Why Sketch?
My sketches in this blog are about taking, what appear at first to be unrelated experiences, and finding the visual patterns within them. They contain elements of fashion items, Japanese art, nature and modern art all experienced on a trip to Oxford.
Ashmolean Museum Oxford
Bruegel to Rubens - Great Flemish Drawings
My husband wanted to see this exhibition which is on until 23 June. It looks at the sketches of famous artists and explores why artists need to sketch. Artists sketch as part of their training. They copy other artists’ work and progress to drawing from observation; collecting visual information about nature, people and their surrounding environment. This collecting of information may be used later to create their own artwork. An artist might sketch to design a painting, sculptor, textile or ceramic piece. In my October BLOG, Textile Starting Points; Sketching in Italy. I’ve shown some sketches that were later used to make embroideries. A sketch might also be used on a more personal level as a specific gift to a friend.
Although we were in Oxford for a couple of days, to see even a fraction of the Ashmolean Museum Collection would be a huge undertaking. We decided to concentrate on the Japanese art section. My sketches contain abstractions of their enamel dishes, Samurai outfit and silk robes.
Blenheim Palace
Icons of British Fashion Exhibition
On our way to Oxford we visited this exhibition which runs until 30th June. The Palace rooms are a wonderful setting for cleverly displayed work of an impressive collection of the top designers: Dame Vivienne Westwood, Barbour, Bruce Oldfield, Lulu Guiness, Stella McCartney, Zara Rhodes, Jean Muir, Turnbull and Asser, Stephen Jones, Alice Temperley and Terry de Havilland.
Oxford Botanical Garden
After seeing flowers and foliage on printed fabric, embroidery and beads in the fashion exhibition and then on Japanese robes and dishes, it was rewarding to make sketches connecting these to the exotic plants in the glass houses at the garden.
Modern Art Oxford
Frieda Torandzo Jaeger - A future in the light of darkness Exhibition
This exhibition ended 26th May. The artist is from Mexico City and she creates installations of oil painted canvas and traditional Mexican embroidery techniques. Her work is a collaboration with the women in her family . She explores the contrast of modern car interiors and future space travel with Earthy nature. Frieda also uses the heart symbol, considering it’s use throughout history but particularly in today’s social media use of “hearts” and “likes”.
If you are able to visit Oxford this month, I recommend all of the mentioned exhibitions. Thank you for reading my blog.