 

Photoshop manipulation to imitate style of Anna Atkins:

Once I manipulated my own photography, I really saw the detail in the flowers and leaves. They almost look translucent in their appearance which creates an interesting effect that could be applied to further development.

X-Ray Artist: Arie van 't Riet

Further research brought me to the wonderful art of Arie van 't Riet who uses x-ray images in his artwork. His main subject is on using the natural world including plants and animals and combining them to make new natural scenes made from his x-ray imagery. These vibrant images are absolutely stunning and provides a new insight into the world of nature, focusing on what the human eye cannot see and making it into inspiring artwork. 

Here is an interesting video from Ted Talks where the artist himself explains the process of developing his artwork:

     

Beautiful, innovative imagery made by Riet:

Original x-ray image

Poppy, penstemon, rododendron 

and lizards.

Dimensions of the original siverbromide

 negative 12" x 16" . Digitised 300 dpi, 

12 bit. In photoshop the x-ray image was

 inverted and partly coloured.

Riet has inspired me to try and look at nature in new ways as a method of innovation. This links well with Biomimicry and nature is studied in a way which is beneficial to mankind, rather than extracted from its natural habitat.

Artist: Ian Phillips

Having decided to go with the theme of nature, my initial artist exploration took me to the beautiful work of Ian Phillips.

His linocut prints are original and innovative, taking nature and making it into something visually new and appealing. This approach is effective especially with his use of vibrant colours and layering technique. He also appears to simplify his landscape prints by using geometric shapes to pick out tone and texture.

"Boat wake returning home"

Original linocut

Print Size: A2 (594 x 420mm)

Phillips also explores animals in nature in his work. This simple bird with detailed, intricate patterns makes it look contemporary and unique. This interpretation of nature could be applied to my own work by simplifying forms and making detail into intricate geometric pattern.

"The Ibis of Ideas"

Original linocut

Print Size: 560 x 750mm

More of Ian Phillips' work can be found on his website at: 

http://www.reliefprint.co.uk/website_2011/linocut_pages_2013/linocut_studies.html

Guest Artist Lecture: Jonathan Lindley

I was particularly excited for this guest lecture as Jonathan Lindley is a previous Graphic Design graduate from the University of Huddersfield.

Lindley works mainly in animation, music and video. Even though his degree suggests a more 2-D way of working, I really enjoyed his 3-D animations. 

Lightening Bolt: http://www.jonathanlindley.co.uk/lightning-bolt/

Screenshots from Animation 'Lightening Bolt'

The first animation Lindley showed was 'Lightening Bolt', a stop motion made from around 3000 photographs, all made from cardboard. The amount of skill and technique used to make this short animation is just simply compelling. I also love the bright use of colour which has been used as it makes the animation fun and lively, emphasising the detail and effort which has been put in to create each frame.

After seeing the rest of Lindley's lecture, it soon became apparent that he has a very unique style which consists of very fast-paced graphic animation. He appeared very passionate about his work and doing something you love rather than settling for anything less satisfying. 

"If you ever stray from your work

 just crack on and do it" - Jonathan Lindley

Lindley also went on to talk about his final year at the University of Huddersfield. He advised us to email companies which interest us and explained how in his final year he took a risk and that is the point where he began to create animations- his first ever animation was a flip book which he started in his third year at University.

"Do something you can see yourself doing in future" - Jonathan Lindley

Overall, I enjoyed Lindley's presentation and it definitely made me more confident about getting my own work into the real world and realising there are many opportunities out there! I think I need to start contacting companies which I may want to work for in future and see what options are available. It was particularly nice to have a graduate from the University speak to us as it makes a dream seem like more of a reality!

More of Jonathon Lindley's work can be found on his website: http://www.jonathanlindley.co.uk/ 

Guest Artist Lecture: Ryan Gander

I was very excited to see some of London-based conceptual artist, Gander's personal work in this lecture, however I soon realised as a member of the audience, the artist was filming the lecture as a piece of performance art so I became part of his work! This was an interesting and new concept to me as the filming was not consented by the audience and I was not sure how the film would be presented. Regardless I did not feel less comfortable knowing this.

Symbol used on band poster/ album cover

Several aspects of Gander's lecture intrigued me including his discussion of the symbol 'X' and how it could be viewed as a sign of censorship. He also spoke about how 'the xx' band poster was first released publicly without the knowledge that the symbol represented the band. This concept was interesting as it explored the idea of not only censorship, but also how symbols can be interpreted in different ways by the public and how they become 'hungry' for more information when it is purposely withdrawn from their knowledge.

Gander also mentioned the idea of associations and how each memory or thought can trigger another completely different one. A good example Gander later gave was the 'create your own adventure' books where the readers choice of path led to another section of the book, which then created varied stories depending on the choices of the readers. This gave me an idea to look into the number element in 'Drowning by Numbers' and think of how they may associate with certain narratives/ memories and thought triggers.

Overall, I felt a little disappointed by Ryan Gander's personal input into the lecture. He mainly spoke about other outside influences and didn't show any of his own artistic work. Therefore, I left feeling I still knew little to nothing about the artist himself and was left wanting to know more. Even the work he did show as his own I later found out that some of the things he spoke about were false, and so decided that as an artist, he could not influence or inspire me and felt confused about whether the knowledge I gained was authentic.

To view some of Ryan Gander's personal work visit http://www.lissongallery.com/artists/ryan-gander/

Life's a Beach

Today of all days proved that great artists and their work can be found anywhere and especially when you least expect it!

My walk on Bridlington seafront caused me to encounter a small local open exhibition, free of charge, how could I resist?! When viewing the artwork I was amazed in particular by the work of Katherine McDermid who created intricately detailed works in mixed media. Her distinct style caught my eye immediately, especially a cheeky comical-faced lady balancing a stack of cupcakes in her hands definitely put a smile on my face. It gives me great pleasure to be able to show you this piece and one other that intrigued me, given permission to show you all by the artist herself!

(sorry about the reflection it was a very sunny day!)

Stacked seagulls 1
Mixed media
Katherine McDermid

Stacked cupcakes 2
Mixed media
Katherine McDermid

Talking with the artist 

I felt particularly lucky when I found these works of art as the artist herself was present! This gave me an opportunity to find more about McDermid as an artist and it had also become apparent we both had been to see the Martin Creed exhibition! (See previous post http://carlataylorillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/a-gallery-visit-martin-creed-or-crude.html)

First of all we talked about the artist's works and what type of media she used. I was even more impressed when I gained the knowledge that these pieces were created entirely from her head! Pen and ink were the primary bases of her pieces, with watercolour and finished with coloured pencils. McDermid's level of professionalism stood out for me here as from afar her works could easily be mistaken for digital. I had found out that this mistake had occurred previously which she then went on to amusingly explain how she has a lack of computer skills! 

McDermid also expressed how she had a 'down' moment in her art career where she was struggling for buyers (hard to believe!) and actually sent several of her old pieces to the tip! As a budding illustrator myself I could empathise with her on a certain level but was glad to see she had recovered her self belief as an artist and still creates beautiful pieces today!

Inspirations

It was interesting to find out some of the inspiration McDermid uses in her work to create her unique style. One of her main inspirations resides from everyday life and observing her surroundings. Often her work is based on true life and overhearing conversations between strangers. This idea of her work being spontaneous and forming from completely random events is very intriguing as the subject of the artwork is not determined by the artist herself, but the conversations she hears at the time. 

Overall, I was so pleased to have discovered an extremely talented LOCAL artist with current and modern work. As a person, McDermid was very pleasant to speak to and happily shared her past and current experiences as an artist. To see an artists work and to engage with an artist them-self can completely change one's perception of a particular piece or series. For me, this made me appreciate the work even more knowing that such a nice person had created them!

I would definitely recommend  having a look at Katherine McDermid's creations to all art and non-art lovers out there!

More of her work and history as an artist can be found on her website http://katherinemcdermid.com/index.htm Go check it out!