My latest artists case study was Karina Llergo. I saw her work online some time ago and spent many days simply staring at it, mesmerized. It took a while for the paintings to sink in and connect themselves to the jigsaw puzzle that is my MA project. I wrote a blog about her work just now and now I want to talk about the painting I completed today that sprang from my analysis of her work. You could say that the following painting is an amalgamation of all the experiments and secondary research I have done thus far. It does …
Tag: paintings
Exploring the Saudi Center for Fine Arts
Day two of our art gallery tour series found us on the doorstep of The Saudi Center for Fine Arts. Where Arbab al Heraf had been an amorphous concept, leaving us with little knowledge what to expect and then surprising us with hospitality, inclusiveness and an indiscriminate love for the artistic, SCFA was quite a bit more disciplined and exclusive. There, I made it sound horrible didn’t I? Well what can I say, it was a tad bit disappointing in a few ways. The art gallery section of it was glorious. Glass walls, two floors, literally papered with gorgeous abstracts …
Visit to Arbab Al Heraf
Every expat I have ever met in Jeddah, artist or no, has always been absolutely certain of one fact: there is no room for the expat artist to grow in Jeddah’s local art scene. Yes, you can get a teaching job, yes, you can even visit art galleries superficially, but to be part of it all? Nope. Not happening. And for the longest time I believed them. After all, it IS daunting to step out of your comfort zone, to put yourself out there without even knowing the language, and try to find a space for yourself. But after the first Skype …
Expanding my horizons
I love Jeddah, I sincerely do. It’s been the place where I discovered my own strength and independence, and it has become home for me. So it hurts when I admit this, but arts and culture are severely impeded here. That is not to say that there is nothing artistic or cultural happening here, there is! There are numerous art galleries, art classes, bazaars and one-off music/film/comic conventions taking place. They just aren’t advertised so as to be accessible to all, since freedom of speech and behavior is slightly restricted here, and people don’t want to get on the wrong …
Poldark and reading lists
I know. I know. It’s just so unbelievably tempting to waste time once the kids are asleep! And come on, Poldark is simply brilliant; the way it immerses you in a completely alternate world. Come on, watching inspirational, artistic period dramas has got to count for something? XD But, I did get one concrete thing done. I’ve been scouring the internet to create my own list of books I’d like to read this first year as I develop my ideas and my art further. Here they are: Letters to Theo by Vincent Van Gogh The Principles of Art History: the …