I had no idea that I was planning going on for 21 days until the end of Day I, where I felt exhilarated and in no doubt that I could produce one or more paintings each day.
I challenged myself with the focus I never thought I’d be able to create so many pieces.”Ĭomparing how she felt on Day 1 and Day 21 of her “mammoth task”, Lesley says: “Well, Day 1 was a bit of an exploration. “So, I just reverted back to that way of working: alone, with my music. Such A Rugged Day, memories of Scotland, by Lesley Birch, from the 21 Days In Isolation Project What did Lesley learn about herself as an artist working in isolation? “I think many artists already work in isolation – and indeed, this is the way I worked before I got together with the PICA crowd,” she says.
And I chatted to my studio mate Mark most days on the phone.” “My PICA friends commented on Instagram on what I was doing, so there was still that support. “I was alone…with my IPod music – I’m not I’m not sure my music is to their taste!” says Lesley, a former musician with Hue & Cry in the 1980s. Painting at home contrasted too with the busy environment at PICA, a shared space where others work around her. I revisited these beautiful places in my head.
#Hue and cry instagram skin
How did the working experience contrast with Lesley’s painting trips to Italy, Spain, Cornwall and Scotland? “I wasn’t feeling the wild wind or soft sun on my skin and I wasn’t by the sea, so I used my sketchbooks as inspiration. Lesley assessing the first few days’ work on the studio floor I had to gather my materials from PICA studios in town, bring them home and order paper and new oils online”. “Usually it’s for printmaking and large acrylic paintings, so it was a change to restrict myself to oils. Lesley worked from her studio in her garden. So really, it was artist supporting artists – worldwide.” “The deal was if I reached £1,000 worth of sales, I’d buy another artist’s work. Under the #artistsupportpledge initiative set up by artist Matthew Burrows, Lesley could sell her 21 Days works as part of the pledge. Then photographing the paintings and uploading them to my Instagram feed.” “Morning break coffee and assessment of the painting. Every day I had a fantastic routine: breakfast set up the oil palette and paper. “I filmed a painting every morning, because the light was good, and painted into the afternoons. Artist Lesley Birch, pictured in the studio in earlier times before 21 Days In Isolation “I’ve been trying to develop my skills in this medium, and I decided to base the paintings on my trips to Scotland and Cornwall, working from my sketchbooks,” she says. Setting her artistic boundaries for the project, Lesley decided to work in oils. “Why 21 days? Well, that just came into my head, but I realise that was actually the initial lockdown time, so it must have gone in subconsciously.” Then I thought, ‘why not do this for 21 days? – a time-lapse a day and a painting a day – and see what happens’. The first few time-lapses worked out well. “So, I set up the clamp and my camera on my easel and away I went. “I’d always thought about filming my painting in a time-lapse and had never got around to it. “I set about the project almost immediately at lockdown,” says Scottish-born Lesley.
#Hue and cry instagram series
Lesley’s latest paintings for her Romantic Landscapes series hanging up to dry in her home studio This weekend, as with last weekend, 144 artists would have been exhibiting and working at 100 locations, among them landscape painter Lesley Birch at her home studio in Clifton Place, York.įar from downing brushes, she decided to undertake the one-off 21 Days In Isolation Project, her progress documented on Instagram, #lesleybirch21days.
#Hue and cry instagram windows
In the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, however, York’s resourceful artists and craft makers are still finding ways to share their wares, whether online in the Virtual Open Studios showcase at .uk, on their own websites or by filling their windows with artworks. YORK Open Studios 2020 must be York Shut Studios 2020 instead, after the Government’s orders to stay home put paid to visiting other people’s homes. Perfect Day Crocs: One of Lesley Birch’s 21 Days In Isolation artworks in oil, inspired by Cornwall, in harmony with her paint-spattered choice of footwear and garden pebbles
0 kommentar(er)
