Inspire 52 - Week 5. A Toast to Nourishment

Something that nourishes; food, nutriment, or sustenance.

This week has got off to an inspired start. So much so that Week 5's inspiration is completed today, Monday!

I was invited to attend a 'Long Lunch' by artists Simon Lee-Dicker and Rebecca Strain, which also co-incided with the end of their 'Show and Tell' exhibition held at the gallery and studio, Old School Room (OSR) near Yeovil.

The idea of the day was to connect and build networks with other working artists in the South West, with artists coming from Bristol, Taunton, Bournemouth and Yeovil, and share our experiences as artists who also partake in collaborative work as part of our practice. I was driving up to Yeovil in the snow this morning with local Avant-Garde artists Rebecca Strain and Jonathon Shelper, and it did cross my mind that getting stuck in the snow could certainly be a way of connecting if we all have to huddle under a blanket to keep warm and avoid certain death in the wintery depths of the Somerset countryside!

We got there safely.

The beautiful space of the Old School Room was a welcome shelter to the bitter outdoors and greeted us with coupled balancing old school desks and ballooned marigolds hanging from thorned stems reaching down from the ceiling. This was 'Show and Tell', an inspired collaborative exhibition responding to the venue and the history of the building.

After some chit-chatting we got to the formal part of the day. Each artist presented their work, many in the form of Pescha Kucha, 20 images@20seconds. There were also films and even a handstand on a chair as part of the presentation.

As part of the day and as an artistic contribution to the Long Lunch, were asked to bring a food contribution as a gesture to the traditonal festivities. The Long Lunch tradition had existed in the same space many years before us artists got there today, yet it was wonderful to be continuing the tradition with a contemporary twist.

My contribution, and this weeks Inspire is 'A Toast to Nourishment'. A Champagne glass filled with layered nuts and berries. You will see below the colour version of this photograph but in keeping with my current explorations, the final piece is indeed, black and white.

A Toast to Nourishment

Hazel Evans 2012

Black and white enables me to see beyond the colour. Notice the colour of the shapes and contours through shades and shadows without a diologue of actual colour to distract the eye. This, to me, makes for more colourful reading of the piece.

Notice the tomato - a red dot! (reference Inspire 52 -Week 4)

The shades of nourishment in the glass by the layering of the seeds, nuts and dried fruit have categorised themselves into three distinct grey scales through this transformation. Three stages of nourishment? Inspiration, Expression and Truth? - You decide what it is for you.

This glass could have stood alone, but today was about collaboration - creative nourishment. In this shot I now see that the cheese provides a potective wall around the glass, but the table also offers a cheese slice and knife for you to take your cut, share and break down the barriers. Wow - how deep can food go? lol!

I guess the nourishment I am giving to myself as an artist is to help myself continue on my creaive path. Part of that nourishment involves remaining 'true' to the journey I want to take and expression of artisic identity. At the moment, this involves my explorations into The Monochronium, this journey is not finished yet, and I feel that for the present time, I need to stay true to my black and white Yellow Brick Road. It is not to say that this is how it will be forever, but it is what I find most nourishing for now.

Below is the colour version - feel free to take a moment and compare the stories.

We did not just speak and eat, oh no ... we made art too! Here are some pictures of us in collaborative action, with the recreation of an Old School Room photograph. Thank you to everyone for such a great day.

       

      

http://osrprojects.wordpress.com/current-projects/show-tell-at-the-old-school-room/events/

http://osrprojects.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/spot-the-difference/

Inspire 52 - Week 4. Finding The Dragon

Bonjour les amies! Je ne sais pas ou cette semaine vas m'amener, mais je me prepare petit a petit pour le grand vol.

Reflection on Week 3.
Following last week's piece, I feel changed. Like I've opened a door that I am willing to gently walk through with mindful steps over the threshold. Don't worry my work is not going to get all intense all of a sudden! For those that really know me you will know that being a free fun spirit is very much my philosophy of living so 'peace and love man!'.... What gave such an impact with Face It Pierrot! was that the story revealed itself immediately before me without me realising what I had created. Normally the delay is a lot longer ... when I look back at my work years later I realise what it was really all about and how it reflected my life at that time. I think this recent develpoment has been an imporatant part of the journey so far...

Week 4
Monday  21:08 GMT
So onto Week 4 and I thought I would do a kind of daily progress report this week. Regarding the inspiration, well I was just sitting here this evening thinking what the heck would inspire me this week ... and then it came to me ... Dragons! Today is the New Chinese Year, the year of the Dragon ... and I am a Dragon! Not the kind of old hag of a dragon that peers out from behind her net curtains or hits you with her handbag, but instead a Fire Dragon, and yes, somewhere inside me I am a magical dragon!

I have spent many years trying to hide my dragon, suppressing my creativity, my passion and my self. Believing that playing small would keep me safe and giving others permission to ride my Dragon.

'Hiccup: [Walking through the forest and crossing out his map] Oh, the gods hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug, no not me! I manage to lose an entire dragon.'

How to Train Your Dragon - Movie

In actual fact this has lead me into much danger, confusion and down a path into a dense forest with no breadcrumbs, impossible to take flight because the trees above are so entwined they form a matted canopy of branches ... But now ... I feel like I am on a Yellow Brick Runway, preparing for flight, sitting firmly on top of my dragon! - (just got a bit dramatic there, was enjoying the story that was being conjured!)

So I guess what I am trying to say is that I am aiming to celebrate the Dragon this week, and over the next seven days try to illustrate my Dragon.

'Eragon: You can hear my thoughts!
Saphira: I've waited a thousand years to hear your thoughts and now you can hear mine. I am Saphira, and you are my Rider.'   Eragon - Movie


Tuesday 21:38
Incubation.

In no particular order, my top 5 Dragon films:

• Eragon
• How to Train Your Dragon
• Spirited Away
• Avatar
• The Lord of the Rings

Wednesday 23:38
Blue, part of me is definitely blue. Tonight as I was meditating during my yoga class, it just came to me ... of course I am a blue Dragon, I couldn't be anything else but blue!

                                                                                                                              

Not many people know, but this whole 'Monochrome' phenomena of my recent work , is indeed not new to my practice. In 2000 I embarked on a period of creativity and oil painting, discovered Pthalo and Prussian in depths I had never ventured into before and found myself indulging in a beautiful pool of blueness... aaahhh, those were the days! Come to think of it when I revealed these paintings people around me said 'yeah, I like them, but they are all blue, how about adding some colour!'. So I painted my final piece from this series with a red ball inserted into the landscape, it was then auctioned off in The Royal Academy of Arts for a charity event for Marie Curie Cancer Care in 2001. And that was the curtain call on my works in blue. That red dot ruined everything!

Thursday 21:58
I am in fact a Piscean Fire Dragon... Odd combination given that water usually extinguishes the fire ... did the fire actually evaporate my water?
... red dot? ...  .

... I'm still waiting ...


Friday L:8
Fire Burns

Tonight I went to The Mayor of Bournemouth's Burn's Night evening. I was wondering how this would help me in the quest for my Dragon.

When I got home, before going to bed I popped into my studio and randomly opened an old book that was on the desk, it happened to be English Quotations published in 1937 and I opened it on Burns (seriously, what are the chances!) So here is the last verse from the poem 'A Red, Red Rose' that jumped off the page at me.

And fare thee weel, my only luve;
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

It seems that there are always journeys to be made and people going places.

Is my Dragon linked to love? Is my quest for the Dragon actually a quest of love? with whom? ... What is happening? hmmm


Saturday earl:y pm
I am exhausted today... (no not hungover! I was driving last night :-) ... just exhausted, need a bit of 'quiet time'.

I feel like I have not really achieved what I have wanted to achieve in finding my Dragon. The inspiration was there at the beginning of the week, maybe it is still there... still incubating ... Maybe it is not about the end result but about how you get there, and when you think you are there, being ready to explore further? I don't know ...
Anyway, today I thought I would throw some ink onto a bit of paper in the true spirit of furthering my black and white adventure. Even that turned out not as planned as the black was spewing shades of red, purple and blue at me. So I put the tunes on and decided to switch the brain off and just enjoy a simple moment ... just me and the ink.

Hiccup: Oh, for the love of... I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!
Astrid: You said "wouldn't" that time.
Hiccup: Well, whatever! I wouldn't! 300 years, and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon.
[pause]
Astrid: First to ride one, though. So...?
Hiccup: [sighs] I wouldn't kill him, because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself.

How to Train Your Dragon - Movie

Sunday Just:Sunday
Sorry if this blog seems so disjointed, vague and have no point to it. I feel like I'm skirting around something, perhaps with a big frilly tutu ... If you have managed to read between the lines, perhaps you may have enjoyed this week's exploration?

I will refer back to Week 2 and The Rules Of The Game, Rule No. 1 - Keep it simple and No. 3 - Have fun at all times. I still seem to be trying to find my footing with this project ... what's it all about?

Eragon: I need to know, Saphira. Why me?

Saphira: You choose a leader for his heart.

Eragon: But I'm not without fear.

Saphira: Without fear there cannot be courage. But when we are together, it is our enemies who should be afraid.

Eragon: And are we together, Saphira?

[draws his sword]

Eragon: AS ONE?

Saphira: [Saphira breathes fire for the first time]

Eragon: I'll take that as a yes.

[the battle starts]

Eragon: Into the sky. To live or to die!

Eragon - Movie

Inspire 52 - Week 3. Face It Pierrot!

Face It Pierrot! - Hazel Evans 2012

Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer.

Muhammad Ali (1942 - ), "More Than a Hero"

Okay this week is freaking me out! It's because I'm not really thinking about what I am doing, yet it seems that something is coming out. I decided to start playing with characterisation and all of a sudden something is speaking to me as I take the journey this week. So I begin this blog with the final work of art and by the end you will see where it may have started.

The image begins the blog because I want you to make of it what you will, without input from me, see it how you see it. As I said, I did not intend for it to happen like this, this is just what happened, it's only now that I realise what I have just created!

It feels really weird that this has turned out to be my Inspire this week ... but I don't have time to do another one, so here goes!

As you will see from my work and artist profile, characterisation is an area of interest that I am very passionate about, and working closely with a performance art venue as Resident Artist at Lighthouse Poole, theatricality is really starting to embed itself into my practice.

A couple of weeks ago I was messing around with a black eyeliner and illustrated a black heart on my lips, and this is where this week's piece derived from. So this afternoon I beagn to play around and create a new piece for Inspire 52 Week 3. This piece is inspired by my love for the performing arts, my life in France and my 'silence' - Ma silence ne dit pas mon accord!

I began by getting out the children's face paints that I had bought for my nieces teddy bear's pic-nic last summer, and thought it was about time to give myself a make-over! I did not know what I was going to do but I started with the black heart lips and then filled the rest of my face in with white.

It was a wonderful feeling, the cold wet brush painting on the canvas that was my face. I whitened in my face from the chin upwards, then I figured ... seems as I was 'dressing up', I may as well put on my favourite pair of eyelashes! So on when the eye lashes. I was then complete .... or was I?  I stared at myself in the mirror, blank white face with a black heart for my lips. What had I created!?



'Pierrot became an alter-ego of the artist' (1)

He who does not know how to be silent will not know how to speak.

Ausonius

I wasn't quite complete, something was missing. So I blacked up my paintbrush and blackened in my right eye. I enjoyed the feeling that I was creating a new painting, going with the flow and being in the creative moment, just 'being' and 'doing'. Before I knew it I had illustrated a crack down the middle of my face and given myself a black eye! But it wasn't until I had photographed my new painting and saw it on the computer screen that I realised what it was all about.

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

First of all I realised that I had transformed myself into a Pierrot like character. [Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and Commedia dell'Arte whose origins are in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne] (1).  I love this Black and White Pierrot character, it just fits perfectly with my recent black and white work - (see http://www.flickr.com/photos/hazelevans )

But despite having a Pierrot like quality to the image, it is infact not a charicature, but a self portrait. However, it doesn't represent who I am today, indeed it represents more about my life in France, where I lived during my 20s and even before that. Please make of it what you will, my interpretation rests in Silence.

                                             

Pierrot was not a fool but an avatar of the Post-Revolutionary people. (1)

This is me dressed as Pierrot aged about 10 in the 1980s - I loved this costume.

My brother is Batman and my sister a Red Indian

(I'm sure they'll love me for posting this picture out to the world!)

This piece is personal on many levels, it seems to have told me a story today, one that I am not ready to give physical words to yet, one which some of my friends know bits of and it is also a story that I have never communicated through my art yet, until today that is! I guess this is the first piece of art I have ever made about it ... I may share more one day but until then you can read the image in silence.

Wow ... that was quite intense for me! I hope next week is a bit more playful!! But I guess that is what Inspire is all about, things that come from your heart and soul. I didn't realise that this journey would lead me on quite such a personal level so early on, but I must say that I am really loving the fact that I am giving myself the time each week to dedicate to the development of my art practice through the freedom of Inspire 52. It has no agenda and that is what is so freeing about the whole project. Onwards and upwards until next week ... Who is your alter ego?

Over and out xx

(1) References taken from Wikipedia

Inspire 52 - Week 2. The Rules Of The Game

Okay, I have written about three opening paragraphs, and for some reason I can't seem to express what it is I want to say ... so I will hand it straight over to my idol Mary Poppins to explain ...

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and - SNAP - the job's a game!" Mary Poppins

Thank you Mary. I don't think I need to elaborate more, you see I tried to, but it didn't work out, which brings me back to Inspire 52 Rule No.1 - Keep it simple (1) For full list of rules see end of Blog

After I began at the beginning with Week 1, my mind went into overdrive about what I could or should be doing, making or creating in order to make this project a success. But there are in fact no coulds or shoulds about it, note Rule No.2 -There are no rules. In trying to force myself to come up with a revolutionary life changing concept for Week 2, I remembered that I am actually doing this for fun! Yes, it is indeed a challenge, a 'job' that I have decided to 'do', but this job must be 'fun' ... note to self... repeat Rule No.3 - Have fun at all times x4, chant Rule No.1 for one minute followed by a round of Rule No.2.

Ok I think that's done the trick! (Hazel now deletes the original three paragraphs she wrote).
If you are still with me by now 'hurrah!', cos this is the bit where we get to the art! With the implementation of Rules No. 1-3 now firmly in place, welcome to Inspire 52 Week 2 ...

It's the simple things in life that are the most extraodinary. Paulo Coelho

This quote is not to imply that I have done something extraordinary, (or maybe I have ;-) but it is the deeper meaning of the experience which is in fact extraordinary to me - Dance ... I love it! A couple of months ago I was introduced to my first experience of BioDanza. I had been wanting to start dancing again and fancied doing something a bit more creative than ... 'and a 1234 and side 234, turn 234' ... and was invited to a BioDanza class ... it was exactly the kind of different I was looking for. Since then I have done about eight classes and simply love it. I just love the enlivening journey of dancitivity and the inner imaginariumation it takes you into during the lesson. (Yes I did just make those words up - artistic licence darling!)

This week was rather special. Due to the roof of the theatre having blown off in the recent storms (slight exaggeration) we were re-located to a ballroom in an old mansion House ... (I know!) As I walked in the room eight large chandeliers adorned the ceiling and flying above them were painted swallows on the ceiling. Magic... this dance was going to be magic, I could feel it.

Birds flying high you know how I feel. Nina Simone 

I spent the first half hour continuing to glance at the ceiling, and as each dance took place, we were all guided into a journey of movement. We were simply asked to 'Be and breathe the music'.

As the bird flew above us, I wandered how many people they had seen dancing in this ball room below them.

As we dance into a place where our souls are born

Every beat of yesterday from our body is torn.

An expression of freedom from soul and heart

Dance into the light, a youthful beginning, a sweet start.

Beautiful sparks of the divine, why aren't we living it?

Dare, love, express, dissolve into the music.

                                                                                                                                                  Hazel Evans

Dancing is an expression of freedom and connection. Connection to the people you dance with, a connection to yourself - body and mind, a connection to the floor we perform on and to the air that passes through our lungs.

I do not have the body of a Ballerina, but I do have my own expression and my own story to dance.

I do not have the wings of a bird, but I do have my own funky moves that will continue to take me on my journey.

And so this is where I have been taken for Week 2. I let go of my coulds and shoulds, I established and implemented the rules of my game, realised that my dance doesn't actually require any rules and as a result had a lot of fun. (Note Rule No. 3)

(1) Inspire 52 Rules:

No. 1 - Keep it simple

No. 2 - There are no rules

No. 3 - Have fun at all times

No. 4 - Make up rules

No. 5 - Break the rules

No. 6 - All rules are subject to change

No. 7 - TBC
(Rules 4 to 7 will be covered in another blog!)

P.S. There are no rules to the dance ... until next week, keep dancing!

Inspire 52 - Week 1. Begin At The Beginning

Bring on the fireworks and the Champagne ... my 2012 artistic challenge has begun!

52 inspirations (translated + regurgitated + communicated) = 52 works of art. What have I committed myself to? Will I be able to do this? Where do I begin?

'The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked. "Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop." '
(Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 12)

I do suppose the best place is to start at the beginning, and so I shall begin ... here goes!

I had several ideas for how I wanted to start my Inspire 52 challenge, but the plan I started to concoct last week changed in the lead up to the New Year, and it is through that failure of Plan A that Plan B kicked into action ... and that's where my Week 1 begins.

I began asking myself 'what is inspiration?' and 'where does it come from?' so I simply began to gently observe the 'present' life around me. You see, two weeks ago I had no plans for New Year celebrations and then all of a sudden I find myself at a great party with live music from Richard James, the cast of Cinderella from Lighthouse, a costume designer who very kindly fixed my black wig, and I was waving a sparkler outside at midnight! The next day, New Years Day (minus the wig!), I made my way into the woods to spend the afternoon in a self-sustaining eco-lodge with some nice people I have only recently met. Sauna, steaming hot tub in the pouring rain, dancing, napping, eating energising food - Not bad for one afternoon's work!

The following morning, 2nd January, I woke at sunrise with the sunbeams breaking through the trees and into my bedroom window. I took my lovely new Moleskine black notebook and a pen with me as I wrapped up warm and ventured into the morning woodland, walking on the orange bed of fallen leaves sponging under my feet. The birds were tweeting and deer ran though the trees as they caught ear and sight of me. I began thinking about what had been inspiring to me since the beginning of this new year. I felt energised by the location and by the fact that I had just spent the last two days with people who I didn't know very well, but had been invited to share some wonderful experiences with, and for this I felt very grateful.

What was inspiring me right now? The music, singing and dancing; the sense of freedom that doing these things infuses in me. New ventures, new faces and new places; the feeling of being enlivened through new experiences. The fresh air, sunshine and the trees; stimulating a sense of love within my heart.

Inspire = infuse, enliven, stimulate

I sat on a log facing the sun, took a deep breath with my eyes closed. Opened my eyes and then opened my notebook. This is what came out...

What a gift to welcome the year,

It all begins from this place right here.

Another day just like before,

But this one's different from the last I saw.

Another day not like the last,

Different from the ones of past.

As the morning sun casts light on my skin,

It conjures up something else from within.

A new day, a new way.

A new ticket to play the game my way.

And so it seems that my first Inspire 52 takes the form of a poem with an accompanying illustration. Raw, Brut, Premiere Cru from my notebook. (I must admit, it does feel a little exposing opening up my notebook and scribbles onto the face of the internet ... this feels like this is going to be an interesting journey on many levels!).

I did share my piece with Caroline Parrott, from Make 52, and she said 'That's it, you've done it!', so I guess I had!! But it wasn't quite finished for me, so I took the poem and the sketch and incorporated them into one illustration, this is the final piece below.

Upon drawing this piece and getting absorbed into its lines and words I realised that this picture actually does represent the beginning of a new journey for me. I didn't really think about it when I was splurging it into my notebook, but it seems so obvious now looking at the image. I don't think I need to spell it out, I will leave it up to your own interpretation.

I don't really know what I was expecting, but I guess my Week 1 has marked the beginning of my journey into the word 'Inspire' and what it means to be inspired. A simple start that will lead me on an unknown creative voyage. At least I know now that I have indeed begun from the beginning.

One down, 51 to go! I hope you have enjoyed beginning at the beginning with me and continue to join me for the ride :-)

Until next week - Over and out x