A departure from realism with Paul Birchall

The past two weeks were occupied with a UCT summer school course delivered via Microsoft Teams. Our instructor was a well known local artist, Paul Birchall. He led the group of attendees through a creative process that resulted in my production of something completely different to my normal works.

Postcards from abroad

One early exercise Paul led us through was to select three images and use them as the face of an imaginary postcard. Then use the image to illustrate the message home written on the reverse of the postcard.

I selected three images of paintings by Caravaggio, and used them to construct a set of weekly cards home from a holidaymaker visiting Italy in these ‘Covidian’ times.

Postcard 1

Dear Mum,

I have arrived in Italy and managed to find some shared accommodation in the ‘old quarter’ of the city. Because of the pandemic rules, I have to spend fourteen days inside; fortunately I will not be alone. A young lady from Alexandria is also staying at the hostel.

My quarantine companion tells me she is here for a part in a film. This evening I came across her in the lounge clutching a long sharp sword. I did not know that Italians allowed such things in public. When I asked about it she said it was a prop for a film. She is hoping for a part in the film as the tragic heroine.

Postcard 2

Dear Mum,

I have now been a week in this hostel. I am not sure the young actress also staying in the hostel is what she claims to be. There has been a bit of drama here. Another guest was found this morning in his room with his head cut off! All I can think of is the sword I saw her with when I first arrived.

The police say they arrested the cleaning lady early this morning. She claims she found the victims head in a bag. Her story is that she found the bag in the hall and did not know what was in it! I must say she is a frail old thing. I am not sure she could behead a person. The police are puzzled because the cleaning lady has no DNA traces of the victim on her.

Postcard 3

Dear Mum,

I have had enough of Italy, with lockdown it’s no fun. I have now boarded a ship home. Unfortunately due to quarantine we are confined to our cabins. So we spend all day and night peering out of the porthole.

The good news is that I am not alone. The young actress has become a really good friend. Both she and her sister are with me.

I did notice a bit of agitation on the part of the police detective when we left. He suspects my lovely companion. But I think she is a harmless, lovely person in need of a break!

See you soon.  J

Stage two – a Dada poem

The second thread to the creative process was to select some passages from a text and then mix the various phrases together to create what to me is a nonsense, but I am informed is in fact a ‘Dada poem’

Selected passages

These are the passages of text I selected. They come from a book by Tim Biggs titled ‘Three Rivers of the Amazon’.

“The canyon sides grew steeper, with the result that the number of blockages increased. At some places entire sections of the mountainside had become dislodged and crashed into the river. This forced the river to flow under gigantic house sized rocks for distances of up to a kilometer.”

“The good mother tirelessly carried water from the river, cooked the evening meal, chopped wood, cleaned the house, picked up and breastfed the crying youngest child, and all the time kept watch over the strangers who had invaded her territory. Although very poor in possessions, the family appeared to be totally contented, living in harmony with their beautiful surroundings.”

From these through a process of mixing I arrived at the following Dada poem;

living in harmony with their beautiful surroundings

for distances

The canyon sides grew steeper,

gigantic house sized rocks

to flow under

At some places entire sections of the mountainside,

chopped wood,

cleaned the house,

and all the time kept watch over the strangers who had invaded

 

with the result that the number of blockages increased,

of up to a kilometer

cooked the evening meal,

had become dislodged and crashed into the river,

The good mother tirelessly carried water from the river,

 picked up and breastfed the crying youngest child

This forced the river

Although very poor in possessions

 the family appeared to be totally contented

Stage three – image creation

The phrases in the poem above were put in a search engine on the internet and images that interested me were saved onto the PC. These various images were then put together in a collage. This can be done by printing and cutting them out or in my case I built them up in a MS PowerPoint slide.

Once a collage was completed it was used as the basis for a grey scale image. Pauls instruction was to use charcoal, but I found it more convenient to try with graphite.

The process to follow is to rub powdered charcoal / graphite onto a sheet of paper. Then use charcoal / Graphite stick and a putty rubber to indicate light and dark areas, thus recreating the collage. This image is then transferred to the painting support and used as the reference for the actual painting.

Stage four - The watercolour painting

The greyscale image was then outlined on 300gsm watercolour paper and a background ‘wash’ applied using an airbrush. The image was then developed using conventional watercolour methods. The outcome is a 33cm by 51cm watercolour.

The watercolour painting, I thought, could do with the same treatment as the ‘postcards’ the process started with. So I have called the painting ‘Letter from Earth’. The text of the letter reads;

Unit six,

Grand Canyon Condominions

April 2050

Dear ‘Earth-watchers’, I know you are there in your pristine space habitats, and in your caves on Mars. I think you will be interested in a recent event here on Earth.

I live in the Grand Canyon, this is the last refuge of the wealthy and the last wild place on Earth to be assigned re-development status. I live in one of the new bunker style houses that protect us from the Sun now the ozone layer is gone!

Though I live in a new development, no sooner had we taken occupation than ‘illegal’ traders set up camp on the river banks and homeless poor people, who somehow live in the Sun’s rays are crowding the shallows drawing precious water for their basic needs.

The last of the ‘Tree-hugger’ sect have taken up residence on the far side of the canyon and closed the roads to prevent further development. They seem to spend their time trying to clean up all the pollution. They seem to think that nature is more important than commerce!

What I want to bring to your attention is the presence of a deity like figure that has arrived in the Canyon. It calls itself ‘Gaia’, and claims to have a message for us. “A great flood is coming; the World will be swept clean!” I am worried about my investment in the new shopping mall!