Out of the Ordinary - A course in Painting Techniques for Backgrounds

Painting Techniques for Backgrounds - Tutor: Roisin Keown  - Week 3

Following on from the wire work course, and while the pupils' wire sculptures were on display at Eccles Community Art Gallery and also during the final week of the Out of the Ordinary exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Greater Manchester, UK,. the selected year 9 and 10 pupils (ages 13-15) at Oasis Academy, King William Street in Salford, were offered this painting techniques course by Roisin Keown.

Roisin Keown is a recent graduate of Manchester Metropolitan School of Art, who specialises in painting.. She makes gigantic paintings using a technique, which consists of painting stretched calico with an oil-based primer, so that the surface is extremely smooth and allows it to dry thoroughly.  To make her paintings she uses a wide variety of scrapers, and tools to spread oil paint onto this smooth surface.  The effects which are realised are of the elements, the weather, storms, rivers, and clouds..
Trulybreathtaking!

 www.saatchiart.com > Roisinkeownfineartamerica.com › Artists › Roisin Keown › Imagesfineartamerica.com › Artists › Roisin Keown

Deutsch: Roisin Keown, Malerin, kommt aus Nordirland. Sie war Studentin in Manchester, und heutzutage malt und lehrt.

The painting techniques that Roisin showed us used pre-mixed acrylic paints of assorted colours, but thinned down even further with water, so that a fairly runny consistency was achieved.  The pupils were shown how to apply blobs of two or three selected colours onto a piece of paper and move it around in the air, to create their patterns.  This was executed enthusiastically by all the pupils and a wide variety and copious amount of work was done in a very short time.

The above was also printed with blue rings.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

1. 

Another technique was to dip one or two pieces of string in the same paint and to place the string between the folded paper (Roisin brought with her an assortment of papers) and then to weigh the paper down and trap the string inside by placing a heavy book on top of the folded piece of paper..  The pieces of string were then pulled out of the paper, leaving a symmetrical pattern on either side of the paper.

                                                                                           

                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

A different technique used watercolour paint on thicker paper.  A variety of materials were placed onto the wet colours to create different effects.  Materials used for this were rice, cling film and salt amongst others. The pupils were shown how to change a drawing of a cat from a naturalistic image to an abstract one, using these paint effects.  Roisin used some printmaking ideas in her final workshop.

Arts Council of England funded Wire Sculpture Project based on the Out of the Ordinary Exhibition

During the months of September to end of November, 2015, an Arts Council funded arts project, using National Lottery monies, was arranged to take place at Oasis Academy Media City in Salford.  The idea was that the pupils would be working towards an Arts Award Bronze qualification, which is roughly equivalent to a G.C.S.E. grade C-D.

The project was intended initially for year 10 pupils, although several year 9 pupils also took part.  The pupils followed a twice weekly course over two weeks in five disciplines: sculpture with wire, painting techniques, drawing cartoon characters, textiles with felt, and jewelry.

Each of the selected pupils, together with their art teacher and community liaison officer, visited the Out of the Ordinary exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery, where they gathered leaflets and postcards and took photographs of the paintings and drawings by Colin Rodney Burrows.  There was also some biogrraphical information in two display cabinets to which the pupils also had access for research.

Wire Workshop with Lorna Fellas

Lorna Fellas is a former Art and Design tutor at the University of Salford.  Lorna is a multi-discipline artist, with an interest in glass, lighting design, ceramics, together with painting and drawing.  She has been in several group exhibitions recently, and delivers workshops in wire sculpture and other disciplines.  

http://www.lornafellas.com/

Following their visit to the Colin Burrows' exhibition at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, the pupils began drawing from ordinary objects which the tutor, Lorna Fellas, had brought into school. The pupils began constructing 2D wire sculptures from their initial drawings, and, in the second week they set to work on 3D sculptures.

                                                                                              

The final pieces were mounted and displayed in the Langworthy Gallery in Salford Museum and Art Gallery, alongside the Out of the Ordinary exhibition and also in Eccles Community Art Gallery,Greater Manchester..

Out of the Ordinary Exhibition - Colin Rodney Burrows' Paintings - Aftermath

The Out of the Ordinary Exhibition was taken down on 2nd November, 2015.

It was the end of an era for our family.  Colin Rodney Burrows (b. 1945) had passed away in April, 2002 and I had wanted to do something in his memory for a very long time.  This exhibition, when it finally happened, fulfilled all that I had hoped for.

Over the span of the exhibition, from 18th July until 1 November, the exhibition had many visitors.  There were over sixty at the preview, mainly friends, family and members of our various art clubs.  The then Director of Salford Museum and Art Gallery had arrived towards the end of the afternoon, very  apologetically, saying that he had been waiting for his car to be returned so that he could travel from Liverpool to attend.

 
 "Gravy Jug",  acrylic paint on cotton duck

"Hot Water Bottle Stopper", acrylic paint on cotton duck

"Sir Anthony Blunt, former Keeper of 

Queen Elizabeth II's Paintings", 

 "Soldiers", water colours on paper

One of Colin's best friends, a former student of the Slade School of Art, Jackson, he used to call him,  arrived on the dot from the South of England, and he was visibly overwhelmed by the wonderful display of Colin's paintings and cartoons, some of which he had never seen before, as the friends had lost touch for several years.  Jackson, who owns the Chapel Gallery and Book Shop in Saxmundham, Suffolk, was kind enough to lend the exhibition two early paintings, which Colin had either sold or given to him.  One was a large, rather abstract self-portrait in their flat at Highgate in London, and we were able to show a black and white photograph of Colin painting this, in a display cabinet.  The other borrowed painting was an early still life of many of the objects which had been important to Colin when he was a student at the Slade.                                                                            

The items consisted of pipes, medicines and other personal items, painted in a naive style.  This still life  is a really beautiful

painting which I am loathe to return, but I have no choice, unfortunately, as Jackson loves it too.  I had never actually seen these paintings before, but I had seen slides of them.

Cover of the Catalogue for the "Out of the Ordinary" Exhibition, July - November, 2015

Something rather peculiar caught my eye one day, as I turned on my personal computer to view some photographs of Colin's works.  There were a couple of black and white photographs which I didn't recognize, but, on closer inspection, I realized one of them was of me, eating a meal at our kitchen table in the mid -1970s, just before our first child was born.  The other photograph was of a girl in our living room.  I then realized it was one of my friends from Secretarial College.  On researching further, I found numerous photographs sent to me by Jackson, that he had taken during several of his visits to our house in Higher Blackley in Manchester.  What was interesting was that some of them showed Colin's set-ups for several of his paintings, for instance, of the Trousers and Shoes.   Colin had dressed the bottom half of a tailor's shop dummy in black tights, a pair of let-down trousers and a pair of shoes from that period and stood it on a wash stand in front of a picture window.  Many months later, when he had nearly finished the painting, our neighbour inquired whether Colin had finished painting the ceiling. 

As a growing family, we had to live around the set-ups of Colin's on-going painting, and I didn't realize it was that unusual.  I just took it for granted.  Visitors and tradespeople were visibly shocked when they stepped into the cramped room, with this strange activity going on by the window.

I am very indebted to Jackson for loaning the exhibition the two paintings and for all the photographs he sent to me prior to the exhibition.

The Exhibitions Team from the Gallery designed and installed the displays.  I was asked my opinion on their suggestions beforehand, and was very happy indeed with the result.  The Artists and Illustrators magazine chose this exhibition as one of the best in the North of England to visit for both September and October, 2015, so we were all very pleased and proud.

The Exhibition wascommended in the "Best Exhibitions" in the North of England for both September and October, 2015 in the "Artists' and Illustrators'" magazine.

  "Washing Up Tubs", acrylic paint on cotton duck

"China Flowers", acrylic paint on cotton duck      

Exhibition "Out of the Ordinary", paintings by Colin Rodney Burrows, in summer, 2015 at Salford Museum and Art Gallery also with works by Lorna Fellas, Sean Caherty,

    Fiona Moate, Jo Carlon and Gerard Highland

Colin Rodney Burrows' "Out of the Ordinary" Posthumous Exhibition Ends 1st November, 2015

The exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery, in Greater Manchester, UK, of Colin Rodney Burrows' Paintings of Ordinary Objects, together with his Family Portraits, Cartoons and Ephemera comes to an end this Sunday, 1st November, 2015.

This follows a summer of activities based on the theme of Ordinary Objects, including a course of six family workshops held in Salford Museum's School Room during the Creative Sundays slot. Children of all ages and their parents created objects made from pipe cleaners, illustrated giant postcards and made small postcards to take home, modeled seaside objects in air-hardening clay, drew funny spaceships based on ordinary objects decorated cut-out shoe cards and, finally, painted self-portraits on canvas.

 Within the Langworthy Gallery a space dedicated to the young was constructed and an outline of a house with empty rooms is now filled with drawings of household object which have been coloured in by the visitors.  On another wall is a space for original drawings of objects by the more adventurous child artists.

The widow and son of the artist, Colin Burrows, were present in the Exhibition space twice a week for eight weeks, drawing and painting objects which had been discovered by the Exhibitions Officer and her team.  Paintings by Robert James Burrows are now on show in the Langworthy Gallery alongside his father's work,as are paintings and sculpture by Jo Carlon, Lorna Fellas, Gerard Highland, Fiona Moate and Sean Caherty.

Continuing on from the theme of Ordinary Objects is a course which is running at the moment for twelve pupils from Oasis Academy, MediaCity UK,  This is an Arts Award Bronze course which is funded by the Arts Council England using National Lottery monies.

The schoolchildren are aged between 13 and 15 and are taking part in workshops using wire, paint, fabric, pen and ink/digital media, together with a variety of other 3D materials.  Work by Oasis Academy pupils is on display in the Langworthy Gallery and also in Eccles Community Art Gallery at present.  As more art work by the pupils is produced further displays will be on view at Oasis AcademyMediaCity UK, Eccles Community Art Gallery and the West One Foyer in Eccles.

 

"Out of the Ordinary" a new Exhibition of Colin Rodney Burrows' Paintings at Salford Museum and Art Gallery until 1 November, 2015

Colin Rodney Burrows lived and worked in Salford for most of his career as a lecturer at the University of Salford's Art & Design department. Shortly after joining the University Colin had a solo exhibition here at the gallery, so 40 years later it is fitting to have a posthumous exhibition.

The main theme of this exhibition is Colin's fascination with the ordinary and his attempt to elevate it in importance with his paintings and photography, by focusing on various elements such as increasing the scale, using everyday objects as the prime subject of a painting, incorporating household objects into a family portrait and, on occasion, being playful with the titles.

Shown alongside written memories of Colin, there will be artwork by ex-colleagues, former students and his son, Robert. This exhibition celebrates seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary with plenty of opportunities to have a go for all ages.

To complement the exhibition, Colin's widow and son, who are both artists in their own right, will be in the gallery every Tuesday and Friday throughout August and September doing painting and drawing demonstrations, with a chance to have a go at drawing yourself! View the event via our what's on for further information and dates.

'Out of the Ordinary' will be showing in the Langworthy Gallery at Salford Museum & Art Gallery from Saturday 18 July to Sunday 1 November 2015. 

Contact for further information, images, quotes etc:

Kellie Brown, Marketing Officer, 0161 778 0819, kellie.brown@scll.co.uk(link sends e-mail)
Amy Goodwin, Exhibitions Officer, 0161 778 0883, amy.goodwin@scll.co.uk(link sends e-mail)

Notes for the editor:

Salford Community Leisure provides sport, leisure and cultural services in the city. We manage a wide variety of facilities and activities across the eight neighbourhood areas within the city, including sport and leisure facilities, community centres, libraries, community use high schools, museums and the Music and Performing Arts Service.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery presents an exciting programme of permanent displays and changing contemporary exhibitions together with a range of events and activities guaranteed to inspire.

Ordsall Hall - Salford's Grade 1 listed Tudor manor house - was first recorded in 1177. Since then, it has been home to medieval gentry, Tudor nobility, Catholics loyal to the crown, butchers, farmers, an Earl, priests, scout troops, mill workers, cows and several ghosts!

Today, it is an engaging heritage site open to visitors 5 days a week throughout the year. Surrounded by landscaped grounds, it boasts hands on exhibitions, immersive rooms settings and a small cafe.

Jim's Scarf

Some of you know already that Jim Giles, an artist graduate from the University of Salford, UK, has been working on a knitting project for many months, together with numerous women and a few men from the Greater Manchester area.

The aim of the project was to knit a scarf long enough to wrap around his building, a historical residence for elderly people in Victoria Square, Ancoats in Manchester, as a big thank you for taking him in several years ago.

As the building is listed, the scarf, which consisted of almost 300 1.5 meter-long units, tied together with ribbons, could not be attached to the walls, so the plan was for the knitters to hold the massive scarf around the outside of it and pose for photographs! There was also to be a celebration in the form of a party.

Jim is in his early eighties and thought he would try to raise some money with this project for prostate cancer research www.prostatecanceruk.org/‎  He has already raised £100 for this great cause. Please mention Jim if you wish to donate.

After the event, I rang Jim and asked how it was all going.  Unfortunately, through being ill, I had not 'phoned him for a while and had missed the event.  It had all gone very well, apparently, and there are some photographs from the day, and a video is also being made.  Jim said that the scarves had now taken up residence in his flat, and in one spot, were as high as the ceiling!

I took it on myself to ring around some charities for the homeless to ask if they needed any scarves, which all but one did.  I have just rung Jim and found out that the bulk of the scarves have now been collected and will be distributed amongst the homeless people at Life.matters, riverside.org.uk and refugees boaztrust.org.uk/‎ in Manchester and I will be taking those knitted by my friends and myself to the Loaves and Fishes Project in Salford www.salfordloavesandfishes.co.uk/‎

Incidentally, I looked on the Lifeshare website, www.lifeshare.org.uk/‎ a charity for young homeless people, situated in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, which has taken some scarves, and they also have a great need for shoes and boots, socks, men's jackets and jeans, if anyone can spare them any clothing and live in Greater Manchester.

Please leave feedback with your email address if you wish to hear more about Jim's Project.
 
Should you wish to donate to any of the charities, please copy and paste the links if they do not work.   Many thanks for reading!

Art for All

My intention is to fill this space with news, articles and hints and tips for visual artists, who might like to improve techniques or show their work to a wider audience.

Rita

I had the shock of my life when this painting by my late husband, Colin Rodney Burrows, turned up on Ebay of all places.

The title is "Rita, You Were Never Lovelier", painted circa 1971 in acrylics on canvas. 

I saw it last in about 1985, when Colin mentioned that he had swapped it for some spare parts to a dealer in Manchester, UK,  I was not happy.  After Colin's death in 2002, I made inquiries through a third party about buying the painting back, but the dealer was not interested.

The next time I laid eyes on the painting was in September of this year, (2013) when, I have to admit it, a very pleasant gentleman sent me an e-mail, asking me to verify that the painting was by my late husband.  I had just missed the sale on Ebay by a week, if that! 

If anyone else has misplaced an artwork, it might be as well to keep checking on Ebay.  You never know what might turn up there,