Claire Glenister: On the Irrawaddy River - printed on Bockingford water-colour paper
Front cover: Nancy Gault - no title
After an introduction we were shown a collection of slides of work by Melanie and other artists on a variety of materials - canvas, fabrics, wood and even printed straight on to gallery walls - I'll leave you to contemplate the logistics of that exercise - and were able to view four of her large nude portraits on canvas of her mother from the series `Look at you loving me' on show in the University Gallery. The scale and graphic quality of this work was breathtaking!
Then it was back to the darkroom for a demonstration of coating and drying and then it was our turn. After lunch (a couple of us trudged stoically through the rain to the pub), the diverse artistic backgrounds of the participants revealed themselves as many weird and wonderful objects were prepared to receive the liquid emulsion treatment. Paper - from exotic hand-made sheets to cardboard box offcuts, fabrics, wood, metal (including a car hub cap), glass, canvas, plastics (such as tape cassette cases), ceramics, and, oddest of all, a green doormat!
Non-absorbent materials had been coated with polyurethane varnish before the workshop and the comparative merits of these were discussed. Water-soluble varnishes don't work as they dissolve in the developer. Needless to say, some materials tend to fall apart when wet, and before the end of the course the `dev' contained some interesting looking foreign bodies!
Finally there was the customary improvised show of the finished (albeit damp) work with the accompanying exclamations of surprise and wonder at what had been achieved in so short a time. I heard no one say they would not continue to experiment further. All in all I found it to be a highly stimulating and enjoyable weekend.
Claire Glenister: On
the Irrawaddy River - printed on Bockingford water-colour paper
Front cover: Nancy Gault - no title