project overview
Travelling
Over the summer I traveled around the North coast of Norfolk, along my journeys I saw a performance piece called The Walking Elephant at West Runtons beach. The piece inspired me to explore the landscape and see what inspires me from the land. This is where I began to look through the rock pools there and came across the belemnite fossils. I began collecting the fossils within jars and took them out of their landscape to begin working with.
Collecting
The process of collecting has always played a huge part in my practice. Whilst travelling I collected things that interested me, from beautiful shells, stones and fossils. I was also able to see a large collection of skulls in which I took images of for my visual research. However, through the process of collecting I realised I was mostly drawn to the belemnite fossils I had collected at West Runton and decided to focus purely on those in my process of making.
Sketchbook
I began drawing the belemnite fossils and other items I had collected within the landscape in a brown papered sketchbook. I was inspired by Darwin's evolutionary drawings, that had become discoloured with age, to draw my work onto brown paper. With experimentation I started using coffee to stain the paper within the book, just to give it a more used and worn surface. I tried experimenting with tea, however, it was too light and that paper didn't change colour. The coffee gave much deeper browns.
I wanted to create drawings within the sketchbook that represented how the belemnites were found, blended in with the landscape. However, the materials I was using; pencils, pens and ink, bought the belemnites forward on the pages and I wasn't getting what I was setting out to do.
I started experimenting with the coffee that I was staining the pages with. I created the pieces as I would a water colour painting, mixing stronger coffee to create different tones throughout the piece. Once the coffee had dried it blended into the surface in which it was worked onto. This began creating the texture I was looking for within my work,
Canvas
Moving out of the sketchbook, I wanted to create bigger pieces to display within a space. 5 canvases were made 40cm x 50cm, I chose this size as I didn't want to leap into creating such large paintings straight away as I had only experimented within the sketchbook and felt I needed to develop my materials before moving onto large paintings.
Throughout my sketchbook I had experimented with coffee and wanted to create paintings still using the medium. The material was rich in its tones of brown and I had began developing my practice with the material.
I felt the canvases provided a good platform to experiment with my chosen materials and the subject I had chosen to work with. The materials were beginning to create the textured surface I wanted to have within the work. Developing on from the belemnite blending in with the surface of the sketchbook, I wanted to create a similar feeling within the canvases. However, I wanted to experiment with texture, to represent the surface in which the belemnite fossils were found.
What I discovered was that the white from the primed surface of the canvas distorted the staining of the coffee. The coffee dried very light in comparison to the surface of the sketchbook and it made the painting brighter. This was something I didn't want within my work, I enjoyed the deep browns that were in the sketchbook. However the lighter surface didn't work well when stained. This is something I needed to develop on when working in the future.
Why Coffee?
This is a question that regularly got asked whenever my work was viewed. Coffee was just a material that began as a staining method that developed into my main medium of working. I had experimented with other materials in the process of staining, however, coffee provided me with rich tones that I enjoyed working with. I guess if I had found another material that provided me with this outcome I would have also used it. Yet, I found that working with coffee was providing me with what I was looking for and I didn't see the need to experiment with any other material. I guess I can be criticized on my method of staying somewhere that I was comfortable, but honestly I wasn't comfortable with the material. It was something I hadn't worked with ever before, I wasn't used to its personality and it's final product would some times be different to how I imagined. I had previously worked with acrylic paint and coffee has a completely different response. Acrylic dries rapidly and can leave behind a flat texture. But coffee dries with so many different layers and has so many different textures just by it's consistency.
So I guess to answer the question, why coffee? I don't really know. In the end, it was just another material I was experimenting with and enjoyed working with. If I had found the same outcome within another material, I would have worked with that.
Development
Through the process of creating paintings of the belemnites on canvases, I decided to develop my practice by expanding the size of the paintings. The paintings were expanded to two 3 x 2 inches and one 4 x 2 inches on MDF board.
I decided to move away from canvas due to the light surface that I was working directly onto. The white was too bright, distorting the staining of the coffee, turning the deep browns into pale sand. The belemnites within the piece didn't sit back within in the paintings as the white pushed them forward within the piece.
So I began developing my practice on MDF board as it shared similar tones as the brown papered sketchbook. When creating the work I used the same process that I had used when creating the canvas paintings. I felt that the process of creating the paintings was effective, it was purely the surface that didn't work for the work.
The boards were more effective in their outcome, they were reflecting the process of belemnite hunting. What I wanted was for the viewer to have the reflect the action of hunting belemnites and having the pieces look as though the belemnites were being excavated from the landscape.
Reflection
Throughout the project I came across many obstacles through my process of making. My biggest problem that I faced was the viewers question of "why coffee?" and I understand why this question was asked, however, it seemed as though some viewers struggled to overcome this question and actually see my work. This was frustrating for myself as the coffee isn't important to the piece, it was a material for making work and I felt as though the material was distracting. However, I still persuade with using this material as it was something I was enjoying working with and it was providing me with rich tones. I just hoped that the viewers could overcome this and see that the coffee was purely a medium for creating paintings.
Although this was a struggle that I had to face whilst creating my work, I personally felt that my paintings developed consistently from piece to piece. At the beginning of the project I never really worked in this way before and felt I have really pushed myself as an artist, working with mediums that I wasn't comfortable with using within a new scale.
What I wanted from the pieces was for the viewer to feel the act of hunting for the belemnites. I feel as though I have been successful within doing this in my work. Through development I was able to see what was working within the pieces and what wasn't successful. This was bought through each painting and eventually I was able to depict what was working within the pieces. The pieces reflect the act of hunting for belemnites, finding them within a landscape and excavating them. I feel that all the layers of process that came when making reflected fossilization and could be felt with the viewer.
Over the summer I traveled around the North coast of Norfolk, along my journeys I saw a performance piece called The Walking Elephant at West Runtons beach. The piece inspired me to explore the landscape and see what inspires me from the land. This is where I began to look through the rock pools there and came across the belemnite fossils. I began collecting the fossils within jars and took them out of their landscape to begin working with.
Collecting
The process of collecting has always played a huge part in my practice. Whilst travelling I collected things that interested me, from beautiful shells, stones and fossils. I was also able to see a large collection of skulls in which I took images of for my visual research. However, through the process of collecting I realised I was mostly drawn to the belemnite fossils I had collected at West Runton and decided to focus purely on those in my process of making.
Sketchbook
I began drawing the belemnite fossils and other items I had collected within the landscape in a brown papered sketchbook. I was inspired by Darwin's evolutionary drawings, that had become discoloured with age, to draw my work onto brown paper. With experimentation I started using coffee to stain the paper within the book, just to give it a more used and worn surface. I tried experimenting with tea, however, it was too light and that paper didn't change colour. The coffee gave much deeper browns.
I wanted to create drawings within the sketchbook that represented how the belemnites were found, blended in with the landscape. However, the materials I was using; pencils, pens and ink, bought the belemnites forward on the pages and I wasn't getting what I was setting out to do.
I started experimenting with the coffee that I was staining the pages with. I created the pieces as I would a water colour painting, mixing stronger coffee to create different tones throughout the piece. Once the coffee had dried it blended into the surface in which it was worked onto. This began creating the texture I was looking for within my work,
Canvas
Moving out of the sketchbook, I wanted to create bigger pieces to display within a space. 5 canvases were made 40cm x 50cm, I chose this size as I didn't want to leap into creating such large paintings straight away as I had only experimented within the sketchbook and felt I needed to develop my materials before moving onto large paintings.
Throughout my sketchbook I had experimented with coffee and wanted to create paintings still using the medium. The material was rich in its tones of brown and I had began developing my practice with the material.
I felt the canvases provided a good platform to experiment with my chosen materials and the subject I had chosen to work with. The materials were beginning to create the textured surface I wanted to have within the work. Developing on from the belemnite blending in with the surface of the sketchbook, I wanted to create a similar feeling within the canvases. However, I wanted to experiment with texture, to represent the surface in which the belemnite fossils were found.
What I discovered was that the white from the primed surface of the canvas distorted the staining of the coffee. The coffee dried very light in comparison to the surface of the sketchbook and it made the painting brighter. This was something I didn't want within my work, I enjoyed the deep browns that were in the sketchbook. However the lighter surface didn't work well when stained. This is something I needed to develop on when working in the future.
Why Coffee?
This is a question that regularly got asked whenever my work was viewed. Coffee was just a material that began as a staining method that developed into my main medium of working. I had experimented with other materials in the process of staining, however, coffee provided me with rich tones that I enjoyed working with. I guess if I had found another material that provided me with this outcome I would have also used it. Yet, I found that working with coffee was providing me with what I was looking for and I didn't see the need to experiment with any other material. I guess I can be criticized on my method of staying somewhere that I was comfortable, but honestly I wasn't comfortable with the material. It was something I hadn't worked with ever before, I wasn't used to its personality and it's final product would some times be different to how I imagined. I had previously worked with acrylic paint and coffee has a completely different response. Acrylic dries rapidly and can leave behind a flat texture. But coffee dries with so many different layers and has so many different textures just by it's consistency.
So I guess to answer the question, why coffee? I don't really know. In the end, it was just another material I was experimenting with and enjoyed working with. If I had found the same outcome within another material, I would have worked with that.
Development
Through the process of creating paintings of the belemnites on canvases, I decided to develop my practice by expanding the size of the paintings. The paintings were expanded to two 3 x 2 inches and one 4 x 2 inches on MDF board.
I decided to move away from canvas due to the light surface that I was working directly onto. The white was too bright, distorting the staining of the coffee, turning the deep browns into pale sand. The belemnites within the piece didn't sit back within in the paintings as the white pushed them forward within the piece.
So I began developing my practice on MDF board as it shared similar tones as the brown papered sketchbook. When creating the work I used the same process that I had used when creating the canvas paintings. I felt that the process of creating the paintings was effective, it was purely the surface that didn't work for the work.
The boards were more effective in their outcome, they were reflecting the process of belemnite hunting. What I wanted was for the viewer to have the reflect the action of hunting belemnites and having the pieces look as though the belemnites were being excavated from the landscape.
Reflection
Throughout the project I came across many obstacles through my process of making. My biggest problem that I faced was the viewers question of "why coffee?" and I understand why this question was asked, however, it seemed as though some viewers struggled to overcome this question and actually see my work. This was frustrating for myself as the coffee isn't important to the piece, it was a material for making work and I felt as though the material was distracting. However, I still persuade with using this material as it was something I was enjoying working with and it was providing me with rich tones. I just hoped that the viewers could overcome this and see that the coffee was purely a medium for creating paintings.
Although this was a struggle that I had to face whilst creating my work, I personally felt that my paintings developed consistently from piece to piece. At the beginning of the project I never really worked in this way before and felt I have really pushed myself as an artist, working with mediums that I wasn't comfortable with using within a new scale.
What I wanted from the pieces was for the viewer to feel the act of hunting for the belemnites. I feel as though I have been successful within doing this in my work. Through development I was able to see what was working within the pieces and what wasn't successful. This was bought through each painting and eventually I was able to depict what was working within the pieces. The pieces reflect the act of hunting for belemnites, finding them within a landscape and excavating them. I feel that all the layers of process that came when making reflected fossilization and could be felt with the viewer.