Solo Show
Whilst travelling around the East coast of the country, North Norfolk, last summer I collected items along the shore line. These items consisted of rocks, shells and also belemnite fossils. The belemnite fossils really drew my attention whilst I was collecting, it was their unique shape and size that made me collect them. But I noticed that even though they are unique and very interesting, they were almost unnoticeable within the rock pools. I didn’t really see them, until I was actually looking for them. This intrigued me about the objects and made me want to work with them, I wanted to take this 6 million year old fossil and bring it back to life.
I wanted to create a series of 5 paintings of the Belemnites for the exhibition. The medium I chose to work with is coffee and acrylic paint onto canvas. The coffee was a medium I’d never really touched upon before, it was a material that I didn’t commonly associated with making paintings which is why I wanted to work with it alongside acrylic paint. Furthermore, the effect i could achieve with the coffee, reflected the patterns, colours and textures of the belemnites. I began experimenting with the material before painting onto the canvases so I was familiar with how the material worked. My aim for the paintings are to create a visual conversation with the materials to make an imagine which would create a reaction of nostalgia for the viewer.
When deciding the canvases I wanted them all to be the same size, which I decided would be 50cm by 40cm. I wanted the canvases to be the exactly the same size to match within the series, I felt if the canvases were different in size they’d be disjointed within the exhibition in some ways. So keeping all the canvases in a regimented size is important to myself whilst working. I also didn’t want large pieces that would make the viewer stand back, but I also didn’t want to create small pieces. The size I am working with not only is pushing me as an artist as it’s larger than what I’ve worked on before, but it will also not be too overbearing for the viewer. Due to the items that I collected being quite overlooked items I don’t want the paintings to be so large.
For the solo exhibition I am proposing that I display my work in the Lantern, the well lit space and the size of the area would work well in conversation with my pieces. I would have the canvases spread out between the 3 walls, I had the idea of having 2 canvases on either side of the room and one on the back wall, all at eye level. These pieces would all be spread out evenly across the three walls so that the viewers could view them individually. This is so the viewer can really focus on each painting and the detail.
Samantha May Martin
Whilst travelling around the East coast of the country, North Norfolk, last summer I collected items along the shore line. These items consisted of rocks, shells and also belemnite fossils. The belemnite fossils really drew my attention whilst I was collecting, it was their unique shape and size that made me collect them. But I noticed that even though they are unique and very interesting, they were almost unnoticeable within the rock pools. I didn’t really see them, until I was actually looking for them. This intrigued me about the objects and made me want to work with them, I wanted to take this 6 million year old fossil and bring it back to life.
I wanted to create a series of 5 paintings of the Belemnites for the exhibition. The medium I chose to work with is coffee and acrylic paint onto canvas. The coffee was a medium I’d never really touched upon before, it was a material that I didn’t commonly associated with making paintings which is why I wanted to work with it alongside acrylic paint. Furthermore, the effect i could achieve with the coffee, reflected the patterns, colours and textures of the belemnites. I began experimenting with the material before painting onto the canvases so I was familiar with how the material worked. My aim for the paintings are to create a visual conversation with the materials to make an imagine which would create a reaction of nostalgia for the viewer.
When deciding the canvases I wanted them all to be the same size, which I decided would be 50cm by 40cm. I wanted the canvases to be the exactly the same size to match within the series, I felt if the canvases were different in size they’d be disjointed within the exhibition in some ways. So keeping all the canvases in a regimented size is important to myself whilst working. I also didn’t want large pieces that would make the viewer stand back, but I also didn’t want to create small pieces. The size I am working with not only is pushing me as an artist as it’s larger than what I’ve worked on before, but it will also not be too overbearing for the viewer. Due to the items that I collected being quite overlooked items I don’t want the paintings to be so large.
For the solo exhibition I am proposing that I display my work in the Lantern, the well lit space and the size of the area would work well in conversation with my pieces. I would have the canvases spread out between the 3 walls, I had the idea of having 2 canvases on either side of the room and one on the back wall, all at eye level. These pieces would all be spread out evenly across the three walls so that the viewers could view them individually. This is so the viewer can really focus on each painting and the detail.
Samantha May Martin