2020 so far...

Can you believe its 2020? I still keep writing 2019 and frantically scribbling over the last two digits, but so far I've had a good year, January has been fun.

 I've been continuing my research into needlework activities classed as women's work or feminine pursuits. Following from my residency at Manchester Jewish Museum in December, I came away with a lot of ideas and thoughts I'd like to pursue. I'll be concentrating on some of these in my next post so stay tuned.

I'm currently working on a portrait commission which will be a surprise gift (the recipient isn't online so it's safe to share). This work in progress is based on a beautiful photograph of the client's wife taken in the 1970's and I'm painting it in a romantic mood with colours that put me in mind of that era. I've been listening to lots of Roxy Music while painting this...

I've also been doing portraits on a smaller scale of people's pets. This came about after I took part as one of the artists drawing 3 minute portraits at Levenshulme's Christmas Market in December. Some punter's asked me if their dogs could sit for a picture and from that night I've had people getting in touch to ask if I can draw their own animal friends. These quick A5 pen drawings are so fun to do!

This month also saw the start of the Manchester Open Exhibition at HOME where my Joan Collins embroidery of Alexis Carrington Colby is showing. The opening night was absolutely packed with over 2000 people queuing to get into the gallery! It was really great to see such a lot of enthusiasm for an exhibition. There are over 500 artists with work on show and its well worth a visit. The Manchester Open runs until 29th March so make sure you put it in your diary... oh, and you can vote for your favourite pieces too, just so you know...

I've also been working on getting my Dolly Parton embroidery finished this month. It was this piece of work that helped to trigger my feminine pursuits project, yet I have to admit I've been having issues with it since I began.

This is an image of a very young Dolly from 1977 caught in a pensive moment. Her hair is big her lips are glossy but I don't feel like it's right. Maybe I'll capture whatever 'it' is in time... maybe I should start again...

Lastly, as a little side project I've been enjoying writing on my other blog The Page Dipper, a book blog featuring reviews, feelings and observations about the books I read. I love reading and this was my way of chatting about all the thoughts I'm left with after finishing a book. It's still early days so every time I post on it the format is different as I'm finding my style. Anyway please go and check it out, I read fiction, biographies, history and art and I write about the books that really capture my imagination.

Until next time, if you'd like to get in touch about my work or just say hello check out my Instagram @gemma_parker_Artist to find out more.

Alexis embroidery

 Alexis 2017

I finished my embroidery of Joan Collins AKA Alexia Carrington Colby last night! I'm not gonna lie, this piece took me aaaaaages! It turned out to be very detailed and I had many breaks in between days of hard stitching. However, I have to say I love it and I'm pleased with how the Dame turned out!

Here's how I made this piece from start to end...

Firstly I drew out Joan's beautiful face onto canvas and painted in the skin tone and hair. I also put in some colour around the eyes as the base of her fabulous purple smokey eye make up.

Then I began to stitch in the details...

After appliqueing on the red fabric for Joan's dress I soon realised I needed to give her a fresh background as I'd unwittingly tried out my paint colours far too close to her face on the original canvas (see photos above). To fix this I cut out around Joan and ironed her to new canvas using bondaweb.

Then I began stitching into the hair... oh god, the hair! it went on and on...

I felt that some of the drama of the face had been lost as I stitched, so I gave Joan a little touch up and defined and darkened her makeup. Got to make sure those cheek bones are sharp enough to cut!

 

And then she was done. Here's a closer look at the details of her face so you can see some of the different stitches I used for different textures like jewellery, skin and hair. This was a really satisfying piece to work on, although I have definitely learned a few things not to do for next time. I'll be starting a new iconic look in embroidery soon, I haven't quite decided who but in the mean time I'll be thinking of framing options for Alexis/Joan...something fabulous and decadent I think...

Re-visiting old work

Earlier this year I sold an old piece of work from my first exhibition from 13 years ago. I felt I couldn't sell the work without touching it up /re-painting parts of it first as, after over a decade of experience later, I felt the work in it's original state wasn't up to scratch.

This was the first time I'd ever worked on a 'finished' piece before and it was really eye opening for me. It made me realise that there's still potential in work even years after it's completion. With this in mind I decided to re-visit the remaining  paintings series from my first exhibition Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

I've been working on ideas to update the paintings to reflect the sitters as they are now. I want to find out who these people have become, what has changed for them, what life for them is like in 2016 and I'm really interested in their perspectives as older more experienced women.

Two of the remaining originals from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes from 2003

I want to do this by conducting a series of interviews and meet ups with the models to gather info which will then inspire the new work. I plan to update their Gentlemen Prefer Blondes portraits by working into them; cutting them out, embroidering them, painting and collaging onto them to basically create a more complete and layered image which represents the person they are and the journey they have made in the last decade.

I'm really inspired by work of other artists who use various mediums in image making such as Niagara and Heiner Meyer. 

Niagara: Clair de Lune

Heiner Meyer: Audrey Hepburn Through The Looking Glass

I love the way these artists use layering techniques with various images and text to create a unique piece. I think this will be a great direction to go in with the re-vamped pieces as I learn more about my subjects in their own words.

The original series Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was inspired by my friends who modeled for me and my fascination with styling and artifice. It looked into the way these young women presented themselves to the world and how popular culture in turn inspired them. Each painting contained a quote from a film, book or song chosen personally by the model to reflect something of herself. The title, taken from my favourite Marilyn Monroe film, played on the misconception of the ideal woman, as not one of the sitters was a blonde.

I was trying to define an idea of young women as bold and sassy and modern and to encapsulate the idea that women could define themselves on their own terms, yet I was doing this through the lens of popular culture. I feel now, that I was reproducing my own version of packaged personas based on my own relatively marginalised experience from that time. 
 

By re-visiting the work and updating the individual pieces to reflect their individual sitters I think this time I'll be able to produce a much more rounded and personal representation.

I'm currently putting interviews together for each sitter and orgnaising times we can meet up and I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a liberating and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Rebel Princess - For The Love Of The Force

  

I spent a busy weekend working as one of a group of artists painting live at the For The Love Of The Force Star Wars event in Manchester.

Of course I painted Princess Leia, and I wanted to show her as the provocative, strong, feminist icon she is! I took inspiration from classic pin up styles, the sort of thing you'd find on a B52 bomber and I also added a tattoo to underline her rebel status.

This is possibly the fastest painting I've ever done, especially when you consider that the finished piece is over seven foot tall! Also painting in front of thousands of people as they explored the Star Wars convention was daunting and rewarding all at once. People really do enjoy seeing art being made. Here's how it happened:

And THIS is just a snippet of what was going on all around us while we painted!

I had a fab and exhausting time! My Princess Leia #RebelPrincess is staying up along with the other artworks created over the weekend for a week at Bowlers and will be auctioned off at the end of it. Keep an eye on the Bowlers website and facebook page for more details!

(This is SUCH a difficult pose to do with any kind of refinement as you can see!)

My current work up at Cornerhouse

Grace poses in front of her finished portrait

It's been just over two weeks since my work celebrating transgender femininty inspired by the Pre Raphaelites has been on show at Cornerhouse as part of Cornerhouse Projects.

 

The private view went really well with a great turn out including friends family and members of the transgender and gay community. Grace arrived with her mum in tow and I'm proud to say got a little emotional as I took her round all the pieces. 

One of the main things I wanted to do in this project was focus on Grace as a person and show her in a way that would highlight her strengths and uniqueness. I wanted to show Grace as an individual, not as a transgender character. Even though this project involved the use of drag, as I have learned, it is just another way of exploring who you are, and I think certainly in this case it helped to emphasise the softer side of Grace, a side she doesn't often see in herself.

Some of the chalk studies of Grace in Pre Raphaelite drag and with no make up at all. In both cases her unique femininity shine through

 The show runs alongside the work of Layla Sailor whose beautiful work also explores female iconography

People have responded really well telling me it's great to see art that has a positive message and I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to explore a subject I knew so little about with such an interesting and lovely muse. I feel that if this has helped to melt away just a little of the stigma or preconceptions society holds about being transgender then that would be a great acheivement. 

Grace in her gilded frame with butterfly details. I named the portrait 'La Donna Della Grazia' meaning The Woman Of Grace as a tribute to Dante Gabriel Rossetti who was and is a constant inspiration

The exhibition is up until 9th Sept at the Cornerhouse cafe/bar Manchester

A Pre Raphaelite stunner in the flesh and on canvas!

I am loving being back in the studio! At the moment Tuesday is studio day! As I mentioned in my last studio post I was going to share with you guys the Pre Raphaelite photo shoot I did with Grace Oni Smith my wonderful and gorgeous trans gender model and muse! I was SO excited doing this shoot with her as she looked absolutely amazing and it felt like all my dreams had come true as I had a true Pre Raphaelite stunner sitting right in front of me! Thanks again to Grace for being so great to work with and collaborating on costume and styling. (If you'd like to know more about how we put this look together let me know and I'll write about it)

These photos were taken in Grace's Manchester flat, so you'll have to excuse the kitchen background (not very Pre Raphaelite!) The poses were inspired by the paintings, Bocca Baciata, (The Mouth that has been kissed) and The Blessed Damozel both by Rossetti

 I had chosen the flowers Grace holds in the photos especially to reflect an aspect of her story and personality. The pink rose in her hair literally means 'grace', while the Daffodils, a Spring flower, represent rebirth and renewal and overcoming the hard times of Winter, a fitting sentiment since Grace had just weeks earlier undergone her gender reassignment surgery. The Gladioli posed a problem as they had failed to open in time for the shoot but in theory they represented strength of character. (I have since learned Gladioli are an August birth flower, and Grace was born in August! One of those flukey coincidences)

As you can see from the photos we arranged a selection of items in the foreground. These included, a magnifying glass, a mirror, some of the daily medication Grace takes, and make up brushes. Each item was chosen to represent a part of Grace's life and follow the Pre Raphaelite tradition of placing corresponding items in a painting to tell us something about the person we are looking at. (See the apple for instance in Bocca Baciata above, she's a temptress, a modern Eve waiting to lure you in!)

Now I have images to work with I am unsure about whether to use these items or not, or at least how to use them, I think this is something that will became apparent as I continue working on the project.

I've begun my first painting from the shoot  and in my last studio post I promised you guys I'd also share how my experiment on canvas board was going. So here's the scoop!....

I decided I wanted to recreate the feel of one of Rossetti's unfinished paintings, which just happens to be another version of The Blessed Damozel. He often painted the same subject several times, sometimes with slight differences. Here you can see the Damozel's gaze, hand placement and flowers are different to the original.

I find this unfinished painting more exciting than the actual finished version! I love how we can see the textured background and the raw edges to Rossetti's work. This is also my reason for painting Grace in this way, because as yet, she herself is unfinished, a work in progress, with raw edges.

To replicate the textured background I began this piece by painting the entire canvas board a deep ultra marine blue mixed with a little yellow to bring out a green tinge. Once this was dry I painted over it with gold. I am using acrylic paints instead of oils as I can't stand working with oil paint and hate waiting around for it to dry. So I will be trying my best to get the softness and depth with my own paints. The blue paint shows though the thin washes of gold and creates a metallic gold/green that looks mustard or deep green depending on the light and will contrast nicely with the softness of the skin and hair.

Once the gold layers (I put two thin coats on ) had dried then came the hard part of placing my image onto the board. I would usually do this by having a scaled down version to the exact dimensions and use a grid to transfer the outline onto the unpainted canvas. But for this work it felt right to do as much by eye as possible. This proved extra hard as I found it really difficult to draw out Grace's outline to the correct size! In the end I placed sheets of baking paper (a cheap alternative to tracing paper, plus you can use whatever size you need!) over the the board and drew onto that. It took a few attempts but I finally got the size and shapes I wanted.

I cut out the cartoon, as this kind of preparatory drawing is called, and placed it where I wanted it on the board securing it with tape. I then drew around this with chalk to fix where I wanted the image to stay. 

The gold paint makes it very hard to see where you are working and other acrylic paints do not sit on it well. I would have to build up lots of layers to get a purchase on it, so instead I filled in the outlines I'd created with white primer! Once I'd done a couple of coats I had a Grace shaped cloud floating on the canvas board.

This reminds me of how the Pre Paphaelites achieved their vivid colours by painting onto a white background, so I feel this is a good start! Next I had to add some loose detail as a guide line so I went back to the cartoon I'd done and drew on it's reverse. I then taped it back into position over the white shape and drew over the lines to transfer them onto the canvas board.

Now I have everything set up to begin painting Grace onto the board. I have begun by blocking in her hair for now. I have put in roughly the pattern of her curls and I will finish her hair after I have finished painting her face.

I'd run out of time by this point so I'll be continuing when I return this week. So far I am loving working on this painting! I am hoping to get some more free time in the next few weeks so will be able to make more progress. I'll be documenting the whole thing so will let you see how things are coming along!

Gemma***