Ian Mitchell's Show Goes Up and New Drawings in the Studio

Last week, after spending 2 days dismantling and packing up the Nicholson exhibition, we spent the rest of the time hanging Ian Mitchell's show, A1(M) Eastern Gateway, in which he explores the idea of bulding a motorway from Thirsk to Whitby via Rosedale viaduct.  Ian has made works on a variety of substrates, the results of which are beautiful, playing on the differences between tough durable, modern surfaces and structures and the beauty of the landscape and ancient marks found on it.   Andy Dalton was around for most of the week, this is the final show he has worked on as gallery manager;  he has now left the museum and I miss him already.  Ian's show looks brilliant and we are all excited about this new development in his work.

 A few installation shots of Ian Mitchell's show, A1 (M) Eastern Gateway, which runs at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum until 8th July.   http://easterngateway.blogspot.co.uk   and http://ianmitchellart.blogspot.co.uk

Ian is giving a talk at the gallery on June 15th, 7 - 8 pm.
www.thegalleryatryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com




I had been working on a drawing to give Andy as a gift for weeks but as usual the final touches were left to the last minute and I had to dash to finish it in my studio on the day of his leaving meal with colleagues from the museum. Andy has left to pursue his own printmaking and plans to set up a workshop in his garage.  I am looking forward to seeing some of the results.  www.andrew-dalton.com    He is a real star, so I drew him one:

Emerging Star, May 2012

I have only managed to work on a single drawing so far this week as there were a few things related to The Gallery that needed seeing to.  This drawing is on cheap cartridge paper, which has caused me much agony; the graphite sticks just don't slide over the surface in the same delicious way that they do on the Arches paper I used for some of the previous drawings.  It is also much much whiter and there is less tooth to the surface, which is not as pleasing.  So, to counteract this I have drawn the marks on the paper and with each layer, I have washed over the drawing with some matchpots of off white emulsion paint that I have kicking around the studio.  This created an interesting ghostly revealed/concealed look, which made me think of memories lost or half remembered.  I find the subtlety of the marks made by the brush with the emulsion over the graphite really pleasing and fascinating but I am wary of becoming sucked in by the beauty of the surface too much.  My dilemma now is: do I leave this drawing as it is, keeping it for reference, and make another that I will continue to work on beyond this stage, with the other, more calligraphic marks to create the obelisk/human forms?

 

Photographs of exhibition A1 (M) Eastern Gateway with permission of Ian Mitchell

All other images copyright Sue Gough