Life drawing and painting summer school

My annual 3 day summer school will take place this year on July 17th,18th & 19th.(tuesday to thursday, £120) in the fully equipped art studio at Shottery, nr. Stratford on Avon. For those of you who, like me, are passionate about working directly from the figure it is a great opportunity to experiment with a wide variety of techniques and media. Each morning a range of poses from quick dynamic ones through to longer, more languorous, ones will be included to extend your approach to drawing. In the afternoons the model will be in the same pose to enable you to have the opportunity to complete a life painting.

'Belle jar' - oil on canvas 74 x 51cms. Neil Moore 2012



 If you can't commit to the summer school I still have spaces on my life drawing workshop on Saturday 5th May and the 2nd June life painting workshop. The day workshops cost £40 for the day which includes paper and light refreshments. I offer concessions to school students (£30) and to members of the artists groups Warwickshire Artists and A.M.A. (£36) to which I belong. 

Please contact by email at therealneilmoore@hotmail.com if you would like to book for any of the above or would like further information 

Pressure - art and life

'Pressure'  by Neil Moore 31.5 x 31.5cms Oil on canvas 2012

I had thought that as I got older life would perhaps be a little easier but in many ways the opposite is true. I seem to have accumulated more and more responsibilities as well as possessions. Experience helps in handling the responsibilities and I can just about cope, - but as to 'stuff', I begin to wonder whether I own things or it is they that own me. Usually I can retreat from the vicissitudes of reality into the 'therapy' room - my studio. Latterly my home has had to undergo some major surgery and even this solace was denied me for a while. The little painting above was painted prior to the builders shattering the relative peace of my life and, presciently, is entitled 'Pressure'.

For those of you who enjoy my life drawing and painting classes I have news of forthcoming opportunities. I am taking bookings now for a life drawing workshop on saturday 5th May  and a single pose life painting day on saturday 2nd June. If you are quick there may be also be a space in my weekly thursday evening life drawing class next term. Please contact me if you would like to book or require further information.

Carpe diem

"Dead of night" - Neil Moore
Painted in 1989. Oil on canvas. 101.5 x82cms

Last Friday I attended both the funeral of one dear friend and a memorial concert for another who recently took his leave. The sense of loss is eased by the consolation of knowing that their lives, as both artists and people, were fruitful. One of the ironies of outliving others is that in listening to the eulogies I discovered more about them in death than I knew in life, and I so wished I had shared more of their lives.

This reminder of the temporary nature of our lives serves to remind me/us to make the most of what time we have left - hence the 'carpe diem' in the title. The 'day' that I hope that you will 'seize' is Saturday 3rd March when I am running the next the life drawing workshop. If you would like to book, or require further details, please contact me by email by clicking on this link    

Life Drawing and Painting Opportunities in Warwickshire 2012

I am organising life drawing and painting classes again this year beginning with the first of a series of day 'workshops' on Saturday 4th February. These day workshops are usually held on the first saturday of the month throughout the year. They take place in the fully equipped studio at Shottery Memorial Hall near Stratford on Avon. They start at 10am and finish at 4pm and the cost is £40 for the day - this includes basic paper and light refreshments.  The day comprises of different poses, some very short and dynamic through to longer more langorous poses. Different techniques and media are suggested throughout the day. 

I also teach a weekly evening class in Leamington Spa. These take place on thursday evenings in the North Hall, Spencer Yard, from 6.15 - 8.15pm and the cost this term is £120 for ten weeks beginning on 12th January and finishing on 22nd. March (half term 16th Feb.).

Alongside my own love of life drawing I also enjoy painting from life and I like to give others the rare oppoprtunity to do a life painting so two or three times a year I do a single pose painting/drawing day. Every summer I also run life drawing and painting three day summer schools.

If you have any questions or are interested in attending any of my life drawing or painting classes please email me (therealneilmoore@hotmail.com)  and I will add you to my email list and keep you informed of life drawing and painting opportunities throughout the year.

Please note all classes must be prebooked and paid for in advance (either by sending me a cheque or by online banking). I am keen to encourage newcomers and younger people to the delights of working from the figure and I offer a concessionary rates to newcomers and those in full time education. Please contact me for details.

Where to see my new paintings

"Severance" 35.5 x 25.5cms Oil on canvas

With luck you can catch my newest paintings on the Bo-lee Gallery stand at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea this week. I say 'with luck' because of the limited space on the stand Jemma , the director of the gallery, tends to rotate the work on show. Just ask if you want to see mo(o)re. Illustrated is one of them, - the smallest single oil painting I have ever exhibited at 14" x 10" and therefore at a small enough price to be 'affordable'. Also I have a diptych on exhibition in the Association of Midland Artists exhibition at the Bath Place Community Venture Gallery here in Leamington for the next two weeks. 

'Severance' - Neil Moore and Anneka Reay. The complete works.

'Severance II' opened at Studio Eleven in Hull on saturday 15th October. The private view included a heartrending extract from David Windass's play 'Thinsperation' performed by brilliantly by actress Kimberley Hayman. Like the work on view its subject was the devastation caused by anorexia, both to the victim and their nearest and dearest.The exhibition continues until 20th November 2011. All the works are for sale - please contact the gallery info@studioeleven.co.uk for information about prices and availability.

 Illustrated below are Anneka Reay's uncompromising images of herself - a rare glimpse of this deadly eating disorder from the sufferers perspective. They are all ink drawings- some pen and wash and others drawn only in ballpoint pen. These are followed by my own drawings of Anneka.

   

'Broken'      50 x 30cms.

'Dance with me'     40 x 60cms.

'Insomnia'    40 x 28cms.

'Left hanging'     40 x 28cms.

'Mirrored glass'     58 x 40cms.

'Replay'     40 x 28cms.

'Sapling'      40 x 28cms.

'Strings attached'      55 x 38cms.

'Toy'     50 x 30cms.

'Write to me'     30 x 20cms.

'Tomorrow'    28 x 40cms.

'Suspended'     40 x 55cms.

'You've riddled me'     55 x 35cms.

'Empty chair'     40 x 28cms.

All my drawings below are drawn in charcoal on paper.

'Exhibit A'         42 x 62cms.

'Exhibit B'      62 x 42cms

'Exhibit C'       62 x 42 cms

'Exhibit D'      42 x 62cms.

'Exhibit E'      62 x 42cms.

'Exhibit F'     62 x 42cms.

'Exhibit G'     42 x 62cms.

'Exhibit I'     42 x 62cms.

'Exhibit J'   62 x 42cms.



'Exhibit J'    42 x 62cms.



'Exhibit K'    42 x 62cms.

'Anorexika'   126 x 101cms    Oil on canvas

Current Exhibition - Severance II

'Exhibit K' - Charcoal on paper 42 x 62cms   Neil Moore 2010

The work produced as a result of the collaboration I did last year with artist Anneka Reay (which was exhibited in Bath in August) will be showing again at Gallery Eleven http://www.studioeleven.co.uk/ in Hull from Saturday 15th October until the 20th November. Not for the fainthearted, Anneka Reay's raw self portraits make my drawings, depicting the effects that an eating disorder can have on the body, look pretty . If you care to scroll down through earlier blogs there is information about how the show came in to being.

Life Drawing and Painting Opportunities in Warwickshire

Drawing and painting a naked figure could be considered a worrying use of someone's time, but to the initiated, who have experienced the trials and tribulations of tackling this challenging task, no justification is required. To my knowledge no one has yet devised a better, and more enjoyable way, of aquiring the heightened visual awareness that is a prerequisite of all visual art practice.

'Life' work has fallen out of favour with many art colleges and consequently young teachers of life drawing aren't coming through. It befalls older artists, like me, who have always valued it's essential benefits to carry the 'torch' for life drawing and painting. I teach monthly day workshops (usually on the first saturday of the month) and a regular weekly evening class.

I am taking bookings now for these Saturday Workshops - the 1st October which is a Life Drawing day, and for the 5th November which is a Life Painting day . The saturday workshops are held in the fully equipped art studio at Shottery Memorial Hall. They begin at 10am and finish at 4pm and the cost is £40 for the day (paper and light refreshments included).

The life drawing evening classes are held in central Leamington on thursday evenings from 6.15 to 8.15pm. The cost works out at £12 per class,  so this coming term (12 weeks ) it will be £144.

All classes must be booked and paid for in advance. Please contact me by clicking on the link below if you would like to book or require further information therealneilmoore@googlemail.com

SEVERANCE

This drawing, (titled' Exhibit G') is included in the exhibiton 'Severance' which is a joint exhibition of my own work and that of Anneka Reay. Those of you who follow my blog will know that I began an unusual collaboration with Anneka to produce work for this show (scroll down to earlier blogs for all the details). The exhibiton takes place at the Bo-lee gallery in Bath from the 15th - 27th August and the preview is on Saturday 13th Aug. Anneka and I will both be there from 6 - 8pm so please come along to see the work and meet us. The link to the gallery's own site, which has images of both our work, is to the right.

The darkness of lightness

The owner of this painting (painted in the nineties by yours truly) has asked me if I know of anyone who might like to buy it. The painting, entitled "The darkness of lightness", is an oil on canvas and measures 48" x 52" (h x w). I rarely feel anything but dissatisfaction with my work (as the maker I am only aware of the deficiencies) but this one is among my few favourites and I would like it to go on to another 'good home'. Let me know if you are interested and I will put you in touch with the present owner. And, yes - it is me in the painting (I was cheap and available!).

Darkness to light

'Longing', 46 x 56.5cms. Oil on canvas                                     Neil Moore 2011

"Darkness to light" is the title of an exhibition including some recent paintings of mine, which Jemma Hickman of Bo-lee gallery is mounting in the Octagon Chapel, Milsom Place, Bath from the 21st to the 30th June 2011. Gaynor O'Flynn will be performing "The Artist Naked and Blurred" at the P.V. next tuesday evening (21st June from 7 - 9pm). The Octagon is an interesting space right in the middle of Bath and provides an excellent and unusual space for displaying art, - well worth a visit. For more information follow the link http://www.bo-lee.co.uk/  

'Whats occurin' - forthcoming exhibitions.

Excuse the qwerky heading - if you are a fan of 'Gavin and Stacey' like me you'll understand.

If you live close to me in Leamington Spa there is one of my paintings hanging in the Leamington Spa Art Gallery 'Open Exhibition' until June 11th. As with all 'Opens' it is a 'curates egg' (eg. good in parts). There seems to have been a policy of choosing examples of every medium regardless of their quality - but there are a good number of interesting works which make a visit worthwhile.

The Shadowside

 I am forging ever stronger links with a gallery in Bath called 'Bo-lee'. Jemma Hickman, whose started the gallery at the peak of the recession, is indefatigable. Many of the more established galleries had become lazy during the halcyon days of the boom with all its city bonuses and haven't coped very well with the harsher economic climate and some have 'gone to the wall'. Jemma with her youth,energy and vision is gradually establishing a reputation for high quality, challenging figurative art in all media. I am confident that in future the gallery will be a leader of the new wave of younger galleries after the 'cull' created by the recession.

Above is an example of one of my new paintings centered on the 'Unidentifiable Object' (see previous blogs below) will be included in a group show entitled 'The Shadowside' in London. For details of the exhibition click here. 

Forthcoming life drawing and painting opportunities

My monthly workshops continue with the next one, which is a life drawing day, on Saturday 7th May.
This is followed by a life painting day(single pose) on Saturday 4th June.
I am also taking bookings for a life painting and drawing summer school from the 6th to the 8th July (wed,thurs,fri.). Please contact me by email if you would like to book or require further details.

The unidentifiable object

The unidentifiable object

For some years now I have been seeking (or hoping) to come across an object so curious that I wouldn't be able to identify what I was looking at. I have tried to enlist the help of friends in this quest but it isn't easy to describe something that is indescribable - some 'thing' that is not recognisably 'animal, vegetable or mineral'.
It struck me only recently that there are parallels between this search and my struggle to make paintings.

More often than not when I am creating a painting I am striving to achieve a look/feeling that I only 'know' when I see it. Frustratingly I know when it is not 'right' and I just have to keep on changing things until (hopefully) I find 'it'. It was Picasso I think that said that "I don't seek, - I find". Although I have to confess that I am not sure that I fully understand what he meant, my interpretation is that 'it is more fruitful not to wait until inspiration strikes but to produce work and the ideas are generated by this activity'.

So, instead of waiting in the forlorn hope that I would discover the unidentifiable object, I made it - or at least had an attempt at making it. I am no sculptor and what I have made is crude and fragile, but strangely satisfying. Having made it, I am still no nearer to knowing what it is, or why I felt the need for it. I am in the midst of including it in a trio of paintings so perhaps I shall find out. It may remain a mystery.

Tantalisingly, but not deliberately so, you will have to wait until you can see it as I haven't yet reached the point where anything is fit to photograph. It won't be long I promise.      

London Art Fair

The gallery, 'Bo-Lee', which staged a solo show of my work in 2009 is exhibiting at the London Art Fair  this week (19th - 23rd January) and is taking some of my recent paintings and drawings(see pic) to exhibit alongside other gallery artists. Not as 'edgy' as 'Frieze' art fair, it is well worth a visit with good quality painting and sculpture etc. on show.

'Scrunch' - 2010 Charcoal on paper 63 x 42cms.

Centrefold



Untitled (as yet) - oil painting on canvas, 125.5 x 101.5cms



Firstly can I apologise for the long interval since my last posting, I have been busy making artworks. There are just too many 'time bandits' that cant/wont wait and because this blog isn't one of them it gets pushed to the bottom of my 'to do' list.

The 'collaboration', which I mentioned in my last post, continues apace. So far I have completed eleven drawings and this one painting. My collaborator (whom I shall refer to as 'A' to preserve her privacy) has, under the most difficult of circumstances, been busy producing drawings too. Our intention is to exhibit the work together when we are ready - which hopefully wont be too long now.

It has been a problematic, though interesting, diversion from my normal working method. The continuing dilemma is whether or not I should be making imagery of 'A'. Am I being exploitative, even prurient? Could the attention given to 'A' (by using her as a subject) in some way affirm her own body dismorphia as not being deviant? In my efforts to help her divert her destructive obsession into the more healthy and creative direction am I inadvertently encouraging her self destruction (by in some way 'celebrating' her emaciation)? 

My belief in the therapeutic power of creativity (which has saved me from spiralling downwards many a time) caused me to think it a risk worth taking. Thankfully, so far, it seems to be working and she has made tremendous progress both physically and artistically (psychologically it is too early to tell, but I am, as ever, hopeful).

Oh yes, this posts title "centrefold" refers to the use of one of my paintings ('Quietus') in ARTSPACE magazine produced by Leamington Studio Artists. apparently there is no such thing as bad publicity (see the link to the right).

LIFE DRAWING AND PAINTING OPPORTUNITIES         

I am continuing to hold life drawing and occasional painting workshops at the studio in Shottery (nr. Stratford on Avon). They are usually on the first saturday of the month but it being New Years Day there wont be one in January. The first workshop of the new year will be a life drawing day on Saturday 5th February and the cost will be £40. As always, places must be pre-booked and paid for in advance. Please contact me by email if you wish to book or require any further information.therealneilmoore@hotmail.com

Obsession

Exhibit A - Charcoal on paper

         The comfortable routine of my (creative) life - so reassuringly constant has been disrupted. Whether by chance or destiny an uninvited guest has appeared and unsettled me. 

My own history as an artist has been one of unswerving self indulgence - I paint only what I want, I don't do commissions or repeat images. It is a 'control' thing. Unlike the rest of my life, which is necessarily compromised by external pressures, in my art I have total control (subject only to the limitations of my own imagination and skill). Without my art I couldn't cope - it is both a joy and a necessity.

I tell you this because it may explain why when 'A' turned up looking for modelling work I saw in her that same need for 'control'. Her need she assuages by starving herself. She had been a talented art student but she became so successful at denying herself food that she was unable to continue. So weak that she couldn't function normally she did continue to draw. Probably no more than listless doodles to while away the hours of lassitude, they demonstrated to me both skill and imagination. All the more tragic that this talent had been stifled by her 'disorder'. In the hope that she might be able to channel her desire for control in a constructive direction instead of the self destruction she inflicted on herself, I suggested that we collaborate together on an art project.

Using 'A' herself as the subject, we have both agreed to complete a series of drawings within a specified time with the intention that, provided there was no deterioration in her condition, we would exhibit them together on completion.  

My fervent hope is that she will begin to examine and express her 'obsession' through drawing, creatively supplant the nihilism and perhaps even neutralise the causes of her disorder (after all isn't this what all artists do to some extent).

Above is my first of several drawings that I have done as part of the collaboration. If you click on the word 'guest' in the first sentence it will take you to a fascinatingly relevent blog which I follow.         

                                              

Life Drawing and Painting Classes

The thursday evening class is fully enrolled and up and running. If you had intended to join us you will have to wait until after Christmas and see if any spaces become available. In addition to this blog I circulate information about future life drawing and painting opportunities via email. Please email me if you would like to be added to my email list.

I am taking bookings now for a life painting workshop on Saturday 6th November and the next life drawing workshop on Saturday 4th December. Both workshops cost £40 for the day. Please email me for further details or if you would like to book.

The happiest day of your life

'The happiest day of your life',  90 x 91.5cms, Oil on canvas, 1988

The above image is of a painting that I did long ago when I was evidently not that enamoured with marriage. It isn't that I didn't believe in the long term commitment that marriage enshrines(supposedly), it is just that I had noticed at the time, when a lot of my friends were taking the plunge, that often the size and spectacle of the wedding was in inverse proportion to the time the 'happy' couple stayed together. The reason I included it is because my own daughter's wedding took place last week and it was, thankfully a modest but truly happy occasion which will I am sure prove my youthful cynicism to be unfounded.

Now that it is over I am beginning to get my head around the classes that I am organising and teaching this autumn,

Autumn Life Drawing Classes

I am going on holiday at the beginning of September so the first of my monthly one day life drawing workshops, which usually take place on the first Saturday of the month, will be on Saturday 2nd October. I am taking bookings for this workshop now. It will take place as usual in the art studio at Shottery Memorial hall, near Stratford on Avon, from 10am until 4.30pm and the cost is £40.  

I have a few spaces for newcomers in my weekly evening class which takes place every thursday (during term times) from 6.15 - 8.15pm in Leamington Spa. The term starts on 16th September and costs £144 (half term is 28th Oct. and we finish on 9th Dec.).

All my classes have to be booked and paid for in advance. Please email me if you would like any further information and to check whether there are spaces left.

Double or drop

Those of you old enough to remember 'Crackerjack' will doubtless find 'Double or drop' familiar. As to whether or not it will help in understanding my latest painting, I doubt it. Having completed my own 'Artsweek' exhibition while putting the work all back in store I have had time to reflect on the experience of meeting my 'public'. The most often asked question was "what is it about", closely followed by "where do you get your ideas from"? The second one is easy to answer (from a little shop in Walthamstow), the first is more complicated in that it presumes that I know, which isn't actually accurate. I suspect that the questioners found my answer "that I don't yet know", either implausible or downright disingenuous. My process of generating imagery is wholly intuitive - ideas arise out of whatever life presents me with at any particular time. I make choices based on a 'like or dislike' basis as to what I paint and exactly how it is put together. I don't analyse why I choose - I just trust that it may become apparent when the resultant painting is complete. As to the 'meaning' that viewer seems to crave, there aren't any 'answers' in the paintings - only questions. I once heard Melvyn Bragg, on talking about his writing, say that "I only know what I think when I write what I feel". I can relate that to my own practice and I wish that I was as confident as he about the outcome.  

Forthcoming exhibitions July 2010

Warwickshire Arts Weeks 

I am exhibiting a new paintings and drawings at my home in Leamington Spa. Because of other commitments I am only opening on the weekends of the 3rd & 4th and 10th & 11th of July from 10am to 5pm. My partner, Jane is also exhibiting a selection of her enamelled silver jewellery alongside my own work.

I am also exhibiting this painting as part in the Leamington Studio Artists Summer Show at Warwickshire College (July 13th - 23rd, weekday only opening 10am -5pm. except for Saturday 17th. 10am - 4pm).

For further information check out the following links :- http://www.lsa-artists.co.uk/ http://www.warwickshireartsweek.co.uk/ http://www.janemoore.co.uk/

Painting and pants

Here is my latest painting - I am about to start another version of it if I can find the time. It is called 'Double or drop', which for those of you who old enough to remember the childrens T.V. program 'Crackerjack' will have some resonance. The 'pants' - well this past year I have had to spend an inordinate amount of time marketing my work. Sales have been hard to come by and I have had to create as many sales opportunities as I can by exhibiting a lot and also going in for as many competitive exhibitions as I can 'dovetail' in. I am reconciled now to the rejections that submitting to competitive shows inevitably bring, but I have a suspicion that many shows are organised to generate income in submission fees from already impecunious artists (especially the competitive shows that require only a digital submission).

I am beginning to get my head around the bi-annual Warwickshire Artsweek, which is approaching fast. Having lived in Warwickshire for most of my life I like to participate in local arts events - it is a chance to give something back to the community. I like to show work that hasn't yet been exhibited so visitors always find something new to look at. Just what work I will have depends on the success or otherwise of my 'open' submissions. I am hoping to complete a few drawings to hang in the show - I find it is good to have some more affordable works. I will post more details about my Artsweek Exhibition in the near future, so watch this space.