Inspirations and Experimentations Part 2

So, where were we? Oh yeah, things that inspire me.
Last time I was talking about how Rothko was one of my most important inspirations. I guess that's what gives my photos such a painterly quality; I trained as a painter (I also studied Fine Art at uni) and in some ways I still think like one, and take a lot of my inspiration from painters. A couple more abstract painters I think I am influenced by, would be, Patrik Heron:

and Howard Hodgkin:

So I guess those are the big famous guys that I look up to; the ones I own books about, have been to exhibitions of, had prints up on my wall and so on. But there are a few more obscure artists as well. Plus, the more I get into this project, the more I am getting interested in my photographic medium, and I am trying to think more about how I can actually shape my images using its unique attributes, and so I find I am getting inspired by some photographers as well.

OK, so an obscure artist first. Very obscure. He's called Balint Szombathy, and I discovered a book about him by chance in a bookshop in Budapest when I was there last year. The book is called "Signs of the City 1971-2012" and it features many photos like mine. I was really excited when I discovered it, to think that here was someone thinking very much along the same lines as me, but I was far enough along with my own work that I could feel like I hadn't been too influenced by him, I couldn't be accused of "stealing" his ideas, as I guess intellectual property has to be jealously guarded. Or maybe not. I read a quote recently which went something like this "Don't worry about developing your own style, as it will emerge naturally in everything you do". So I guess as long as the person being influenced isn't interested in nicking the idea wholesale, everyone can come out a winner.

Anyway, I had the thrill of discovering a kindred spirit when I picked up this book, that's how it felt to me. Like me, Szombathy had wandered around cities and kept his eye on the inconsequential details that others overlook, and had created quite abstract images from them. For the main, they are a lot less colourful and artistically composed than mine; which isn't to say worse, just more interested in documentary realism perhaps.

Here is an example, from my copy of his book, hence the weird curved pages:

Actually, the act of taking this photo made me look at the pictures afresh, as individually perhaps the composition isn't interesting, but taken as a foursome there is something really compelling about these images. Maybe the colours are reminding me a lot of Rothko again, I do seem to keep coming back to him, but it also made me think that a possible future direction for me would be to simplify my individual photos, but them mount them in a set with other pictures. That's the great thing about visual arts, if you keep your eyes and mind open, the sources of inspiration are endless!

Ok, that's all for today, but there's a lot more left for another day!

Inspirations and Experimentations Part 1

So, with my next Art Fair still a few weeks away, I've got a little breathing space. I'll try not to do what I did with Padiham, and let all the important work stack up until the last minute, when I then have to do it in a mad rush, but it's an uncomfortable truth that I've realised about myself; unless I'm really disciplined, that's normally how I do things. Anyway, the point is, I can relax for a few days at least.

So, I've been spending that time doing some more experimental pieces of work, which I have been wanting to find the time to do for a while. I have loads of ideas in my head of how to develope my work, but until now, not much time to try. So, I thought I'd document a bit of that, and also share some of the chief things that inspire me at the same time.





So, my chief inspiration for photo abstracts in general is; Mark Rothko, the Abstract Expressionist painter. He has been my favourite painter for several years now. I know abstract art isn't everyone's cup of chai, but it speaks deeply to me. When I was at uni I did my dissertation on Virginia Woolf and the stream of consciousness, and how that relates to ideas of the sub-conscious; an interest that's stayed with me ever since. I guess I like abstract art because to me, it speaks to that pre-verbal part of the brain, the bit where we feel things instinctually without being able to describe them in words. That's what Rothko means to me.

So a few years ago I was doing a a little bit of painting and quite a lot of photography and trying to work out what exactly I wanted to do with it, and then suddenly, this idea sprang into my mind. I was taking pictures of boats, and I saw how the two or three colours that a boat is painted actually looked a lot like the composition of a typical Rothko painting, so my first photographic series, "Rothko Boats" (I know, I'm not much of one when it comes to imaginative titles), was born. Here are some shots from that first series:

So, this is how the "Photo Abstracts" project, that I've been pursuing ever since, was born! Ok, I think that's enough for one day, but I'll be back soon to post more about artists and ideas that inspire me, and to share some of the progress I'm making getting my latest ideas out there!