Artist: Help wanted!

I have launched my survey to find out more about my audience, and that means YOU! Your thoughts and opinions matter! Not only will you be helping me hugely, you could also be in with a chance to win a limited edition high quality print of my work! Just follow the link here to my website and click on the survey. Many thanks in advance!!! 

http://www.gemmaparker.co.uk/gemma-parker-artist-survey/

Updates and a host of deadly women!

It feels like ages since I last posted, and the reason for that is because it has been ages! But rather than kicking back and watching re-runs of Horrible Histories on loop (as much as I'd love to), I've been busy putting several projects into place;

Firstly,  I have been putting together some market research to find out more about my audience; that means YOU!  I will soon be launching a Gemma Parker Artist Survey to find out who you guys are and your relationship with art. I'll need your help and to show my eternal thanks there will be a chance for you to win a limited edition art print of my work in a prize draw as part of the survey! 

I'll be doing this very soon so keep posted!

Secondly the portrait commission for latex model and all round glamour puss Fiona is all but finished, I just need to do a few tweaks here and there, and she will soon be the proud owner of a very striking portrait of herself in a haze of vibrant rouge!

 

Lastly I have been working on a new diptych embroidery based on the concept of the 'femme fatale', but with an historic theme. I've really been enjoying this rather bloody inspired work and will report more soon!

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In the meantime here's some of my favourite Femme Fatales from art and film!

Rose Loomis -Niagara

Marilyn Monroe plays a sultry yet vulnerable mistress of doom in this fabulous fifties drama. Dubbed as 'A raging torrent of emotion even nature can't control' Monroe was given the chance to play a different character to her usual dizzy gold digger, and she does a great job! As the manipulative and shallow Rose, Monroe was photographed in front of the famous falls comparing her unparalleled form to one of natures wonders.

Lizze Siddal - Artist and model

Starting out as a model to the Pre Raphaelites after being 'discovered' in a milliners shop, Lizzie soon became the sole muse of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who she went on to marry. Their relationship before the marriage however was far from perfect with a firey courtship, constantly falling out then passionately in love again. Rossetti's infidelities caused Lizzie to become insecure and exacerbated her mystery illness (probably the results of laudanum addiction). After just  two years of marriage and a miscarriage Lizzie took an overdose and passed away. But she was to have the last laugh as her image haunted Rossetti for the rest of his life causing him to slowly lose his mind, believing her restless spirit blamed him for her death. Even today Siddal is an icon of feminine mystery and the power a woman's allure can have over men.

Medusa- Greek Mythology

Poor old Medusa has always had my vote. Turned into a monstrous serpent woman with snakes for hair, her mere gaze turned mortals to stone. But she wasn't always the badass bitch you see here. Originally she was a beauty who inspired much jealousy from the gods eventually being turned into a hideous form as punishment by Athena. The ultimate woman wronged, she took her revenge on all men by creating a garden of statues from their lifeless bodies.

Other Femme Fatales worth a look: 

Bridget Gregory - The Last Seduction; Linda Fiorentino plays the ultimate bitch who has her cake and eats it!
Lora King - Die a Little; Amazingly evocative 'noir' thriller written by Megan Abbott
Norma Desmond - Sunset Boulevard; Wonderfully flawed and gloriously glamorous Gloria Swanson

The Glass Slipper

 

Here is my latest embroidery, 'The Glass Slipper', inspired by Louboutin's crystal embellished works of art. A wonderful gift for any shoe devotee out there, this piece really glorifies the high heel turning it into an extravagant bauble beyond mere mortals grasp! Looks great on the wall;

Worked with french knots in threads of gold and tiny glass beads, The Glass Slipper is suspended tantalizingly from a ruby red ribbon; a mixture of traditional stitching and applique presented in a woodgrain flexihoop. The fabric is glued to the interior portion of the hoop in back for reinforcement and the embroidery is backed with black felt.

£45

7.5 x 5.5 inches 

To see more photos please visit my facebook page HERE

 

Items of work will soon be made more easy to purchase straight from my website, but in the meantime please contact me directly for details: gemma-parker@hotmail.co.uk

Portrait update

I was trying to think of a way to share with you the progress of my latest portrait commission. Stuck for any better ideas I've sort of glued a bunch of photos together so they look like passport photos. I think when the painting's finished I'll try to find a way that will put the whole thing in a slideshow (but slicker). So far I've been concentrating on Fiona's face but I've moved onto her shoulders and chest this week and once that's done I'll finish her hair.

Anyway here it is so far :)

To find out more and see regular updates check out my Facebook page: Gemma Parker Artist

The PreRaphaelites: Roadtrip recollections No.2

The Beloved, Dante Gabriel Rossetti

My Dad took me to a gallery when I was very little and we stood gazing at a painting of a glamourous woman for some time. He pointed out the model's deep red long hair. I was transfixed. I loved the fact something so simple and lovely could capture my Dad's imagination. 

I didn't know it at the time but I was looking at a PreRaphealite work; probably my first foray into the world of pin up girls. Of course these Victorian models didn't have the cheeky knowing smile of an Elvgren or the Hollywood styles of a Vargas, but they were glamorous and untouchable all the same, with their own particular brand of beauty.

I've loved the PreRaphaelites ever since that moment, and my roadtrip to Liverpool was based around seeing as many of the original works as I could.

I began at the Alice In Wonderland Exhibition at the Tate. I had a vague memory of Lewis Carroll knowing the PRB's. It turns out he, Rosseitti and Holman Hunt were good aquaintances, Lewis, a keen photographer took pictures of the Rossetti family.

There I also saw Rossetti's painting, The Beloved. I've always enjoyed this work because of it's pseudo exotic appeal. It's been read in many ways over the years; some seeing the inclusion of the black boy in the foreground as racsit. Others recognising that Rossetti, a keen suporter of anti slavery, was possibly using the figure as a means of support towards the cause. There is also a mixed race woman in the background, Fanny Eaton, a popular model to the PreRaphaelites and their asscociates. 

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The Walker Art Gallery was next on the list; I was lucky enough to catch a talk about the PreRaphaelites while I was there. I was part of a large group who dutifully carried our fold up chairs with us as we were guided from one painting to the next. 

 The Martyr, John Everet Millais

Some of the tidbits I learnt were: Millais painting, The Martyr (another favourite of mine) was  part of a much larger painting at the start of it's life. The original picture showed the martyr of Solway, so called because she refused to recognise the Church of Scotland (so they very Christianly chained her to a rock to be swallowed by the tide) naked, about to be saved by a knight. She brazenly looking directly at her rescuer.

Victorian audiences were outraged! Millais cut the offending figure away from the work and clothed her, creating the smaller work you can see above.The proof can be seen in this Xray:

We were also treated to examples of the traditional Victorian painting which had become the Royal Academy's norm back the the first half of the 1800's; sentimental muted images always two thirds dark one third light, a hangover from Sir Joshua Reynolds who the PRB nicknamed 'Sir Sloshula'. 

 The Strawberry Girl, Sir Joshua Reynolds 

It was the PreRaphaelites mission to change this style, taking inspiration from nature, medieval art and poetry. A great representation of this being Millais Isabella.

Issabella, John Everet Millais

Here we saw, bright colours, distorted perspective, rampant symbolism and a truth to nature. Quite refreshing. I enjoyed working through the story with the guide. Basically, the guy offering his blood orange to the girl is in for a stormy ride; her brothers on the opposite side of the table don't agree with the romance and eventually kill him. Isabella finds his body, cuts his head off and plants it in a pot of basil to keep it safe, watering it with her tears. It's all there if you look...

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I then rounded off my roadtrip by travelling to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight. This place is a well hidden treasure box! The village is chocolate box perfection and nestled between the quiet timber framed houses is a gallery filled with art goodies!

Work from the symbolists, asthetics and PreRaphaelites fill the walls, while glorious white marble figures fill the two staute halls.

I was really looking forward to seeing Rossetti's The Blessed Damozel but it was being exhibited on loan to Paris. However I did find a Rossetti I never knew existed, A Christmas Carol;

I recognise that hair ornament as worn by many other Rossetti girls, including one of the musicians from the Bower Medow, housed at Manchester Art Gallery. It was a real treat to find this gem, especailly as it was hidden below some stairs and I might have missed it if it weren't for the fab gallery staff! 

I had a great time on my roadtrip, I saw A LOT of art, not only PreRaphaelite but many amazing works which would be too many to mention here, all housed in these wonderful public galleries. It's worth remembering that our history and culture are only a visit away waiting to be explored!

Alice in Wonderland: Roadtrip recollections No.1

Estelle Dudley as Alice in Wonderland 1917

Image copyright of the National Portrait Gallery

I've just come back from my bumper gallery roadtrip to Liverpool where I began by visiting the Tate to see the Alice in Wonderland exhibition.

It's great to see the Tate choosing to do this show; they have created a treasure box with a universal appeal which has lured not only art fans but families and non gallery goers too. Maybe it's because Alice has permeated our culture, inspired artists, writers and even the way we think.

Sparking Alice mania back in it's day, the book has left a never ending legacy of surrealism and childhood imaginings which we still plunder in order to make sense of the world we live in today. It wasn't until I saw this show I realised just how influenced we are by this children's story.

Like all good fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland began with some grains of truth; I saw Dodgson's (or Carroll's dependiong on which way you want to view it) original camera, the Victorian version of Nikon; cutting edge technology, so compact you could box it up and carry not only the machine but the developing equipment with you wherever you went, the exquisite glass bottles of developing fluid labled 'Poison'.

Then there were his photos, children playing, children dressed up as fairy tale characters, or children sleeping, their still black and white forms looking like peaceful corpses one moment, the image of innocence the next. One photograph showed a young girl sitting next to a mirror, her reflection creating another character, suggesting a whole new dimension to be explored. Nothing was quite what it seemed. His adoration of the Liddell sisters was evident in the copious images he produced of the three little girls, Alice Liddell clearly his favourite and eventual muse.

Seeing these artifacts within the deep red velvet room in which they were set, elements of Alice began to take shape, it was like delving into Dodgson's mind and connecting the dots.

I especially enjoyed the room filled with different editions of Alice in Wonderland. When the copyright to the story ceased in 1907 a fever for all things Alice took hold and her image along with those of her companions were seen everywhere. Tea sets, magic lanterns, ornaments and dolls, plays, musicals and photography. It was fascinating to see how different people translated the book into new and individual imaginings.

As early as the 1900's artists were beginning to find favour in the many layers of Alice's adventures; Echoes of the little girl in a dangerous and nonsense world can be seen in the work of Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst. One sculpture by Tanning made from a tactile black velvet looked very much like a teapot from one angle and a cat luxuriantly washing itself from another, the double meaning and uncertainty of the book revealing itself in her work.

Eine Klein Nachtmusik Dorothea Tanning 1946

Moving on through the decades the 60's saw an explosion of psychedelia and mind altering drugs which suited the surreal offerings of Wonderland.

Yayoi Kusama sent out invitations to a naken tea party happening in New York's Central Park at the Alice statue. Idolising the heroine she stated 'When she was feeling down, Alice was the first person to take a pill to feel high'

While I wandered through the maze like layout of the exhibition, I couldn't help but feel a little like Alice myself, as I encountered strange and unsettling characters. A Humpty like being sat atop a lofty perch, a re-animated rabbit moving dream like in it's deceased state, and possibly the most strange, Robert De Niro talking to himself in a mirror as the famous scene from Taxi Driver was projected in double across two walls, drawing De Niro into a four way conversation, or so it seemed.

I left feeling a little hazy, but hungry for more. If I'd found a cake with 'Eat Me' written on it I wouldn't need to be told twice. Such a good day that gave me much to ponder upon.

Happy New Year 2012!

New year and new beginnings, here's a round up of what's happening so far!

I am currently working on a portrait commission for glamourpuss, and sometime fetish model, Fiona. This is a very striking picture and will ooze sex kitten when it is finished. Here's where I was up to just before Christmas;

The thing I love about this picture is the masses of luxurious red hair. It is only blocked in here but you can get an idea of how shiny and vibrant it will look when the painting is finished. The skin only has it's first layer on in this photo. I build up skin tones in layers in order to capture the many colours that the skin holds which helps to give it depth and the illusion of softness.

I've continued with my experiments in embroidery and I'm working on a shoe design inspired by louboutin at the moment;

I found the original image in a magazine where the shoe was covered in crystals (embellishment is big right now!). I've tried to recreate the lushious surface by covering my shoe in a mixture of beads and french knots in different gold threads. The finished piece will show the shoe suspended from a glossy ribbon tied into a bow...  nearly finished.

To see other embroideires I've worked on visit my facebook page HERE

I'm planning a gallery excursion later this month; For Christmas I recieved a brilliant book called Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel. It's a super read if you're interested in the PRB and the sexual chemistry shared by a number of it's members. All this Victorian drama and sizzle has got me hankering to see the real deal so I'm hoping to take a trip to some art galleries over January and see some of the Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces. My first thoughts are The Lady Lever Art Gallery and the Walker Art Gallery, both located in Merseyside and both home to a wonderful collection of original work by the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Holman Hunt to name but a few. I need to do some further research but I hope to take my trip soon!

Image by Rachel Ortas

Finally some art news from Manchester; Cornerhouse is hosting a new six week course on comtemporary visual art, Beyond the Counterculture. If you like your art a little bit seedy, leftfield, kitsch and kooky then this course is for you! Hosted by the publishers of Nude Magazine the course explores subcultures, youth movements and pop culture. Apparently some of the visuals used may be offensive to some, so what better reason to sign up! Find out more and how to join HERE