Out of all the pieces of canvas we found this was the most complete with a somewhat creepy face that the other half of id-iom just did not like. After a few minutes of discussion on what we were going to do we decided we were going to go abstract although we had no concrete plans on how we were going to go about achieving this.
We find the easiest way to proceed when you have no plan is to just start and see where it takes you. This can lead to some unfortunate circumstances however…
On the journey to abstraction we had to start somewhere so our first idea was to turn the piece into a half man, half pineapple kind of thing. Luckily this idea didn’t hang around too long before the other half of id-iom decided to become a bit of a can killer and pierce any almost-empty cans we had hanging around the studio.
Whilst, it was fun we had clearly gone too far by this point. So we gave into the inevitable and went back to rescuing some of the face. With a little finesse and a whole lot of luck we set about trying to pull this canvas back from the brink. A square stencil here or there, pulling the face forward and pushing the abstracted area into the background I give you ‘I see faces. Even when trying not to’.
Gary was just like you and me until the day he accidentally wandered through a field of genetically modified flowers and became ‘Nosegay’ with the ability to grow the most amazing alien-looking bouquets of flowers right from his fingertips. Now, whilst this wasn’t very helpful when it came to fighting supervillains it did give him a certain celebrity appeal. Which he revelled in. His client list was quite something to behold.
Despite this, his newfound wealth, and his access to jaw droppingly beautiful women he had repeatedly failed to impress any of them into going on a date with him. He imagined it was because he was ‘vertically challenged’ but in reality it was because he was arrogant and boring. Sadly he’d never have the insight to realise it…
This piece is based on an old sketch and is on a big bit of reclaimed canvas that was originally about 5 metres wide but had to be cut down into a slightly more manageable size. Which wasn’t really manageable at all. It’s now been rolled up so long that it’s no longer really viable as an actual canvas. Why I did it so large in the first place I’m not quite sure.
Perhaps I’ll go and grab a smaller canvas and paint it again. That would mean that I have to take myself to the art shop though which is never an action to take lightly as who knows what I’ll come back with.
As an artist who can let their imagination get the best of them, it’s no surprise that sometimes things can get out of hand…
Many months ago now, possibly even years ago, I was working on this painting when an errant idea popped into my head which managed to satisfy the Muse and derail my entire train of thought. Needless to say I needed to please the Muse which meant me putting this canvas aside to work on my shiny new idea.
There it lay until just recently whilst having a rummage around for an entirely unrelated item and it appears in my hands. For now, I’ve got no idea where I was heading with this piece so any suggestions would be welcome. Otherwise I’ll just have to wait until the Muse has finished with Margaret, aged 9 from Dumfries, who has some Christmas based art homework to finish for tomorrow…
After a brief hiatus we’re back on the scene! Sometimes inspiration is hard to come by and sometimes it’s as easy as having a look out of the window. Today’s piece was definitely the latter. Especially as we currently have the verdant pastures of the beautiful Isle of Man to view. A brief glance out the window at the green plants and fields, blue sky and various flowers gave me my colour palette then it was just a job of locating a couple of canvases and setting to work for an abstract landscape. Whether you’d recognise it as such is none of my business.
They’re on 40x40cm canvases and are meant to be a diptych but I’m still unsure on the best way to orientate or position them so that’s up to you…
Sometimes it’s difficult to know where inspiration comes from. Was I listening to Joy Division’s ‘Love will tear us apart’ when I came up with this design? Or did I come up with it independently as it seemed fitting for the design? I really couldn’t tell you.
I can tell you however that the Joy Division version was released in June 1980. Apparently the lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis’ marriage problems and frame of mind before his suicide in May 1980. Which is really quite sad all things considered. I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this so maybe best just to leave the rest to you.
It is made using the magic of imagination, stencils and spray paint on 60 x 60 cm canvas
It’s dawn on id-iom’s private Caribbean island. There’s a soft knock at the door and I’m gently reminded that I’ve got a call in 30 minutes. After a couple of lengths in the pool and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice I take the video call from the BBC documentary team chronicling the eventual but meteoric rise of id-iom to being the pre-eminent design/art team in the world. Today we’re being asked about the big idea that took us there – 3 in 1 designs…
It’s not that far fetched. Is it? Anyway, despite how great I think they are it’s up to you, the viewer, to decide that for yourself. It’s 3 in 1 performance art on a canvas. And if that isn’t a good trick then I don’t know what is. This rather opinionated gentleman is on a 60 x 40cm canvas and would desperately love to go to a new home. Drop us a line if that can be you…
As I mentioned yesterday no canvas within my grasp is currently safe from potentially being experimented on and turned into a 3 in 1 version of its former self. For Dream Big I thought we’d give our archer lady some horizontal stripes of tape then recolour the whole thing with some more washed out colours in a vague hope the contrast would be more interesting. I’m just not convinced about the horizontal nature of the stripes…
It’s obviously a fairly time consuming system as you have to do the picture twice in order to get the reveal and the mixed up final piece but since when has something as trifling as that put us off? I’m already thinking that this is the idea that catapults us to the art stratosphere.
She’s on a 60 x 40 canvas and I’d imagine you want to get involved right now before they skyrocket in price…
So we’ve got the final part of our triptych up today. Like the other parts it’s detailing someone dealing with lockdown. Rachel here is in a different boat to the others however.
Rachel has a nice house, big garden, investment banker husband and has always been a high achiever. She’s been attempting to treat the lockdown like an opportunity and was doing magnificently for the first two weeks. She’s been acing home schooling and has even been teaching little Sebastian some basic Mandarin on the side but the cracks are beginning to show. She thought she heard Sebastian swear and almost burst into tears. She’s now eyeing the bottle of gin in the drawing room. It’s not even 11am.
So there you go. We all deal with lockdown differently. Just try not to be the guy in the second picture and we should all be fine.
Well good morning there! If you tuned in yesterday you’ll know we had the first part of a triptych featuring a lady escaping reality using the power of music.
Today we have the second part – ‘We ride at dawn’ – featuring someone else trying to escape the reality of the coronavirus. Rather than music however this gentleman has donned his historical war outifit, picked up his AR15 and then gone to protest (against a virus!) on the streets alongside hundreds of other like minded citizens. They are convinced it’s all ‘fake news’ and seem to be on the verge of taking the law into their own hands. Their motto is clear…
We’ve got to get through this somehow. I’m just not sure armed insurgency is really the way forward.
I haven’t just been sat on the sofa enjoying the fruits of various streaming apps. I have also found time to go for a daily walk and have also been doing a little creating. I’ve done a thematically similar triptych of sorts and today we’ve got the first part ‘Turn up the speaker’.
This lady has been alternating between really enjoying lockdown and wanting to go out and socialise. She’s found the best thing to do when she’s in the latter mood is to sit with her head in front of the speaker and keep turning it up until she hits that sweet spot when she can believe she’s clubbing once again. She imagines she’s a basshead with hair like poetry floating on the music or somesuch. The neighbour then inevitably bangs on the wall at that point but by then the music has done its job and she’s good to go.
I may well give it a go this afternoon with Afrojack’s ‘Turn up the speakers’ and see how I get on. Watch this space…
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